Question Toyota Tundra

[timdad]

I have a Toyota Tundra extra cab with barely enough room to fit my 4 year old, FF, and my 7 month old RF with base.

I can remove my back seats to create a ton of room.

My question is if it's safe to have kids in there with out the back seats?

Essentially it would sit them lower and further back with the same seat belt system holding them in. I'm just curious if they are not surrounded by the padding of the seats is a safety concern. Seems like the lower I can get them and further away from the front seats would be safer.

 

[wendytthomas]

Hi Timdad,

Can you clear something up for me? If you remove the backseats, on what will the children's carseats be installed? Do you mean the back part of the backseat, along the back wall? You mention installing them with seatbelts, so I'm guessing you're not talking about removing the backseat and putting them on the floor.

Have you tried putting the seven month old's infant seat in baseless behind you and the four year old on the other side? That may give you all more room.

Wendy

 

[Keeanh]

It's a creative solution, I certainly wouldn't have thought of it. But unless Toyota specifically says that's an approved way to install car seats, you shouldn't do it. If it's not tested, you don't know what will happen. The biggest problem I see is that the carseats are designed to work WITH the cushioning in your seats. If the cushioning isn't there, extra force will be transferred to the children. Have you contacted Toyota?

What seats do you have? Is your 4yo's seat top-tethered? I used to have 3 car seats in a '98 extended cab F150 and that back seat is smaller than the Tundra. I did have to install the infant seat without the base. If you put the FF seat in the middle and tether it, (and fold down the front middle seat if you have one) I don't think you need to worry about 4yo's head hitting anything in a crash.

 

[MomToEliEm]

We have an 03 Tundra, and are familiar with how to remove the backseat. I have trouble seeing how it would be safe to use with carseats though. I believe the seatbelts are bolted to the floor, though the tether hooks won't be functional without the backseat in place.

Whenever we had a rearfacing seat, it always had to go in the center. There really isn't much room on the sides for a rearfacing seat, unless the passenger seat is pushed all the way forward. We have been able to puzzle forward facing seats next to the rearfacing seat without too much issue. There isn't a lot of leg room when forward facing so we typically try to put that one on the passenger side and push that front seat up just a little bit.