Car Seats in a Double Cab Tacoma

Maybe this will be helpful to some of you guys with small children, or if you're planning on having children, and need to haul them around in your Tacoma. My Wife drives a Sienna so when we're all together, then we almost always take her van, but occasionally we need to take my truck.

My daughter has been riding in a Chicco NextFit. She's about 2.5 years old, and rides front-facing behind the passenger seat. The Nextfit is an AWESOME car seat. It is so easy to install correctly, my daughter seems to be very comfortable while riding in it, the upholstery is easy to remove for cleaning, and I believe it gets very high marks for safety too. However, it's huge, and it takes up a lot of space both front to back and side to side. My daughter is tall, and I had to keep the passenger seat slid up pretty far to give her some leg room. I'm 6' tall, and my knees would touch the glove box while sitting in the passenger seat. My son is a little over 6 months old, and has been riding in a Chicco KeyFit 30, which is one of those car seats with a base and an infant carrier. Again, the KeyFit is an excellent car seat, with the same positive and negative characteristics as the NextFit. I had the base installed in the center location of the rear seat using the seat belt. This has worked great, but my son is getting a little to heavy to haul around in that infant carrier, so it was time to buy another car seat.

I decided to focus on a new seat for my daughter. My goal was to find a seat that would:

1: keep her safe and comfortable
2: take up less space than the NextFit

I purchased a Diono Radian RXT. This seat is neither as wide nor as deep as the NextFit. I have been able to move my passenger seat back a couple of notches, and my daughter still has plenty of leg room. I reinstalled the NextFit in the center location of the back seat, and in the rear-facing mode for my son to ride in. In this configuration, I'm still unable to access the storage compartments behind and underneath the rear seat, because the Chicco's width extends over the outboard seat. Therefore, I think I'm going to buy another Radian RXT for my son, and that should allow me to haul both my kids around safely and comfortably with the added bonus of being able to use some of the trucks built in storage compartments.

Diono Radian RXT for my daughter:

Chicco NextFit for my son:

The Chicco NextFit, and especially the Diono Radian RXT will NOT fit rear-facing behind the driver's or passenger's seat, and still allow someone to sit comfortably in those seats. Again, I hope this is helpful to any of you guys with young ones.

Take care, and Happy Halloween!

 

Thanks for the info, I think I will look at the Dino Radian RXT for my little 2 1/2 yr old daughter.

 

My daughter has ridden in the Diono about a half dozen times so far, and she has fallen asleep in it a couple of times. She really seems to like it!

 

good to know my 5 month old rides rear facing with a graco quick connect but ill tag this for when I buy her front facing seat. Thanks

 

you know why kids fall asleep while riding? because it is a sign of motion sickness FYI

 

nice. I have a diono radian rxt for my 3 yr old, and 2 chicco keyfit 30's for my 4 month old twins. radian rxt is key. without it, I doubt I'd fit 3 across when I need to.

 

Wait, you don't just strap them to the roof? well shit, you learn something new everyday!

My 5 month old is currently in a graco quick connect and that thing takes up quite a bit of space, but good to know about this carseat. At the rate he is growing, he will be driving soon.

 

My folks live on a seldom traveled dirt road. Occasionally, once we get to the top of their road, I'll get my 2.5 y/o daughter out of her seat, and let her sit in my lap and "drive" the rest of the way. It's only about 1/10 of a mile or so, and it's straight as an arrow. She loves it!

 

Did not know this.

Have the Diono Rainier in my truck for my 3yo. Was thinking of getting another for my 1yo. I like the way it fits in the truck and how it can be used for a long time.

 

No issues here with our Britax rear facing car seat.

 

Those are nice too. Have one in my wife's car.

 

You made that up didn't you. Doesn't really make sense to me why that would be the case.

 

i think its true. anyways, what brand seat covers do you use and where did you get that protector thing that is hanging behind the driver seat? it looks very practical

 

Carhartt/CoverCraft seat covers.
I think kick mat came from Amazon.
This one is similar.

 

very nice. ty

 

UPDATE:

I purchased a second Diono Radian RXT for my Son to ride in. This car seat replaces the Chicco NextFit, which I moved to my Wife's Sienna. I installed this Radian RXT in the center position of the back seat, and in the rear facing configuration.

The Radian is a tall seat. My only installation option was in the center location of the rear seat allowing the back of the restraint to sit between the front seats. It fits great!



I mentioned in my original post that the Diono/Chicco combination did not allow access to the storage compartments behind and underneath the rear seats. I am happy to report that with two Radian RXT's installed side by side that I have regained easy access to some of the trucks built in storage compartments!



Again, maybe this will be helpful to some of you folks with Kiddos...

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Here's my new setup:

 

My take on the double cab and car seats is this: if you have more than one kid, or want to use the front passenger seat, look into getting another vehicle - this is not a good family car.

I have two, three month old boys in Chicco KeyFit rear facing seats. You have to move the front seats up so far, you have no legroom left. My knees are on the dash and the wife is against the glove box. Other rear facing seats are a little better, but this truck has too small of a backseat.

If there won't be a front passenger, you can put a seat behind there and the other in the middle position to give the driver a little extra room, but still, it's tight. And I'm 6 foot 180, so not a very big dude.

If you are considering a double cab because your family has gotten larger, definitely test fit all the car seats and corresponding position of the front seats before you sign the dotted line. Between this and the supercharger being discontinued, had I known this 3 years ago, the Taco never would have been up for consideration.

 

We're actually considering selling the Tacoma for a Land Cruiser or an LX450. Not enough room in the back with 3 car seats at all.

 

Probably not a bad idea. Three kids is full size territory!