child seat ?

[BrooKLyn]

For those with kids !!
What have you guys used to anchor the car set down? Has anyone put a kit or fabbed up there own bracket using something? Im wondering what options I have ?

[Stepper86]

Bump this, Im all so interrested. My daughter is 5 months old now, and will probably be cruising with me this summer, so I have to come up with somthing that will keep her safe in the truck. I have been toying with the idea to make a bracket so that I can use the Isofix seat I have in my BMW in the truck.

[MalibuSSwagon]

Will have to ask my parents as my mom had a square back in the mid 80's when I was a kid.

[old Rusty C10]

in all honesty a child shouldnt be in the front seat of any pickup . in NY and NJ if shes over 40 inches and i think 40 lbs its only a booster seat and she should be ok in the passenger seat by the door with the three point belt.. check with your state motor vehicles and see what they say

[manimal]

For the "CAR SEAT"(child restraints used) I put my son in the middle and pull the center belt through the back of the car seat. For the "BOOSTER SEAT" a shoulder belt has to be used....in a truck, it's by the door.

[RandyP]

I'm certain more than one person on here has a square body truck as their one and only means of transportation and it is a necessity to have a child seat mounted when they have to go somewhere and momma has the soccer van off getting groceries or something.

I'd personally install some U-bolts behind the seat for the tether strap to anchor to. When you have a child seat/infant seat properly secured with a tether strap, you've done about all you can do. I'd say the middle of a bench seat is just about as safe of a place as any in one of these full framed monsters.
My 10 year old loves riding in my 87. It's about the only time he gets to ride in the front seat of anything.

[gofastnut]

Helped a buddy make the LATCH anchor points for his 56 chevy (car). We took mild steel bar and fabbed up some hoops, like a lower case "n", then welded a piece of flatbar to that with holes drilled in it. We then bolted those to the floorboard. It's not too pretty, but everyone who has seen in thinks it's really a neat idea. I think the same idea would work for you on the square body, no airbags right?

[redsled87]

Honestly what I did with my daughter is, I put her seat on the pass side with the shoulder belt and, used those brackets on the belt that, they supply with every seat. The last two years that she rode to this one show with me, I didn't have a choice is my wife was busy. But she survived and had fun.

[cory d]

Originally Posted by MalibuSSwagon

Will have to ask my parents as my mom had a square back in the mid 80's when I was a kid.

this is when you find out you never had one and you just crawled around in the truck on the way to the store ha.

[babyJay]

Originally Posted by cory d

this is when you find out you never had one and you just crawled around in the truck on the way to the store ha.

and the band rocked!

[Stepper86]

The issue with having childseats in the front of your car is because of the airbag. Most manufacturers wount garanté that the passanger side airbag is deactivated even if your car has a factory mounted switch for turning the bag off.
Normaly I never put my daughter in the front seat, she rides in the back. My pickup is mostly used for going to car shows and cruising, so I do not see a problem with leting her ride in it with me,It´s usualy just slow speed cruising.
But the benchseat is pretty soft so I would prefer to be able to use the base for our Isofix in the pickup (I guess by Gofastnut´s description it´s what you call LATCH)
The base on ours has a leg that folds out underneath and supports against the floor,and the latches hooks on to the loops , that way the seat gets realy stable and you don´t need to use the belts to fasten it.

I hear you on the "crawling around the car" That´s how I grew up

[Goldfinger]

Bolt in a couple boat seats in the bed and your good to go down here

[81ratrodc10]

My son is 5 and my daughter is 2 they have rode in the front ofc my squares all ther e life just strap in the car seat correctlh and ull have no probs here in ct any one under the age of 16 can ride in the back off the truck if there is a restraint of dome sort
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[74 stepside]

I dont think any state could denie a child in a standard cab truck, especially if its your only ride. I could be wrong... Funny how times have changed tho. I must have spent over a 100k miles in pass side of a c10 with a lap belt as a kid.

[Squareforceone]

Originally Posted by 74 stepside

I dont think any state could denie a child in a standard cab truck, especially if its your only ride. I could be wrong... Funny how times have changed tho. I must have spent over a 100k miles in pass side of a c10 with a lap belt as a kid.

I know what you mean, i grew up in my dad's s10 loved every minute of it lol. I use to sleep in it all the time. One time i fell asleep right down by the clutch pedal they were looking for me for forever and were getting ready to call the cops when i woke up lol. Another time i fell asleep on the passenger side floor board the family mechanic took it to test the brakes and wake me up.

[meter swinger]

I have five boys and ive had them in the cc dually with me quite a bit. The one that really scares me is my 59. Ive always felt fine with them in my squares. An air bag deployed to the face of a child would be disasterous. If they are in a booster i put them in a shoulder belt, if they are in a full seat i use the lap belt and cinch the seat down. If the force of the accident is enough to rip the factory selt belt tie downs from the mounts, your probably not surviving it.
I do recall in a recent tactical driving class taught by the guards at the place i work (nuke site) that the odds of surving a crash from the rear seat are higher than the front, and with children its even more pronounced, offcousrse in respect to non-air bag front vehicles.
I think strapping them down in the methods discussed here is fine as long as they are in the height/ weight catagory of your own state.
Remember you can always go to the fire dept. And have them look over your set up and methods of tie down and tell you if your safe and compliant.
The sherrif dept will do this also.
The main thing we can all take a good dose of is that driving is inherently dangerous but even more so for our kids.
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[gofastnut]

I also remember having the CA Hiway Patrol check my strapped-in kid. The nice lady said strapping in (aka buckling in) a child is kinda like shooting a rifle or shotgun. Get them in snug, so if God-forbid something happens, they get bumped around, not slammed around. It make's sense to me, holding a rifle or shotgun loosely to the shoulder hurts when you pull the trigger. I have, from that time on, made sure the kids were buckled VERY SNUG. Not to the point of uncomfortability, but snug.
Hope this helps. Also, Stepper86, I wouldn't worry about putting them in a pick up. Your's doesn't have an air bag, and that's a problem car or truck. Good luck!

[gofastnut]

Also Stepper,
Does your Isofix use a 3 point system? Either side at the bottom and one up at the top of the seat? That's our LATCH here. Just talked to a guy who used structural bonding adhesive to put the top mount underneath the back window of his 85 Chevy. He didn't want to make holes or drill, so he called a body shop and they got him the name of a "structural bonding adhesive". He's thrilled and I think his little girl's pretty safe.

[yousesteers]

I have late model seats in mine with the integrated loops but all of our car seats show a picture right on them how to buckle in with a lap belt or shoulder belt usually a place in the back you run it through and then pull it tight. You guys talking about air bags going off would that not be a null and void point in a square body.

[BrooKLyn]

My Truck is a dually. My problem was I was trying to figure a way to use the lower anchors as well see picture in this link


Now my next thing was she is able to go in booster but in 86 there is only a hole no seat bolt anchor in factory location. Next the truck will be for sale

[motornut]

I've seen "tethers" go threw the seat belt bolt leaving the loop out to hook too

i'd want it secured to the truck body, not the just the seat
when people use 'aftermarket" or other seats with built in belts,
lives depend on how well it's bolted in,most do it well i'm sure BUT
hope comfy means secure too

[gofastnut]

I agree with you Motornut. BrooKLyn, thanks for the pic! The lower anchors we fabbed up, the top was a little different.

[rcbildr]

I you are using a booster seat might want to pull apart the seat belt retractor and make sure everything works properly. A couple years ago my oldest daughter was riding with me in my 84 Burb. We were cruising on the highway when traffic came to a sudden stop. Long story short I wasn't able to stop (hit the back of a newer F-150) in time and watched helplessly as my daughter hit the dash because the belt didn't lock. Fortunately, she wasn't hurt seriously....just a small bruise.
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[Stepper86]

Originally Posted by gofastnut

Also Stepper,
Does your Isofix use a 3 point system? Either side at the bottom and one up at the top of the seat? That's our LATCH here. Just talked to a guy who used structural bonding adhesive to put the top mount underneath the back window of his 85 Chevy. He didn't want to make holes or drill, so he called a body shop and they got him the name of a "structural bonding adhesive". He's thrilled and I think his little girl's pretty safe.

No, we only use the 2 loops at the bottom, the seat I have is a 2 pice system. there is the seat and then there is a base plate. The base plate hooks to the two loops in the car seat/bench, under the baseplate there is a foldable leg that you secure against the car floor. The child seat has spring loaded hooks that secure the seat to the base plate. When you take it out you press down a lever on each side of the seat, and it´s released from the base plate.

The reason I want to use it in the truck is that the benchseat in the truck is quite soft and I find it hard to strap down the child seat at a good angle with the belt. I think it would sit straighter and at a better angle with the base plate. The chair is built to be used with or without the plate.

[78 Chevyrado]

Originally Posted by manimal

For the "CAR SEAT"(child restraints used) I put my son in the middle and pull the center belt through the back of the car seat. For the "BOOSTER SEAT" a shoulder belt has to be used....in a truck, it's by the door.

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