Dad question...

ok so you guys had me worried and I spent my lunch hour go over the manual. So to your point, the manual states that latches are provided for the two outer seats. there is no mention for latches for the middle seat. that said, the manual does not state that you shouldn't use them for a middle seat. there are plenty of warnings, none involve this matter. soo....

I am adamant about leaving the seat the middle for optimal safety. so I guess I should either a) just use seatbelts or b) continue using latches for outer seat...

I can kinda see your point about geometry... but my car seat is pretty wide and it does not look like a weird angle... but I'm no engineer... but the seat belts are flexible and easily adjust to new angle... (now I'm arguing with myself)

hmmmm.....

 

Keep the seat in the middle position and just use the lap belt and the tether anchor behind the seatback like you've been using. How often do you remove the seat? That's the only real big pain when comparing the belt vs LATCHES.

 

Because my wife is awesome. Lol.

No but Honestly we are both tired of cycling through vehicles every few years. Yukon was super nice we miss it right now. Had it 3 years and would have kept it But niether of us trusted the vehicle to hold up after warranty expired and it was also 2wd. We decided we wanted a vehicle that will last 10-15 years and a 4wd... and we both absolutely love the 5th gen 4runners.

 

Yep that’s my exact concern, reliability haha. I’ve got my work cut out for me

 

Dang that’s what I figured! We have a diono in the car but didn’t wanna spend a mint on a second seat that is not full time mounted in the truck

 

I have this for my 4 year old! The car seat is mounted behind the driver seat, I’m 6,2” so my seat is pretty far back. I like this one because it allows him to sit pretty close too straight up and down wile having some leg room.

 

Page 65 of the owner's manual shows a child restraint mounted to the center rear seat. BOOM!

 

Can you post the page?

 

CRACK! Further investigation shows the center seatbelt being used, not the latch system.

 

It does say install with lower anchors or seat belt and doesn't specify that you can't use the lower anchor when install in the center.

On a side note, does anyone else hate using the top tether in our trucks. It's such a pain in the ass that the top tether anchor is down behind the seat.

 

HAAAAAATTTTTEEEEE it!

And it's even worse when you need to remove the seat for whatever reason.

 

Yes, exactly. They could have at least added a tether cable like the Silverado has.

 

The Tacoma is available with a manual trans. It's worth the hassle! LOL!

 

Since we are getting technical....

Standard LATCH spacing is 11" (280mm)

There is also such thing as non-standard LATCH spacing, but in order to use non-standard spacing in the center:
-Car seat user manual needs to allow non-standard spacing to be used to install it. Some seats allow it, some don't.
And
-Car/truck user manual needs to allow center LATCH installation

 

I think that's still in question for the Tacoma at the moment.

 

Also, aren't they only rated for 65 lbs, kid + carseat weight?

 

2007 OM

Shows only outboard seat locations






2016 OM says the same

 

I believe so. A few lbs different for rear face vs. forward face.

 

I didn’t even look for the latch points. The seat we have used latch or the shoulder belt. Since it’s my work truck I do t want a permanent seat so I’ve been using the center lap belt.

 

I got three seats in my Tacoma. I just try not to overthink things.