Baby on the way, Access Cab

1st kid due in November. I've seen a bunch of these threads for car seats in the back of a double cab, but I need suggestions for a 2017 access cab. I want to avoid trading it in for a double cab at all costs. We don't use my truck for road trips or anything so I don't need to consider loading the wife, kid, and a bunch of stuff. Just need something for those times where momma is gone and I'm the chauffeur.

Anyone have anything?

 

Yeah I'll chime in. If it's just you and baby, put the rear facing carseat in front passenger next to you. What have single cab owners done all these years? Your baby is no safer in that access cab than it is up front. I've raised 3 children. Still raising them. Have had 3 babies in car seats. Been there. Done that. With your baby right beside you, you can also see them and know they aren't choking etc. I advocate SAFETY by all means but like I said, there is NO diff in your truck. This is just my opinion. If it's you, baby and wife, then put the carseat back there and I'm sure it will fit fine the way the truck is OR add a platform like others have done.

Congratulations on being a DAD!

 

There are a couple that fit, it works better when the kiddo gets bigger and they can be front facing. Either way the passenger in the front will have to have their seat nearly all the way forward. And getting to the baby is a hassle with the backward opening doors.


AC Tacoma’s are a terrible vehicle for young families but it’s doable if you don’t have a second car.

 

Thank you!

I had considered this, but unlike my 2011 there's no way to shut off the passenger airbag and the 2017 front seat doesn't have dedicated tie downs either, so I was unaware that was an option. I do like the idea though!

 

Wait...what? I know you can turn off the airbag up front, but I think it's illegal to have a child seat in the front seat of a car? I don't know, I'd have to look into the laws again. My kiddos are 9 and 7 now but I did have to upgrade to something bigger once my oldest arrived. The back seat of the AC is non-existent.
Congrats on becoming a dad!

 

Your front seat has a sensor and the airbag will turn off. It goes off when 2 of my kids sit there bc of their weight. You will be fine!

 

Test what you can. We had a four seat convertible (that saab) when our oldest was born. The passenger seat had to go a bit far forward with the infant car seat. The convertible car seat was the worst though. Thankfully, our girls grew quick and we couldn't keep it rear facing for long.

In my AC, I did have a large sized forward facing seat installed twice for a friend and boosters a few times. The FF seat was pretty easy to maintain a normal passenger seat position.

These days, my 17yr old and 15yr old fit really nice.


So, I would say to go to a friendly store and ask about test fitting. We bought our stuff from Babies R Us back in the day and they let us test fit in the parking lot.


Good luck. That first few years will be tough, but the baby will be fun and the AC should make it through.

 

Might also want to check the laws. In some places you can't have a child seat in the front if you have a backseat. That's why standard cab trucks have the ability to turn off the Airbags for passenger.

 

Congratulations on the new arrival.

Babies/ young children in the house is still my favorite time.

I also like your attitude about keeping the access cab and trying to make it work.

I am sure I will not be the only one to chime in that child seats in the front seat is a really bad idea.

Good luck and enjoy!

 

No it's not. It depends on the vehicle and its limitations. How can you put a carseat in the backseat of a single cab bench seat truck? How can you wear a shoulder seat belt in a 1965 mustang. The law recognizes these things and any law enforcement officer does too.

 

Amen. My wife has a 2014 Fusion so no, the Tacoma won't be a "family" vehicle. I just need an option if I have to take the baby somewhere.

I was born in 1984 and remember my mom, dad, and my two sisters all going to town in my dad's 1976 regular cab Chevy 1-ton with bucket seats. Depending on where we were going, sometimes he'd just let us little ones ride in the bed.

Miss those days.

 

Like I said my 2011 AC had this capability. The 2017 doesn't. Go figure.

 

If you don't need to have someone in the passenger seat, you will be just fine. You can get any car seat to fit with no passenger.

 

Thank you! It's for monetary reasons. I only owe $5K on it and it has 55K miles on it. We paid off my wife's car earlier this year. I should be able to pay mine off by the time the baby is here. If I do it right I'll only have a mortgage to worry about when we bring the kid home!

 

Yeah, the intention is to only use my truck when necessary.

 

Smart man!

 

That is pretty much how we used the convertible, but it was our favorite trip vehicle, so we were anixous to get to a reasonable setup.

 

Thanks! I don't have the nicest stuff in the world but it's all mine!

 

I hear you!

My truck is a stick, so we don't use it for road trips. All of our family is close, except my father in law. We always rent a car to go see him anyway.

 

First son was born in 1994 and my wife and I rode with him in between us in the front seat of a regular cab S10 with a 5 speed MT. Different times.

That truck crapped out two months after son number two was born in 1997, and I bought a Dakota 6 passenger 5 speed MT access cab true two door truck and we managed as an occasional family vehicle until I traded it in in 2016.

I think you can make it work.

Since you have a little time, the TW brain trust will figure it out.

Cheers