Car seats in regular cab pickup?

[dockedwages]

I bought a new F-150 stripped down work truck on Wednesday.2 door. long bed, ac, just a simple work truck that the company can ruin for $14,000. I will drive this truck on occasion and have to pick up our 14 month old from day care. 10 minute ride home from daycare in a car seat in the passenger seat. My wife made me take the truck back to the dealer and said there is no way her kid is riding in the front seat of a truck in a car seat. The air bag on the passenger side turns off when 60 lbs is present in the seat. Is she justified in throwing a major fit and making me buy another truck?

[Scarab Babe]

Put the carseat in the MIDDLE of the seat. There should be an extra strap to make it more secure already attached to the carseat. Also - at 14 months, you should still be able to make the baby/carseat face towards the rear - that might help. Even on our four door F350, my 14 month old granddaughter rides in the middle of the backseat. Two reasons - side impacts won't get to her AND she can see out better and it makes it more enjoyable for her.

Your airbag - turn all airbags off in the seat where anyone under 5'3" is going to be... I know, being only 5' - airbags can pop my head off like a dandilion...

[bsloop]

Dont know what state you are in, but it is leagle in most to have a car seat in the front if that is the only full seat. Single cab and old club cab pickups, coupes etc.

Turn off the air bags and dont worry.

[Scarab Babe]

Sloop - you have that baby yet? Isn't it close to time??????

[SSNLO]

I have a single cab Chevy and we Put our 16 month old in the middle.....It has a 60/40 bench

[Tackleshep]

Sounds to me like your not asking a legality question but a "I think my wife is being unreasonable" question.

To which the simple response is.......

Don't you dare bring me into this mess, I have my own problems to deal with.

Seriously the airbag should be shut off by key, and make sure you have the seat in very tight and your legal......but I don't think thats going to help you.

[csheldon]

In a new Ford pickup the airbag is regulated by a sensor in the seat determining the approx. weight of the passenger and will deploy accordingly. I don't think you can shut the bag off. I could in my 04, not my the 06 and 08Notice when you place light weight stuff, purses and such on the seat the bag is off. They are engineered like that to avoid injury to smaller peeps vs larger peeps, and also so you don't waste deployed when a person is not in the seat.

I respect your wifes concern, just keep the child in the middle. I don't think your wife really wants to take the beating by trading the new truck in already. I would suggest taking her to the dealership and have them explain the system to her. I have had to do that to customers. If I have a chance this weekend I will try to pull some info off of Fords training website for you.

[bsloop]

Sloop - you have that baby yet? Isn't it close to time??????

March 8th the doc says so anytime its possible.

Already have bases for each vehicle and test fitted, bring on the little one

[csheldon]

I don't know if this will help you any or if it just confuses the issue. Your owners manual will also be a good place for info, I know who reads them. Again your sales rep has access to a ton of safety material, ask him to print the eSource info for you. If he won't let me know, I can mail it to you its about 65 pages. Alot of info Ford would not let me cut and paste. The important thing is to ease your wifes concerns.




Personal Safety System®The Personal Safety System® offers a number of different features working together to help protect the driver and right front passenger in the event of a collision. The system is able to adjust the deployment of the airbags to enhance protection for front occupants, depending on a number of factors. It does this with the help of several components:

Personal Safety System Restraint Control Module (RCM) – a sophisticated computer located under the instrument panel at the front edge of the passenger compartment
Electronic crash severity sensor – provides the RCM with an early indication of the severity of the impact
Driver's-seat position sensor – tells the RCM where the driver's seat is in relation to the steering wheel. If the sensor determines that the seat is close to the steering wheel, a lower power airbag deployment is activated
Front outboard safety belt usage sensors – monitors whether the driver and right front passenger are buckled up
Front outboard safety belt pretensioners – once the RCM determines a collision is taking place, the front safety belts are tightened (pre-tensioned), helping to better position the belts on the occupants and restrain front outboard passengers more effectively
Front outboard safety belt energy management retractors – once the safety belts have restrained front-seat occupants by deploying the safety belt pretensioners, the retractors gradually allow the safety belts to loosen, if necessary, helping reduce the force of the safety belts on the occupants' chests and allowing the occupants to move forward into the airbags
Dual-stage Driver and Right Front Passenger Airbags – provides the capability of deploying in the full-powered mode, or with less power in the Stage 1 mode. In less-severe frontal crashes, airbags inflate with less force – or not at all – helping to reduce the risk of injury due to the inflation of the airbag
Front Passenger Sensing System (FPSS) – uses the front passenger seat weight sensor and safety belt tension sensor to detect the presence of a properly seated person and determine if the front passenger frontal airbag should or should not be deployed. It's designed to recognise three conditions: when the front seat is empty, when a small person is present, or when an adult is seated in the front passenger seat
The “passenger airbag off” lamp on the display panel is illuminated when the airbag is disabled for a small adult or child, or properly installed child restraint
Intelligent Safety System™The Intelligent Safety System™ uses many of the same features as the Personal Safety System as well as specific enhancements to help take Explorer and Sport Trac to a new level of safety. Intelligent Safety System includes the following:

Enhanced Restraint Control Module (RCM) – determines the setting and deployment of each adaptive restraint device, based on occupant position, classification, safety belt usage, and crash severity
Adaptive Multi-load-limiting Safety Belt Retractors – allows for multiple levels of load limiting across the occupant's chest by using an electronically controlled mechanism
Adaptive Airbag Venting (driver and front passenger) – diverts inflation gases from the airbag when a less forceful bag is sufficient for the desired level of occupant protection
Adaptive Passenger Airbag Tether – controls the size and shape of the airbag
Adaptive Steering Column – depending on occupant size, identifies appropriate energy management setting for the column to collapse properly
Driver's-seat Track Position Sensor – monitors driver's-seat position and helps to determine airbag inflation, airbag venting, safety belt load limiting level, and steering column energy absorption setting, which helps minimise injury in the event of an out-of-position occupant

[sanpan25]

I appreciate your wifes concern.

BUT.........I never rode a bike with a hemet, our steel dashboard car didn't have seat belts, and with 3 brothers and 3 sisters, none ever rode in car seat. We all survived............

Personally I rather be in a truck if there was a wreck. Strap the car seat down, and look at the air bag light, I believe it will show you it is off. When hauling precious cargo drive carefully NO CELL PHONE.


JMHO....be careful

[Nauti Nauti]

If the firehouse in your neighborhood is a paid department they can either install that carseat right and safe or guide you to a place that will. If your ever around St. Louis County your more than welcome to come by our firehouse and we will put it in. Most of our guys go through a 40hr class just to install carseats and are certified through the state. The answer to your question for your lovely wife is> The safest spot for your child is in the middle in a rear seat. The next safest spot is the passenger side rear,because most side impact collisions happen on the driver side. However they do make these trucks for use of carseats in the front. You can turn the airbag off and you should. Your child will be safe if it is installed correctly.

[Lakerat]

Mrs. LakeRat agrees with the posts. She teaches/certifies Car Seat technicians....Keep the truck