Baby on the way, Access Cab

I had a 2011 with LATCH in the front seat. Unfortunately the 2017 doesn't have them.

 

Do what I did when our youngest was 2yrs old. Get a motorcycle.



Too early mid-life crisis.

The fam troopered on when I sold our second car and got another. At least it was a sidecar.

 

I'm 36 and about to have my first kid... don't tease me about a mid-life crisis! I think I'm already there!

 

Fair enough! Good luck to you and enjoy every second of the little one

 

Oh I intend to!

 

I hear you. Our older daughter was born when I was 30. Same age as my dad was when I was born. Weirdly, our younger daughter was born when my wife was 30.

The mid-life thing happened after both my parents were gone when I was your age. For whatever reason, a lot of my close fam seems to kick it around 60 also.

I had always wanted a bike and spent my youth dreaming about motorcycles and riding bicycles. To me, two wheels are superior transportation. So, I used my mom's small bit of life insurance $$ and grabbed a cheap bike from a friend of a friend and a bunch of good gear.

It has been a lot of fun, with bumps along the way.

Even weirder, my current boss was the owner of that first bike.

 

Hows the song go? Live like you were dying!

 

True, but I'm sort of in a middle ground there. The kids vacuum up all of the money and my wife is not very adventurous. I get lots of leeway but a tiny budget. Hahahaha!

Riding and paddling are my main stress reducers though.

 

Well it means something different to all of us, but to me living involves a rocking chair on the back porch, a good book, and a cell phone that's been turned off and put away.

 

I can't argue with that, esp if you add some cold and fizzy barley soup.

 

When my kids were little ones, the wife’s car was always the priority, sucks she had the kid mobile but she had the newer rides.

 

If momma ain't happy, nobody is happy!

 

yep, Happy wife happy life they say.

 

This is a timely thread! I have a 10 month old baby boy now and he's out grown the bucket carrier seat so I'm researching rear-facing seats as we speak! I have a 2017 Access cab, manual transmission as well. The only difference is, my wife loves driving it so she doesn't want to trade it in for a double cab short bed any more than I want to. I also ordered my truck and it was my first and only new vehicle, so there is some sentimental attachment to it... Also, I own it now so it doesn't cost us anything to own... Also, I just don't want to go to the DMV while everything is shut down... Or when everything is open for that matter...

Anyway, we used a Recaro carrier which did not allow us to fold the passenger seat back, up in the locked position, even with the seat slid all the way forward and the seat back as erect as it goes. So the very few times the baby went anywhere with me and my wife, she had to sit behind me in the drivers seat. I found out very recently through my cousin who is a police officer and does baby seat installations in New York State, that the front seat must be folded and locked in place because it can bounce around in a collision. That makes perfect sense in hindsight. Oh well...

I am now researching baby seats for small vehicles. Apparently the shortest rear-facing seat on the market is the one linked below. It gets pretty good reviews and is certainly small. My son is a peanut so there is little risk of him outgrowing it like some people have mentioned (apparently it is designed in Japan for small Japanese cars and likely, smaller Japanese babies...). My only real concern is the fact that the base is very curved which will work fine in a bucket seat, but the flip down access cab seats are flat as a board so I don't know about getting this thing locked in place securely. Unfortunately nobody carries them locally, so I think I might have to buy one, try it, and if it doesn't fit, return it. I was hoping to find someone with a picture of it installed or someone who owns one I could try.

https://www.amazon.com/Combi-Compact-Convertible-Forward-Toddler/dp/B01KMMRBXO

When we were expecting, we were gifted new a Diono Raidan which is a really really nice 3-across seat so it's super narrow but the back is really high on it, so in rear-facing mode it is SUPER long. Diono used to make a seat angle adjuster which has since been discontinued but I found a new-old-stock on Ebay for 20 bucks recently. It just came in last night so I am going to try installing it in my Scion iM and my truck tonight. I will report back with pictures. The seat angle adjuster is literally just a high density foam pad that's big enough to shove under the seat where the kids butt goes and it tips it up. It's for when the little ones can support their head fine and what-not. Being 10months old, my little guy qualifies for it. If this fits (I doubt it will), I'll give you the dimensions and you can cut your own from some stiff foam if you can't find one anywhere.

Keith

 

Up our way.. State of Maine: "State law still mandates that children under the age of 12 who weigh less than 100 pounds must be in the back seat of a vehicle."
That said, the back of an AC hardly qualifies as a "back seat", our governor is a friggin commie, and I don't have kids so.. Check your laws, do whatever. I remember laying in the back window of my mum's car when I was a kid back in the early 90s, rode in the bed of dad's trucks, seatbelts were an option.. We survived just fine
If we were meant to wear seatbelts we wouldn't have foreheads, as my Chief used to say..

 

Spoken like a typical Porsche owner. Just buy a new car man, what are you waiting for?

 

My husband sold his BMW M series years ago and got his Tundra thankfully. Aside from the car being totally useless, he hated the looks he got and was like "i'm not a smug enough asshole to drive one of these things"

 

I just got a chance to try out a Diono Radian in my truck. Here are some pictures comparing the 2 seats I own.

The carrier is a Recaro which they don't make anymore so you probably won't end up with one (mine has a few more years before it expires so I'm keeping it for Baby #2, God willing). By today's standards I think it's kind of long for a bucket seat. You can see the base overhangs the fold down seat bottom by a fair bit and although the front seat does latch up, it is in the most forward and erect position available and you have to force it to click up, probably not ideal. I took a tape measure and it's 28 inches from the back of the front seat to the back seat.

 

Here are two pictures of my new Diono Radian with the factory Angle Adjuster installed (suitable for babies that can hold their head up). One picture is in my truck of course and one is in my Volvo V50 which has a normal bucketed seat shape. I wanted to compare the seat angle since the rear-facing seat will sit more upright when installed in a bucket seat. I think it is a few degrees, so you could probably put an even larger angle adjuster in the truck since it's such a flat seat, which would eventually make your rear-facing seat back angle match that of a "normal" seat. If that makes sense... Anyway, it's a tight fit, basically like my carrier fits. So, still not 100% legal, but better than being in the front seat I think. Fortunately we have the Volvo wagon for road trips...

 

Your kid should be driving Formula 1 by 8yo!