extended cab vs. crew cab with car seats?

[waxworm09]

Im looking at buying a truck this month, a 01-03 f150 or silverado. I found a nice 02 f150 extended cab locally. However we are expecting our first child in a couple months and im wondering if i should stay away from the ex cab and go crew instead? Doesnt seem like there is a lot of room for a carseat in the back. Anyone have any input if there is enough space or should i pass and get something bigger? Thanks

[TR21HP]

Usually the crew cab, in both models is going to give you 9-10" more room in the back seat than the extended. I would suggest taking a car seat and seeing if there is adequate room in the extended. I never had a problem with the room in the back of an extended but car seats were a lot smaller a number of years ago.

[Tom7227]

Aren't the crew cab trucks awfully long. Make sure it will fit in your garage before you pop for one.

[Ebiz]

Had the same question last fall when I bought my Silverado and my wife was due in Feb - liked the idea of a crew cab for room and the car seat however, at least with Chevy, you're stuck with IMO a completely useless 5'3" box. Especially when one of the main reasons for getting the truck over an SUV was to be able to put my fish house in the bed and still bring the kids along or just leave it in there for extended periods of time.

I test drove an extended cab and brought it home to play around with the car seat first, I was a bit surprised but the rear-facing car seat and base do fit just fine however if I put it on the driver's side I did have to move my seat up to the point where it was a bit uncomfortable (I'm 6'2") to drive more than short distances. However if I put it on the passenger side my wife can move the seat up further and everyone has plenty of room.

Baby is 5 months now and so far the extended cab has worked out great, car seat on the passenger seat and my 5 year old sits behind me and has plenty of room and I still have the 6.5' box.

Another plus is that with way the extended cab doors open the 5 year old can't jump out of truck until I get out which has been nice in busy parking lots, etc.

[BartmanMN]

I did not like getting my kids out of the extended cab when in parking lots between other vehicles. Not the easiest thing to do. Love my crew cab now and wouldn't ever imagine going back

[Dragonsm]

Currently I have 2 kids (one is 6, the other is 15 months) and own a 02 F-150 supercab w/ 6 1/2 foot box.

Surpisingly, the toughest time with the carseats is in the infant stage. Unless you are extremely short and crank the seat all the way forward, the only place that worked for the snap in car seat base was in the middle where it could cheat up on the front seats through the middle.

Once they begin to face forward and use booster seats, it isn't an issue.

This year truck doesn't have a latch system, however using the seatbelts and properly getting them anchored down isn't an issue.

Steve

[Capt. H (Ret.)]

Time to buy a car seat and see for yourself if it fits in the trucks you are looking at. My '11 Silverado Crew handles my dog kennel just fine but then she isn't that big!!!

[dougger222]

We have 3 kids ages 29 months and twin 6 months.

I've found the x cab super duty a tight fit. The car seat hits the back seat. Have only hauled the older child in both the x cab and crew cab super duty's and the crew cab works much better. As far as hauling the whole fam prefer the mid bucket set up in the 02 Excursion over the mid bench in the 00 Excursion. We put the older child in the middle bench with the infants on each side in the older x. The newer x put the older child behind the driver seat and the infants on each side in the rear bench.

[echotrail]

I agree with other posters. I had a '01 f150 extended cab w/short box. When we became grandparents in '05 and '08 and had to put car seats in the restricted back seat space it was too tight.

Now I've got a '11 f150 crew cab w/short box and there is plenty of space even with grandchild #3 in the back. The truck fits just fine in a standard size double garage.

[SkunkedAgain]

'03 Super Crew and my Otter Cabin fits in the bed. My 2.5 year old daughter fit nicely in her infant seat, when rear-facing, and now that she is front-facing. The nice thing about having that space is the ability to easily change a diaper on the go in the back seat. If the need arises, the passenger just climbs in back and lays her down on the seat. It's also nice that I can haul around my parents when they are in town, even with the car seat.

I loved having my Ranger pre-child, but the SCrew makes things easy these days even with just one kid.

[Jmnhunter]

wax, i'm in your similar situation, we just had our 1st child and i have a 2000 f150 ext cab. we rarely drive it for family stuff, but when we do it fits fine in the center rear seat; we'll probalby have to get a crew cab a few years down the road but not worried about it right now

[ClownColor]

crew cab all the way. it is a little shorter box but have not seen any negatives from it so far. Fits my ice fishing sled (barely), four wheeler no problem, can haul two full size men in the back seat which probably has more room then in the front seats, lumbar beens no isses. as for over-all size its no larger than an extended cab (at-least my truck) in fact, its one inch smaller than my last truck.

[Ryan_V]

Ford extended cabs are not made for car seats. If you are going extended over crew, definantly get the Chevy, especially in the year range you are looking at

[fishersofmen]

I just bought an 01 Ford Screw a few weeks ago. I really wanted the new body but I found a really good deal on this crew cab and couldn't pass it up. I had a regular cab Chevy for years and I cant tell you how much I love this truck. I have 3 boys so really needed the space. My wife even loves driving this truck with the adjustable pedals and power seat. I had been looking for a while and everyone kept telling me if I got a super cab I would be sorry. Get a Screw and don't look back.