Car seat questions

tundratrader · #1 (**permalink**) 03-30-2008, 04:17 PM

I am thinking of adding a tacoma to the stable and I have child seat questions. Are all of the access cab seats jump seat style or is there a bench option? How do car seats fit in the back and is it safe to have a carseat sideways. I am about to have my first child so sorry if this are ignorant questions.

Thanks
Zach

BamZipPow · #2 (**permalink**) 03-30-2008, 09:48 PM

Do NOT install yer child seat sideways. Their body will not be able to use the seat to distribute the force to the seat and you could possibly injure them severely if not kill them.

Make sure the child seat is rear facing as long as possible. Some people go by weight to forward face their child...studies show that the child is safer facing rearwards in their child seat in frontal impacts as there is more material to distribute their weight and cradle their head/neck from being strained.

The jump seats should be fine. Just make sure you git the best seat you can afford fer yer child. Congrats on yer upcoming joy (child...that is!)

tundratrader · #3 (**permalink**) 03-30-2008, 10:07 PM

Ok so my questions is then are the jump seats sideways or are they forward facing. I thought when I had looked at tacomas before I bought my tundra that the seats in the back were jump seat style facing sideways.

carados · #4 (**permalink**) 03-31-2008, 01:28 AM

not sure about the facing of the seats but just forward thinking for you... my 2.5 year old and i ONLY fit in a Tacoma or frontier, that is if you want your child to have any room at all for get about a passenger in the front seat in front of baby seat. Even an access cab tundra is tight to be able to have your child with room to lean back chair, extend legs or what not, and lets not for get the dangers of a child twisting their fot btwn the baby seat and the passenger chair, oh yeah and worst yet a passenger that is not thinking while you have a child behind you and slides the chair back on top of childs leg and ankle......... go bigger DC or 4runner you'll thank me later

tundratrader · #5 (**permalink**) 03-31-2008, 01:37 PM

Yeah that is kinda what I am thinking, we have a convertible infant seat in the middle of my access cab tundra right now and it is tight for sure. I thinking 4runner or a double tacoma might be the way to go. Thanks

Thelt · #6 (**permalink**) 03-31-2008, 02:05 PM

Tacoma's have forward facing rear jump seats so you should be able to do it. It will be a tight fit though. I had a 2000 Tundra Access cab and it was fine with a car seat and two small kids old enough to not need a car seat.

I bet it would be fine once the kids are buckled in but it would be a bear getting them in and out.

woodsailor · #7 (**permalink**) 05-07-2008, 09:40 AM

I've had two small kids in the back of my 97 extended cab for a while, from age 1+ with forward facing car seats. The installation was inspected satisfactorily by a cartified car seat person locally. I added some room for the car seats by removing the original jump seats and the padded trim in back. For you with a new child less than 1 year old you will have to use a rear facing seat which will be very tough to fit in the back of a Tacoma extended cab and make the front passenger seat impractical.

When I had a convertible seat for my youngest kid (Britax Roundabout) it was on the passenger side in the back, and the front passenger seat was kept folded forward. I modified the mechanism for the front passenger seat so it couldn't slide back into the car seat on its own. A booster seat is the only type that will really fit behind the drivers front seat. Now that both kids are older and use booster seats that use the factory shoulder belts instead of 5 point harnesses built into the car seats they actually have more room since the car seats are less bulky.

On my Tacoma the front passenger seat has a rachetting seat belt, which you need to lock in a car seat, but the general standard today is no kids under 12 in the front of any vehicle.

I'd love to have a 2004 doublecab but they're only available with automatics. If you like a small truck but don't mind the auto that's the way to go; there's lot's of used ones for sale.

Good luck!

leadoff2 · #8 (**permalink**) 05-08-2008, 06:08 AM

You should be fine w/ a DC Tacoma. I got a nice deal on a very nice used '02 Tundra but there just wasn't enough room for my 2 yr. old in his car seat. Actually, the problem was with the straightness of the back of the seat in the Tundra. There's no tilt to it at all, completely straight backed. Anyway, to solve the problem I traded the '02 access cab Tundra for a DC '02 4 cyl. Tacoma after only 4 months and I'm glad I did with gas prices now.

Lindsay · #9 (**permalink**) 05-10-2008, 08:18 AM

I have a 2006 tacoma access cab and have had a terrible experience with car seats in general in that truck (which is why I came to this site). After having my son, the person at the hospital barely let me leave b/c he did not feel comfortable with the install in the access cab. For the first year, there was only room for my son and I in the car (unless you wanted to sit behind the drivers side) because the passenger seat had to be slid all the way up. When I've finally moved him forward facing, the car seat does not feel secure even with the latch system (it slides). Also, when my son falls asleep while I drive, his head falls forward b/c of the 45 degree angle of the seats. I've taken to tying his head back with my sweatshirt, which actually takes an amusing picture (he looks like mini-Rocky). It's a bear on long car rides, b/c he never gets good sleep and is very cranky. I am almost at the point where I trade this in, but I love my truck! Does anyone have a carseat reccommendation that allows the child to ride comfortable and stable in the back? I would NOT reccommend buying an access cab if you are expecting or have kids and I feel it is bad practice for Toyota to market this model that way. When I called them, they had no suggestions or advice for me and said it was a problem for the dealer. What the heck!?! Any help?