Help!
I’ve been pondering this question for months. I currently have a van, with no safety cage, and I occasionally need to carry my 3 yo from/to daycare. I know this is not a good situation. A new vehicle is on the horizon, and potentially another child. So is my only option to by a four door truck? Do we get a third car that I leave at home and rush home from work to switch vehicles before rushing off to the daycare? Or do I look for an extended cab that can accomodate a toddler car seat in the back. If I was a rich man (or more accustomed to big car payments) I would just go shopping for new, but, alas I’m not. Has anyone else dealt with this issue? What did you come up with?
Replies
I use an assortment of tool trailers (one for framing one plumbing and one trim plus trash and materials handling, five total) Then all I need to carry in my astro van are my personal tools and warrantee tools, two cordless drills, cordless sawzall, skill saw and various tool boxes. Whole shooting match fits behind the back seat if I put it in the full forward position. mostly built around a big drawer box that is bloted to a big piece of plywood that extends foreward under the back seat, pinning it behind the seat in case of a roll over.
The I remove the middle seat so it's a long long reach to the two kids in the far back but I can fill it up with light fixtures and all the stuff I run in and out of the van during the course of the day and I can still fit the wife and two or three kids in the back safely in the afternoon and an amp and a few guitars at night.
Only problem is that with all the weight in the very far back I can't set my toe-in correctly on the front tires so I need to rotate them pretty faithfully.
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"You cannot work hard enough to make up for a sloppy estimate."
I have a friend that had the same problem... she mounted a mid bench seat from a 15 passenger van behind the drivers seat.. it's only like 3/4 of a bench seat holds 2 car seats... she lost some space but it worked for her...
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I would think that if you're going to the effort to provide seats and car seats for your kids, you would want their seat belts to be properly anchored, and this probably precludes using a kludged together solution.
But I could be wrong. It's simply my preference.
I've got a crew cab truck to haul my kids. With my work, I need a truck not a van. If a van works for you, I recommend what the others have said about adding a seat. Up until a couple of months ago, I had 3 car seats in the back seat. One finally outgrew the seat and now I'm down to two seats.
John
J.R. Lazaro Builders, Inc.
Indianapolis, In.
When I bought my van I bought an extended model for just that reason. If I have to, I can put in one row of seats and still have enough room for 4x8 stock.
Had the same trouble, 2 seater box truck. Bought a large used passenger 6 cyl. car with a large trunk as a second vehicle. Used it to go on appointments to bid jobs because it was easier on gas and still could fit a goodly amount in it for small projects. (8'-0 board front to rear dash and a table saw in the trunk.) Paid $1k for it. lasted two years plus tires, insur. Drop my kids at school, then home for the big truck if I needed to.
How y' feel about Cadillacs? Suburban?
Best to you and yours, Chris.
Some say I know too much? Can you ever?
I posted a similar question a while ago:
http://forums.taunton.com/tp-breaktime/messages?msg=72632.1
I still haven't found the "perfect" solution because I want anything that I come up with to be at least as safe as if it would have been for a passenger van. I could simply screw a third seat to the t&g plywood floor I have in the van, but I doubt that it would hold up in case of an accident.
I was actually sort of hoping that someone would point me to an aftermarket seat manufacturer that made a safe, removable third seat. If there was a seat that fit between the 2 front bucket seats, that would be even better.
My need for a third seat is getting less (kids are off at college, etc), while your need is growing. If I were in your shoes, I would seriously consider getting a "run-around-town-beater" car. I'll have one of those soon since we'll be getting my wife a new car (probably the Honda Fit) and we'll be hanging onto the family minivan ('97 Chevy Venture).
Yeah, that is definitely one option. My wife drives a '97 Honda Passport (same as Isuzu Rodeo) 30 miles each way to work. I'm thinking we should get her a cheaper car to drive (Honda is 6 cyl), then I can have the Honda, heck, maybe I'll even come up with a roof rack for small lumber loads/ladders. I wonder how often I really need to drive the van anyway. I bet with good planning I could leave the van at home at least 50% of the time. However, then we would be a two-driver, three-car family with no off street parking. Oh, its just sooo complicated.
I think the scariest thing is the weight and potential kinetic enerrgy of all the sharp pointy bits that could get loose and kick your butt if given the oppurtunity. Crew cab pickups with a short bed could do pretty well for you. You have atleast 2 layers of metal inbetween the stuff that helps you work and the stuff that you love. It is a PITA to crawl around in the bed to get the thing you need that has slid fowards. (by a contractor cap with side access..)
I think you've hit on something here.
I've been thinking of designing a 3rd seat (between existing)for full sized vans and getting it DOT approved with a bottom seat cushion that folds up for files, back folds down for desk and a seatbelt attached.
Let me know if you find something.
I've needed this more and more and not just for my 14month old but also for when I have the need to transport more than 1 helper to site.
Does anyone else need this?
"Never argue with an idiot, he'll drag you down to his level and beat you with experience."
"Someone who thinks they know, will never learn." -Dennis
Suburban sounds like your answer to me. Remove the third row seat. Put a safety cage behind the rear seat. You've got a lot of dry, lockable room in back for tools. Sheet goods will have to go up top, which sucks, but not as much as seeing one of your kids get hurt would. Put a good rack of the roof and it'll also carry your ladders, long tools, etc. Most of that type of stuff can be locked to the roof with a kryptonite bike lock or a cable type lock, and or an 8- 12" diamter PVC tube with a locking cap.