Carseat Advice for Quad Cab Truck

If you want to disable the passenger side air bag just pull the fuse. Assuming that your truck has separate fuses for driver side and passenger side air bags. Some do, some don't in my experience.

fordservicecontent.com/Ford_Content/catalog/owner_guides/99f23og4e.pdf
If you dont have owners manual, seating & safty use pages 82-106 with several sections on child seat use.
Also truck can be retro fitted with tether system. I believe kits are no charge (page 106), but unsure about installation-
Local police dept, DMV, possibly fire department might be better source than our opinions here. Local Ford dealer likely where I would start.
I would agree with your wife's thoughts about putting both in rear.

mellow wrote:
Easy google search straight from the chp website:

Current California Law:

Children under 2 years of age shall ride in a rear-facing car seat unless the child weighs 40 or more pounds OR is 40 or more inches tall. The child shall be secured in a manner that complies with the height and weight limits specified by the manufacturer of the car seat. (California Vehicle Code Section 27360.)

Children under the age of 8 must be secured in a car seat or booster seat in the back seat.

Children who are 8 years of age OR have reached 4’9” in height may be secured by a booster seat, but at a minimum must be secured by a safety belt. (California Vehicle Code Section 27363.)

Passengers who are 16 years of age and over are subject to California's Mandatory Seat Belt law.

Frequently Asked Questions

At what age can my child ride in the front seat of my vehicle?

?California law requires all children 8 years of age or younger ride in the rear seat of a vehicle. There are special circumstances which provide exemption from the law. Your child may ride in the front seat if:

Your vehicle has no rear seats. Rear seats are side-facing jump seats.

Child safety restraints must never be placed on side-facing vehicle seats.

The rear seats are rear-facing seats.

The child restraint system cannot be properly installed in the rear seat.

For example, your vehicle has lap belts only in the back seat, but there are lap and shoulder belts in the front seat. Your child is 5 and weighs 45 pounds and must ride in a booster seat. The booster seat must be used with a lap and shoulder belt; therefore your child may ride in the front seat.

Children under age 7 occupy all rear seats.

Medical reason (written by the pediatrician) requires that child not be restrained in the back seat. All children are safer in the back seat, ask another adult to ride with the child in the back.

It is strongly recommended by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that all children ride in the back seat of a vehicle until 13 years of age.

Thanks Mellow, that is the type of info I was looking for. Reading through the owner's manual it looked like all I had to do was disarm the passenger airbag. Then I realized, I don't have a way to do that in my truck. What I found out is that crew cab trucks don't come with a way to disable the airbag as apparently they assume riding in the back is the only option you would consider.

While I appreciate the government trying to keep everyone safe from life, I think removing the disable switch goes to far.

Easy google search straight from the chp website:

Current California Law:

Children under 2 years of age shall ride in a rear-facing car seat unless the child weighs 40 or more pounds OR is 40 or more inches tall. The child shall be secured in a manner that complies with the height and weight limits specified by the manufacturer of the car seat. (California Vehicle Code Section 27360.)

Children under the age of 8 must be secured in a car seat or booster seat in the back seat.

Children who are 8 years of age OR have reached 4’9” in height may be secured by a booster seat, but at a minimum must be secured by a safety belt. (California Vehicle Code Section 27363.)

Passengers who are 16 years of age and over are subject to California's Mandatory Seat Belt law.

Frequently Asked Questions

At what age can my child ride in the front seat of my vehicle?

?California law requires all children 8 years of age or younger ride in the rear seat of a vehicle. There are special circumstances which provide exemption from the law. Your child may ride in the front seat if:

Your vehicle has no rear seats. Rear seats are side-facing jump seats.

Child safety restraints must never be placed on side-facing vehicle seats.

The rear seats are rear-facing seats.

The child restraint system cannot be properly installed in the rear seat.

For example, your vehicle has lap belts only in the back seat, but there are lap and shoulder belts in the front seat. Your child is 5 and weighs 45 pounds and must ride in a booster seat. The booster seat must be used with a lap and shoulder belt; therefore your child may ride in the front seat.

Children under age 7 occupy all rear seats.

Medical reason (written by the pediatrician) requires that child not be restrained in the back seat. All children are safer in the back seat, ask another adult to ride with the child in the back.

It is strongly recommended by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that all children ride in the back seat of a vehicle until 13 years of age.

Big kids in the camper, babys in the back seat?

You'll get pulled over the second an officer sees that car seat in front. California laws require rear car seats unless the vehicle has no rear seat. And, a kid under 4'9" has to sit in the rear. We have the most stringent child safety laws in the country.....because we care about our future.

Check your state laws to determine legal.

Read your carseat manual to determine their ideal mounting.

Adjust from there.

Does your truck have "latch" connectors? Those were just coming out in the early 2000s. If there are latch connectors in the center seats, I wouldn't hesitate to go there. If there are not, I'd think hard about where I could get the most secure seats at the right angles.

You can download your owner's manual from Ford here.

Check your trucks owner manual . Mine gives instruction for securing a child seat for all rear seat positions plus center front and passenger front . If it were illegal to have a child seat at center or passenger front it would be illegal to have a child in a regular cab pickup . Unless Cal has some special law concerning it I think you have options . That is going to be some tight camping , good luck and have fun .