In this article, we have selected the best car seat for extended cab trucks. Our top 3 choices are highlighted below.
Traveling with kids can be challenging and quite risky if they are small. Essential safety equipment without which it is illegal to drive is a car seat.
However, if you own an extended cab truck, then the task of selecting a car seat can be tedious for you. This is because not all car seats can be installed in an extended cab truck.
Car seats with LATCH are perfect for such vehicles and also ensures the safety of your child.
We have selected for you the best car seats for pickup trucks from a collection of 25-30 top-quality car seats by spending a lot of time on research.
How To Select The Best Car Seat For Extended Cab Truck
Safety
The child’s safety is the utmost priority while traveling, and if your child is young and you travel alone, then it can be quite difficult to handle your kid and drive carefully at the same time.
Due to this reason, you must go for a car seat that has a LATCH system. Such seats are easy to install and also ensure your child’s safety. The majority of the best car seats for a crab crew truck also have side protective panels for enhanced protection.
Orientation
There are mainly two types of orientations possible for the car seat at the rear of your pickup truck. The seat can either be front or rear-facing.
The rear-facing sitting position is considerably safer in comparison to a front-facing sitting position. You should select an extra car seat that can easily switch between both positions without any hassle.
You can constantly keep an eye on your kid while driving with this feature. Also, such a seat grows with your child, and you can easily use them for kids aging 2 to 12 years.
Installation
The installation plays a major role in deciding the utility of such a product. If the installation process of your car seat is easy and simple, then more people would be interested in buying them.
The majority of the buyers that purchase an extended car seat for their pickup trucks are either parents or grandparents, due to which they might face some problems while installing complex mechanisms. Car seats that can be attached with simple buckles or latches are the best.
Adjustability
Adjustable car seats are much better than ones that are rigid and cannot be customized. Kids have different body shapes and sizes, so it is easier for you to have the ability to change the size of the seat, headrest, and so on.
Some of these car seats also come with additional accessories such as cup holders, removable cushions, and so on. An extra car seat that has adjustable armrests will create more room for the child to sit.
You might like to read: Best Car Seat For Baby With Reflux
Seat Type
It is important that you consider the type of seat and cushioning your extra seat has. There should be a perfect balance between a solid base and the cushion.
If the base is too rough or solid, the kid will not sit comfortably. Similarly, if the base is not right and the cushioning is extra, you will feel uncomfortable while sitting.
Other features
It is always nice to go for extra car seats with additional accessories that might help to improve your entire experience. Some car seats for pickup trucks are very easy to clean and maintain because of the special fabric.
This unique fabric does not accumulate dust or germs, and you can easily clean it with the help of a wet cloth.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1: Will a car seat fit in an extended cab truck?
Ans: An extended cab truck is ideal for people that don’t travel a lot with friends or family. When a kid or a child needs to travel with you in your cab, they will find the back seat very uncomfortable.
You can easily fit a car seat in your extended cab truck. You would not require to purchase or install an additional child seat in your cab.
Q2: Will a car seat fit in an extended cab Silverado?
Ans: Yes, you can simply fit a car seat in an extended cab Silverado. A Silverado is a full-size pickup truck sold by General Motors under Chevrolet.
You will find more room at the back of a Silverado in comparison to standard pickup trucks. Due to this extra room, you can fit an additional car seat. Most of the common pickup trucks don’t have a rear seat at all.
You might like to read: Best Car Seat For Dodge Ram Quad Cab
Q3: Can you put a baby seat in a dual cab truck?
Ans: You can put a baby seat in a dual cab truck as the original rear or back seat of a pickup truck is uncomfortable to sit on.
The rear seat of a pickup truck is dangerous, especially for kids, as there is no immediate support for them to grab on and the short rear cushion at the back is pretty uneasy to sit on.
Q4: Can a car seat fit in an f150 extended cab?
Ans: Yes, you can fit a car seat in an f150 extended cab; instead, you can also fit up to three car seats in its roomy rear. You can fit more extra car seats if you go for a smaller and compact seat in its looks.
The F150 pickup truck has wide and spacious legroom of 43.9 inches. Some people also prefer to use rear-facing car seats installed in their extended cabs.
Reviews Of The 6 Best Car Seats For Extended Cab Truck
#1 Cosco Apt Convertible Car Seat
Features
- Orientation: 9.5/10
- Safety: 9/10
- Adjustability: 9.5/10
- Seat type: 9/10
- Other features: 9/10
Technical Specifications
- Color: Vibrant blue
- Material: Combination of plastic and fabric
- Dimension: 30.4 x 23 x 16.5 inches
- Maximum weight capacity: 50 pounds
- Installation type: Simple car seat LATCH installation
Bottom line
This is the best car seat for a pickup truck as it also has two additional cup holders on its sides. These holders will allow your child to eat and drink easily along the journey.
Pros
- Dual orientation and can be used as a front-facing and rear-facing seat.
- The upholstery is easy to wash and clean.
- Very comfortable for kids during long drives.
- The seat has passed all the safety tests of America.
Cons
- The cover of this car seat can slide off easily.
- The bottom of this car seat might be too rough for a few car interiors.
Detailed Features
- Orientation: This car seat for extended-cab trucks has a dual-orientation; that is, it can be used as a front-facing and rear-facing seat. Due to this feature, you can easily rotate the seat, and the rear-facing position is much safer than the front-facing position. You can communicate or interact with your kid while facing them in the front position.
- Safety: Your child’s safety while sitting in a cab truck is the major concern due to which parents purchase an extended cab seat. This car seat has extra side impact panels that will protect the rider from all directions. Along with the side panels, you also get a safer rear-facing option in this car seat. The safety locks on this car seat are strong to ensure the child’s safety at every stage.
- Adjustable: This car seat is among the best car seats for crew cab trucks, as you would not have to purchase other seats when your child grows. This extended car seat has a height-adjustable harness, and this harness can adjust up to 5 different settings.
- Seat Type: The car seat is a convertible car seat with a five-point center harness. The seat can be easily converted from front to rear and vice-versa as per the requirement. Also, the 5 point harness ensures maximum safety of the child.
- Comfortable: The heavily cushioned seat on this car seat makes the ride of the user comfortable. Children that are up to a maximum weight of 50 pounds can easily travel in this car seat. This car seat is made from plastic and breathable fabric, due to which there is less sweating.
- Washable: All know that children are in the habit of making a mess while eating and drinking. This makes cleaning and washing a chore. The special cover on this car seat, along with its unique design, makes cleaning this car seat an easy task.
#2 Evenflo Convertible Car Seat
Features
- Orientation: 9/10
- Safety: 9/10
- Adjustability: 8/10
- Seat type: 8/10
- Other features: 7/10
Technical Specifications
- Color: Saturn/Gray
- Material: 100% polyester
- Dimension: 18.5 x 22 x 25.5 inches
- Maximum weight capacity: 40 pounds
- Installation type: Easy to install with latches
Bottom Line
You should buy this convertible car seat for your pickup truck as it is pretty affordable, and you get top-notch quality.
Pros
- The extra safety features make the seat perfect for infants and toddlers.
- The seat comes with dual orientation.
- It offers great adjustability features for small and big kids.
- Highly comfortable seat.
- Even useful for older kids.
Cons
- Some people might find the latching system to be complicated.
- Exceeding the mentioned weight limit will cause the seat to malfunction.
Detailed Features
- Dual orientation: This extra car seat for kids can rotate 360 degrees. Due to this feature, you get a dual-orientation facility. You can use this feature to distract your kid while driving as things generally amuse them.
- Safety: This convertible car seat has passed all safety standards set by the Federal government. You will also get additional side impact panels on your seat. The unique ability of these side panels is that they can withstand high-intensity impact without causing any damage to the user. The integrity of this convertible chair is twice the integrity of a standard extra car seat for kids.
- Adjustability: Adjustability on the extra car seat is a concern, especially if your child is growing. If the car seat is not customizable according to your body, then you would have to purchase an extra car seat again sometime. This seat is among the best car seats for pickup trucks as it has an upfront adjusting harness and a release buckle for quick locking and unlocking.
- Seat Type: The seat type is a convertible car seat that converts from a rear-facing car seat to a front-facing 5 point harness, as well as a high back belt-positioning booster that can be used on growing children.
- Comfort: The seat on this extra car seat is made from 100% polyester, and it also has an integrated body cushion. This special cushion provides ultimate relief to the baby as it conforms to their body shape.
- Extra features: This convertible car seat has an additional removable pillow suitable for slightly older kids. Removing this extra pillow will create more room for them to rest their head.
#3 Safety First Convertible Car Seat
Features
- Orientation: 8/10
- Safety: 9/10
- Adjustability: 8/10
- Seat Type: 8/10
- Other features: 8.5/10
Technical Specifications
- Color: Chambers
- Material: Fabric
- Dimension: 20.2 x 18.5 x 27.2 inches
- Maximum weight capacity: 40 pounds
- Installation type: Latches and buckle
Bottom Line
You should get this best car seat for a crew cab truck because of its compact design. This convertible car seat can fit at the back of even small pickup trucks easily. This car seat can easily fill the three seats at the back, making it ideal for growing families.
Pros
- The seat comes with front and rear orientation.
- It is very compact and suitable for small cars also.
- The seats are very comfortable.
- It has passed all the American safety tests.
Cons
- Some people might struggle with installation.
- The fabric on this car seat is not completely breathable.
Detailed Features
- Dual orientation: You can use this extra car seat in two ways: a front seat that can withstand up to 65 pounds and a rear seat that can withstand 40 pounds comfortably.
- Size: This car seat can easily fold, due to which you can fit it inside your pickup truck even if you have less room at the back. This convertible car seat can fit inside small pickup trucks without any hassle.
- Adjustable: You get a five-point harness at the front of this extra car seat. Using this harness, you can easily install this chair in place. This harness would not unlock even when put under a lot of strain and stress.
- Comfortable: You will also get an adjustable headrest and a removable soft pillow with this chair. You can use this feature to calibrate the size of the headrest according to the kid’s size.
- Seat Type: This car seat is a convertible car seat with 5 point harness heights and three buckle locations that ensures a proper fit. The five points are the two shoulders, two hips, and one in between the legs.
- Safe: The use of revolutionary side impact technology on this car seat makes it the ultimate car seat for kids. The solid and tough back on this car seat will protect the spine and back from heavy impact.
#4 Britax One4Life ClickTight All-In-One Car Seat
Features:
- Safety: 8.5/10
- Orientation: 8.7/10
- Installation: 8.9/10
- Adjustability:8.5/10
- Seat Type: 8.7/10
- Other features:8.2/10
Technical Specifications:
- Installation type: Latch
- Material: Polyester and Nylon
- Color: 7 color choices to choose from
- Dimension:20.5 x 19.5 x 25 inches
- Maximum weight capacity (rear and front) 50pounds rear and 120 pounds front
Pros
- Seats can be easily installed in 3 simple steps.
- The seat can be used for infants to children upto ten years of age.
- Car seats weighing capacity is 5 to 120 pounds & with a height of up to 63 inches tall.
- Easy to install in 3 easy steps
Cons
- The seat can be a bit bulky to place in the car.
- Some covers of the car seat aren’t removable making cleaning difficult.
Bottom line
If you need a car seat to last upto ten years for your child, Britax one4life car seat is for you.
Detailed Features
- Safety: This car seat from Britax is built on a high-strength steel frame that reinforces and keeps the seat structure stable while the v-shaped tether slows and reduces movement. Dual layers of protection from side impact surround the child’s head, neck, and torso, and the safe cell technology absorbs crash energy while it crumbles.
- Orientation: The convertible car seat from Britax is rear-facing for infants and forward-facing for toddlers to kids upto the age of 10.
- Installation: The seats come with a click-tight installation feature making the installation an easy process in just three steps. The steps required for seat installation are a pinch to open, thread and buckle and lastly, click to close feature. This keeps the seat installation secure and tight.
- Adjustability: The 15 position quick-adjust headrest and harness accompanied by the nine-position quick push recline helps find the utmost comfortable recline position. This makes seat adjustability easy.
- Seat Type: The seat type is a convertible car seat that converts from a rear-facing car seat to a front-facing 5 point harness as well as a high back belt-positioning booster that can be used on growing children with a height upto 63inches tall and weighing upto 120 pounds
- Other features: The car seat fabric comes with a safe wash cover fabric which is easy to clean in machine wash. The seat has storage spaces in the form of cupholders and space below the seat for the car seat manual.
#5 Maxi-Cosi Pria 3-in-1 Convertible Car Seat
Features
- Safety: 8.5/10
- Orientation: 8.5/10
- Installation: 8.8/10
- Adjustability:8.5/10
- Seat Type: 8.5/10
- Other features: 8/10
Technical Specifications
- Installation type: One-Click Latch Installation
- Material: Padded Cushion
- Color: 8 color choices to choose from
- Dimension:25.25 x 24 x 19.88 inches
- Maximum weight capacity (rear and front) 40 pounds rear and 65 pounds front
Pros
- The seat is designed to provide a perfect fit for your kids from birth to 10 years.
- The in and out harness holders keep the straps out of the away while buckling the car seat.
- The seat has a weighing capacity hold of 4 to 100 lbs, able to accommodate growing kids.
- The car seat is made from premium fabric to provide superior comfort to a child.
Cons
- Cleaning the car seat can be a bit of a difficult task.
Bottom line
If you need a car seat providing the utmost comfort for your infant, Maxi-Cosi Pria 3-in-1 convertible car seat is for you.
Detailed Features
- Safety: The car seat comes with superior safety features as it is backed by 30 years of European engineering, which exceeds all federal standards. The g cell side impact protection built into the headrest provides cushioning the impact and protects the child’s head where cushioning is needed the most for protection.
- Orientation: In the car seat, children weighing from 4 to 40 pounds can ride rear-facing, and children weighing 65 pounds ride in forward-facing and up to 100 pounds in booster mode
- Installation: The seat has a quick and simple installation with one-click latch connectors for an easy installation
- Adjustability: The seat comes with an adjustable headrest. The QuickFit shoulder harness automatically raises the shoulder harness and the headrest height. The three-position recline helps in the easier and faster installation of the seat in the car. This helps in car seat adjustments correctly.
- Seat Type: The seat type is easy in and out, keeping the straps out of the way while buckling. The removable infant pillow provides extra support and comfort. Since the seat is an all-in-one convertible car seat, it fits children from infants to 10 years old.
- Other features: The seat comes with two cupholders which are easy to remove and dishwasher safe. The soft-touch cushioning with premium fabric and padding throughout provides utmost comfort to kids while traveling.
#6 Chicco NextFit Zip Convertible Car Seat
Features
- Safety: 8.5/10
- Orientation: 8.5/10
- Installation: 8.5/10
- Adjustability:8.8/10
- Seat type: 8/10
- Other features:
Technical Specifications
- Installation type: Super Cinch system with the installed LATCH system
- Material: Comfort flex padded comfort
- Color: 10 color choices to choose from
- Dimension:21″ x 19″ x 26″
- Maximum weight capacity (rear and front) 40 pounds rear and 65 pounds front
Pros
- Right ride selection indicates the correct angle of the car seat.
- SuperCinch tensioner helps in proper installation with the LATCH system.
Cons
- The car seat can be a bit bulky for certain users.
Bottom line
This car seat is highly comfortable, accompanied by an easy installation system, making it ideal for parents and grandparents for placing and installing.
Detailed Features
- Safety: The car seat’s Duoguard side impact protection provides two layers with energy-absorbing foam and a deep rigid shell. This ensures the safety of your child from side impacts.
- Orientation: The car seat can be rear-facing as well as forward-facing. The Ride Right technology ensures that the dual-level indicators on the seat indicate the correct angle of the seat accurately in rear-facing and forward-facing installation.
- Installation: The car seat comes with an easy-to-install SuperCinch tensioner attached to the LATCH system, which helps achieve a secure and precise fit with minimal effort.
- Adjustability: The seat comes with nine reclining positions and header heights that can be changed with one hand. This helps in adjusting and securing a comfortable fit for your child. The recline system provides nine recline options. This helps in adapting the seat to a wide range of vehicles.
- Seat Type: The seat shell is reinforced with a steel frame and comes with Comfort flex, referred to as the padded seats of car seats.
- Other features – The seats have an attached cup holder providing storage space for the user.
My Top 3 Car Seat For Extended Cab Truck
Car seats are essential gear, especially when you travel with your children. They not only keep your children in place but also ensure their safety while driving.
Let me highlight three options as a final summary of my review:
The best option is the Cosco Apt Convertible Car Seat. This is because it has a dual-orientation; that is, it can be used as a front-facing and rear-facing seat. It is also equipped with a LATCH system hence easy to install in your extended cab truck.
The Evenflo Convertible Car Seat is another great choice. This convertible car seat has passed all safety standards set by the Federal government. Also, the seat on this extra car seat is made from 100% polyester, and it also has an integrated body cushion for added comfort.
If you are looking for a value for money option, you can also consider the Safety First Convertible Car Seat, which offers great features like dual-orientation, safety, and adjustability at a very reasonable price point.