Forward facing car seat

I've never been as irritated in all my workings on these trucks as I am today trying to install a forward facing car seat in my 1990 crew cab. Our infant seat had a belt clamp so we put the seat in the middle in the back, yanked the lap belt and clamped it with the belt lock and life was good. Sure the cushion of the bench seat flexed some but it was snug.

Now that Liam will be two in a couple months and he's big for his age we have a forward facing seat without the separate base, and there is no way to safely install this thing. The side lap and shoulder belts in my truck do not ratchet or lock in any way unless you yank them 100mph, even with an h clip the seat would go flying since there is no tension. The middle lap belt there is no way to pull it tight enough since the route through the back of the seat puts the end of the belt going into the clip right at the edge of the seat. You can't pull on it to tighten it with it basically inside the seat.

I'm ready to burn this thing to the ground. We use this truck all summer to go to camp and on vacations and there's no way to get any of these new seats in without the tethers which don't exist, or without ratcheting lap/shoulder belts.

I use a forward facing seat for my daughter in the middle of the rear seat. Sure, it isn't easy to strap in, but once it is in, it's good. We just ended up buying a car seat to leave in there cause it's a bit of a pain to get secured just right.

Can you use a couple of ratchet straps?

IDIBRONCO said:

Can you use a couple of ratchet straps?

Click to expand...

I just did this to get it tight so I could shove my arm inside the hole in the seat and tighten the belt without sitting on the seat myself. That might have done the trick. My belt latch lock things the belt clips into pull up so high it meets right at the hole in the seat which makes it hard to lock in place while snugging it down

any of these trucks that I cared about safety and not my face into the dashboard stopping the retractor, I’ve replaced the 3 point belt with a new one. Honestly, 4 bricknoses and I thought it must have been like that from the factory. Then @chillman88 was over with tank and the retractor worked perfect so I guess it’s just worn with age on most.

BrianX128 said:

I've never been as irritated in all my workings on these trucks as I am today trying to install a forward facing car seat in my 1990 crew cab. Our infant seat had a belt clamp so we put the seat in the middle in the back, yanked the lap belt and clamped it with the belt lock and life was good. Sure the cushion of the bench seat flexed some but it was snug.

Now that Liam will be two in a couple months and he's big for his age we have a forward facing seat without the separate base, and there is no way to safely install this thing. The side lap and shoulder belts in my truck do not ratchet or lock in any way unless you yank them 100mph, even with an h clip the seat would go flying since there is no tension. The middle lap belt there is no way to pull it tight enough since the route through the back of the seat puts the end of the belt going into the clip right at the edge of the seat. You can't pull on it to tighten it with it basically inside the seat.

I'm ready to burn this thing to the ground. We use this truck all summer to go to camp and on vacations and there's no way to get any of these new seats in without the tethers which don't exist, or without ratcheting lap/shoulder belts.

Click to expand...

I guess the center belt in the back of your crew cab has a retractor? (maybe I'm reading it wrong) My extended cab does not, so it's no big deal to snug anything down in the center. I have 4 kiddos now so lots of car seats...anything with a belt retractor is OUT. That cannot work. But anything with a static belt and the retractor is up at the shoulder is fine for anything our Britax Clicktight. Seat folds up, belt goes under and you click the buckle, take up a little slack but not too much(because it's designed to take up about 2" of slack upon closing), and then fold the seat down by pressing your body weight into it. "Click-tight" indeed. It's $200+ but fantastic for these trucks. I'm certain there are many other varieties that have a similar belt capture, but that's the one I know for sure will work. Basically it's designed for these old-school type belts, instead of being designed for the Latch system like many others.

I think I get the center belt issue now, must have read it wrong before. I do kneel on the carseat to snug the belt up. I like that thing to have very little wiggle. I attach the buckle with slack, kneel on it, and pull the slack out. Since I'm "too heavy" for the realistic weight of the seat, I don't have to take every ounce of slack out that way and it's less frustrating. We also just leave the seat in the truck, bought other seats for the family car.

Could the seat be used in the front without so much frustration? Just a thought. The "no kiddos in the front seat" thing is only because of airbags.

Edit: I doubt there is an adult anywhere(including me!) that's installed car seats before and not been an inch away from lighting a match and watching the vehicle and seat burn together as they smile and watch the show...so I totally get your frustration!

Don't the 92-97 rear belts lock when you pull them out all the way? Can you update to that style?

Three kids here, two still in forward facing car seats. A few times all three were in them and we had them all across the back seat.
I do what @The_Josh_Bear does, buckle it loose, put my knee on it and lean on the seat and pull the belt tight. not the easiest but the best I have found.
I use the same method to install them in the wifes car with the latch system.