Rear facing car seat in an 07 or 08 Toyota Tacoma Double Cab.?

Question

Does anyone know whether a rear-facing car/infant seat would fit in an 07 or 08 Toyota Tacoma Double-cab? I am thinking of buying one of these, but need to make sure it will fit fine (and not "cramp" the front passenger too much. Thanks for any help/info you can provide.

Answer 1

Take that seat to the dealer or whoever has the vehicle for sale and check this out for yourself.  There really isn't a reliable way to know if this truck will work for your situation.

I am the proud owner of a 1999 Dodge Dakota plus cab because the baby seat wouldn't fit in this model, so they (the couple who owned it before me) sold it and bought a different one.  It works for me because a forward facing child seat (for an older child - they had a baby) fits (in the rear) safely and comfortably for me, the front passenger (an adult) and the child in back.  

Yes, this truck has the key switch to turn off the passenger air bag, but I don't need to resort to that.  I hope you will avoid doing that too.

If there are any problems with the fit of the seat or a lack of safe distance from the dashboard and airbags for the front seat passenger, skip the models you are looking at and move on to another style.  You might not have any trouble though because the newer models are a lot roomier than the earlier ones.

Better safe than sorry!

Good luck to you!

Answer 2

If the vehicle has no back seat, such as a pickup truck, an infant will be safe in a rear-facing child seat only if the vehicle does not have a passenger side air bag or if it has a cutoff switch for the passenger side air bag.

In summary, people riding in the front seat who are most likely to be injured or killed by an inflating air bag are:

infants riding in rear-facing car seats

children age 12 and under who are not properly secured in a restraint system that is appropriate for their size -a forward facing safety seat, booster seat, or correct fitting lap and shoulder belt

children or adults who are not buckled up

children or adults who place the shoulder belt either behind their back or under their arm

persons sitting too close to the steering wheel or dashboard so that they come into contact with the air bag before it is fully inflated.

Answer 3

I have a 2006 Tacoma Double Cab and the rear facing car seat fit good in the middle of the back seat. When it was directly behind the passenger it was a little cramped. We used a "snap and go" style with the base left in the car and it worked good, but was a little hard to lift the car seat to the base frequently. We still have the truck, but the daily driver is now a 2008 xB, which is extremely easy to put a rear facing or forward facing car seat in the back and not cramp the front passenger. From my research I found that at least 34 inches of rear seat leg room is needed in the back for a good fit. The 2006 Tacoma Double Cab has about 32 inches and the Scion xB has about 39 inches.

Answer 4

Here's a place you can look to see what other people did or didn't have luck with, keeping in mind that is reported by consumers just like you, not experts, and that some of the seats mentioned are not sold anymore:

http://www.carseatdata.org/main/search?e...

If at all possible, people with children should not have pickup trucks as their primary vehicle, even if it has a backseat. It can be difficult to get seats to fit right, and leaves very little room. Also, it provides more risk for serious injury b/c the child is so close to that rear window, with nothing in between them and the glass. So, since you're only considering it, in my humble opinion, I'd say...consider something else if this is to be the primary car the child rides in.

IF that is not at all possible, or its a secondary vehicle that doesn't carry the child that much: you should be able to find something that works.  To be able to help more, though, I'd really need to know the child's age - or is he not here yet?

No matter what seat you choose - odds are the front seat will end up pushed forward quite a bit, there's just not enough room to install a seat otherwise in such a small space. One tip that can help, is to try and install the rear facing seat in the middle of the backseat. Not only is it safer (if it installs well there) but if it works out just right,  the back of the rear facing seat will jutt out between the 2 front seats and therefore not hinder how far they can be pushed back.

One major thing to consider - if I was putting my baby into a rear facing car seat in a truck, I would want it to be tethered. Most car seats in the US only tether forward facing, but there are 3 that can be tethered rear facing as well: Britax seats, and Sunshine Kids seats (wouldn't recommend the Sunshine Kids Radian65/80, though, definitely not a good seat for taking up less room front to back, though they are very narrow.) and the Fisher Price Safe Voyage Deluxe, which is a Britax seat made under the Fisher Price name. See, in an accident, the seat will rebound, and your precious baby's face could very likely be thrown towards the back of the truck, smashing into the glass. Having the rear facing seat tethered to the floor helps prevent this.

So here's the seats to be looking at with this feature:

Fisher Price Safe Voyage Deluxe - The Fisher Price Safe Voyage Deluxe Convertible seat is great, it is made by Britax, without all the frills. It's the same shell as a Marathon, but for less than half the price. $130 at Albee Baby online with free shipping, or at their eBay name, babysurplus. Rear faces to 33lbs, forward to 55lbs. Easy to use, fits in most cars. A small word of warning about these seats: they are now officially not making them anymore, so the date of manufacture is getting older and older, with many being delivered that are 6+ months old already. Since car seats expire 6 years after the date of manufacture, this could make a difference to you, especially since its possible your child could fit in the seat for the next 5-6 years.

Britax Marathon/Decathalon/Boulevard: The Britax Marathon/Boulevard/Decathalon (These 3 are the same seat, just different variances of luxury additions, with the Marathon being the cheapest base model) can be found for regular price of $269, and on sale at Albee Baby online for $209-$219. The Marathon a wide open easy to route belt path, which makes using it correctly a lot easier, as do the built in lockoffs, which mean you never again have to use a locking clip. I can get it into 4 different vehicles in under 2 minutes. Because of the way the base is made, it fits in most cars. And, it is worth the money, b/c it lasts usually twice as long as most other car seats (all car seats expire 6 years after the date of manufacture) lasting a baby till they are 5-6 years old, where most at Walmart will only last till 2-4 years old. Rear faces to 33lbs, then forward to 65lbs. and top slots 17inches tall, lasts most kids to ages 5-6 years old. Britax is having one of their semiannual sales from February 24 - March 2. You could snag a Britax seat for $200 or less including shipping!

Now - if this is a newborn we're talking about, that does change the recommendations, some, as many newborns will be too small to fit safely into the seats mentioned above, since they are convertible seats. If that were the case - I would get a cheap Cosco Scenera ($50 at Walmart/Target/Kmart) and use it for the first couple months until the child fit into one of the seats above and then keep it as a spare seat. It can not be tethered rear facing, but it is a good seat for the price, cheaper than most infant carriers, and it will provide you with a spare seat you can use for the next 2-3 years, whereas most infant carriers are outgrown at about 4-7 months of age.

As for infant carriers - they're all pretty similar in size. Again, try and install in the middle to see if it gets a good fit, it might give the passengers up frotn more room.  Generally though, rear facing convertible seats will fit better in small vehicles then infant seats: they just take up less room, especially as the baby gets older, b/c they only have to have the seat at a 45 degree angle for the first 5 months or so, and then it can be put a little more upright giving a little more room to the front.