# Pickup Truck that fits 3 child seats



## MarineWife (May 1, 2004)

My dh needs a new vehicle. He wants a pickup truck. We have 3 kids in child safety seats, one rear-facing Britax Boulevard, 1 front facing Boulevard and 1 high-back booster. Does anyone have any knowledge/experience with king cab style pickups that do or do not have room for all the seats? My dh is specifically looking at a Dodge Ram 1500 Crew Cab, I think.


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## DahliaRW (Apr 16, 2005)

I don't know about the Dodge, but I did get 3 across the back of an older (2000ish) Toyota Tacoma. Turbobooster, complete air, harmony literider. I did have the CA rfing, but put it ffing for the rest of the time we borrowed the truck because dd who was over 2 kept kicking her brothers and it was distracting to me as a driver!

You probably won't get 3 across most things with britax seats, but radians or sceneras or the evenflo maestro would most likely work. To be most cost effective I'd do the scenera rfing, the maestro ffing, and then whatever booster fits.


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## MarineWife (May 1, 2004)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *DahliaRW*
> 
> You probably won't get 3 across most things with britax seats, but radians or sceneras or the evenflo maestro would most likely work. To be most cost effective I'd do the scenera rfing, the maestro ffing, and then whatever booster fits.


We've already got the seats so we aren't going to buy anymore. This will be a 2nd family vehicle and would only be used to transport all 3 kids in an emergency. There are 2 Britax and one Graco Turbobooster.

I think I've convinced my dh to look at the Ford F-150 rather than the Dodge.


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## brigala (Apr 26, 2010)

I think the Silverado has a pretty generous back seat also. If I remember correctly it's just like the 2nd row of a Suburban, and you can fit 3 across of just about anything in the 2nd row of a Suburban.


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## MarineWife (May 1, 2004)

Thanks. I did suggest the Silverado, too. It was recommended on some truck list somewhere.

It occurred to me this morning that we would only need to buy one new child car seat to have enough for both vehicles. So, now I'm searching combo booster seats. We have a Britax Frontier that works well with the 5-point harness but is a pain as a booster with the vehicle seat belt so I don't want another one of those.


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## pammysue (Jan 24, 2004)

A good friend has a recent year (2010 or 2011) Toyota Tacoma and she was easily able to fit two Britax FF and a Peg Perego bucket with base.


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## brigala (Apr 26, 2010)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MarineWife*
> We have a Britax Frontier that works well with the 5-point harness but is a pain as a booster with the vehicle seat belt so I don't want another one of those.


In my experience, all the combination seats are a pain in the butt as boosters. Usually it makes more sense, especially in tighter situations with three kids in a seat, to just get a dedicated booster seat when the time comes to move a child out of the harness.


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## MarineWife (May 1, 2004)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *brigala*
> 
> In my experience, all the combination seats are a pain in the butt as boosters. Usually it makes more sense, especially in tighter situations with three kids in a seat, to just get a dedicated booster seat when the time comes to move a child out of the harness.


My middle kid will be 5 in a few weeks but he's small. He's only about 3' tall and weighs less than 40 lbs. He still fits in the extra Britax Boulevard.

Here's what we have: 2 Britax Boulevards, one being used RF for the baby in my minivan and one being used FF in my dh's truck for our 5yo, 1 Britax Frontier that is used in the minivan with the harness for my 5yo, 1 Graco Highback Turbo that my 8yo uses. The Graco booster can be easily moved back and forth so that's not an issue. We would put the 2nd Boulevard RF in the truck for the baby so we would need something for our 5yo. A combo harness/booster makes the most sense to me. By the time he's big enough for a regular booster, our 8yo will be out of his so he can move into that one.


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## Boot (Jan 22, 2008)

How about an Evenflo Maestro for your 5 year old?


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## MarineWife (May 1, 2004)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Boot*
> 
> How about an Evenflo Maestro for your 5 year old?


Ha! Funny you should mention that one because it is being discussed in another thread where I suggested it. People seem to be against it but I'm not really clear on why.


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## Boot (Jan 22, 2008)

I've never owned a Maestro but I think it might work for your situation. It harnesses to 50# and apparently it is outgrown as a booster about the same time but that gives you over 10# and you have a dedicated booster to pass down. It's cheap, light and reasonably narrow. I considered it for my ds but it only harnesses to 47# in Canada and it seemed very light and flimsy to me after the Radian so I went with the Nautilus instead.


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## chickabiddy (Jan 30, 2004)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MarineWife*
> 
> Ha! Funny you should mention that one because it is being discussed in another thread where I suggested it. People seem to be against it but I'm not really clear on why.


It's an excellent choice for a <40# 5yo -- it should keep him harnessed until he is of a safe age and size to use a booster properly. It's a much less excellent choice for a 46# 3yo -- that child will almost certainly outgrow the harness weight limit before he is ready to use a booster, which means that the parents will have to purchase yet another harnessed seat, which is expensive and wasteful.


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## MarineWife (May 1, 2004)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *chickabiddy*
> 
> It's an excellent choice for a <40# 5yo -- it should keep him harnessed until he is of a safe age and size to use a booster properly. It's a much less excellent choice for a 46# 3yo -- that child will almost certainly outgrow the harness weight limit before he is ready to use a booster, which means that the parents will have to purchase yet another harnessed seat, which is expensive and wasteful.


Thanks. That was eventually explained in the other thread. My 8yo isn't even 50 lbs. yet so I don't think there's much worry about my kids growing out of the harness too soon.


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## DahliaRW (Apr 16, 2005)

Just to chip in we have a maestro and it's great as long as you don't have a short, heavy child. My kids love the cupholders!


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## MarineWife (May 1, 2004)

oh, yeah, cupholders are a must!


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## dogmom327 (Apr 19, 2007)

DH is looking at Dodge trucks right now too so this is the only reason I know this...might want to look at the safety info for the 1500's. They supposedly are one of the most unsafe vehicles on the road


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## MarineWife (May 1, 2004)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dogmom327*
> 
> DH is looking at Dodge trucks right now too so this is the only reason I know this...might want to look at the safety info for the 1500's. They supposedly are one of the most unsafe vehicles on the road


Thanks. I talked him out of the Dodge because they get low ratings on the consumer sites. We got a Ford F-150 supercrew cab. It is huge! Definitely no problem at all fitting all the car seats in the back, a RF Boulevard, Graco Highback Turbobooster and Graco Nautilus for anyone else who might need to know.


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