Child Carseat in Deuce

So, we've been planning to attend the SS Rally at Haspin this year. One of the mail reasons I want to do it is to being my boys - they'd think that was one of the coolest things ever.

Now that it's getting closer it hit me that I probably need to mount carseats in the truck. I've taken them for rides in it around locally just a couple miles with the wife holding them, but that won't work for such a long trip and I don't want to get stopped and deal with all that trouble and it'd be safer for them to be in the carseats.

Has anyone ever mounted carseats in the Deuce? Youngest will turn 3 week before the rally, he'll be in a regular carseat. Oldest is 4.5 and is in a booster, but rides in a large carseat in the wife's Yukon, so I'd probably mount the carseat in the Deuce for him too.

Guess that means the wife will have to drive seperate. She won't be thrilled about that.

.......

Number 9 , My little girl shes 3 rides in the deuce in her carseat all the time , but i think there is only 1 seatbelt to hook up one seat at least in my truck there is , I will have to see but i am sure i dont have a middle set.

You can add a middle seat belt. I do it on every deuce I buy. With that said, I do something a little different with car seats. I add footmans loops the the angle iron crossmember that runs under the rear of the seat and use the LATCH system to hook up the seat. I run the belt through as a second measure. Fitting a carseat in the middle will likely get you in a position where you cant shift. Booster might be the only way. My 3 and 8 yr olds went to the FL Rally this year (and last) with the carseat on the passenger side and the 8 yr old sitting in the middle.

I know I only have 2 seat belts, one for the driver and one passenger. I hope you kids are good about keeping head phones on during the ride. I know my 2 year old hates them and keep removing them.

Like this?

My oldest rides with me in a car/booster seat and it is a battle to keep the head phones on. I would leave the youngeswt child in the suv just for the protection of their ears.

Recovry4x4 said:

You can add a middle seat belt. I do it on every deuce I buy. With that said, I do something a little different with car seats. I add footmans loops the the angle iron crossmember that runs under the rear of the seat and use the LATCH system to hook up the seat. I run the belt through as a second measure. Fitting a carseat in the middle will likely get you in a position where you cant shift. Booster might be the only way. My 3 and 8 yr olds went to the FL Rally this year (and last) with the carseat on the passenger side and the 8 yr old sitting in the middle.

Click to expand...

Any chance you could post a couple pics of the bold statements above? Pictures help a lot.

footmans loops are usually used for nylon webbing. I think for latch system I would use D-rings.

I just use the straps that come on the car seat and hook them too the angle iron of the seat. My 3yr old like's the ear muffess

April 13th, 2010.

I'll back Kenny's statement above about the third seat belt. There is a modification set listed in the parts books for the M35 series that lists the center or third person seat belt and the modified anchor brackets That hook to the back cab wall supports as part of the standard seat belt attachments. Although the Army considers, in modern times, that the deuce is a two man cab (like the 5 and 10 tons with the same cab bucket), as long as the right hand seat is a bench seat it is alterable to three man configuartion. Number 9, you can always have your wife ride the troopseats in the bed.... USAF deuces have padded cushions to be attached to the troop rack bottoms and backs (yeah, sure) for a nice cushy well ventilated ride. Also good for mother-in-laws........



Cheers,

Kyle F. McGrogan

Guess I'll add this project to the list of To-Do's before Haspin then.

When i told the wife about this and asked if she'd mind following us in her truck she said "can't I just ride in the back on those fold down seats?" She'd like that for about 30 min then be wishing she hadn't. Plus I'd hate to do that to her, even though she wouldn't mind. However, she probably feels worse about driving seperate At least that would give us a backup in the event something happens along the way - for the boys and all.

......

phil2968 said:

I would leave the youngest child in the suv just for the protection of their ears.

Click to expand...

I think that's great advice! I think two youngsters in the cab would too much for one person the handle, particularly with a manual shift and a vehicle that you have to manhandle to drive. And driving something this large you have to watch the road and on coming traffic and I don't think you could adequately watch two kids. And don't forget there are no child proof safety locks on the doors! I've been in trucks with this type door handles TWICE when kids opened the door and nearly fell out. Your kids might enjoy riding in the truck for a while but I think they'd soon tire of the noise, vibration, heat, etc and would be a real handful so be prepared to put them back in the car with mom. Footman loops ARE NOT adequate to secure a seat belt or a child seat! Take a look at the bolts used with car seat belts some time. They're usually at least 1/2 inch fine thread high-quality grade 8 bolts. A footman loop with 1/4-20 bolts might hold them down but it would never hold in the event of an accident.

One of the many hats that I wear includes being a Safe Kids certified car seat technician. From a strictly legal standpoint, the only safe way to install a car seat would be to use the original seat belt in the original position and only use one car seat. But don't think for a minute that if you were to wreck and that car seat didn't stay in place properly that the military or the manufacturers of the deuces are going to give you any money even in a lawsuit. So what's that mean in reality? Use at your own risk.

From a practicality mode, if you must have two child seats in a deuce, install that third seat belt that someone mentioned. Install the actual seat belt, don't mess with trying to setup LATCH. Any child seat will work with a regular seat belt, and at least if you were to wreck, the car seat manufacturer would probably be on the line for a failure if the seat belt were used. LATCH was never meant to be used in a vehicle that didn't have it already installed (which is a few vehicles prior to 2003 and all passenger vehicles post 2003). Another thing to keep in mind, LATCH can only be used up to 40 lbs. After your child weighs 40 lbs or more, you need to use a seat belt on their car seat.

If you choose to take both kiddies with you in the deuce, I vote for installing the seat belt and then reading the owners manual for the child seat and installing it per the instructions. Drive safe.

You're gonna get nominated for Dad of the year after this trip! I would agree that splitting the kids between the trail car and the deuce is a great idea. The kids can alternate between Mom and Dad and if you run into mechanical trouble she can take both while you focus on the repair without having to worry about children on the roadside.

Or - and I can't believe no one mentioned this already - buy one of ccequipment's conversions!

Sorry for the crappy pic! These are my 2 nuts going to the FL Rally. When I mentioned footman loops, I didn't mean the ones used for canvas, these are ones I fabbed up. Also note that in my other post i stated that I use the LATCH system as well as the factory seat belt. I'm not expecting anyone to pay for anything if something I did should go wrong. As far as hearing protection and the kids keeping them on, no problem. We use Peltor Powercoms and the kids enjoy them as they can talk back and forth and they get a kick out of hearing themselves talk. The cabs are narrow and seriously doubt that you could get 2 car seats in the truck.

Recovry4x4 said:

Also note that in my other post i stated that I use the LATCH system as well as the factory seat belt.

Click to expand...

Any child seat manufacturer manual will tell you not to use both at the same time.

juddspaintballs said:

Any child seat manufacturer manual will tell you not to use both at the same time.

Click to expand...

I know! They are worried about liability, I'm worried about surviviability. I'm sure they never intended for car seats to be used with the military seatbelts either. As a matter of fact, I'm not so sure I'd trust just the military seat belts. Their construction doesn't permit a secure lock that short and the angle at which they exit the seat doesn't hold the carseat back against the seat back.
I'm intimately knowledgabe with the limitations of the deuce and my occupation requires that I know a thing or two about car seats.

i'm going to throw in the disclaimer of "i don't have or want kids"

now i will say this. I get that people love their children and that a parent's worst nightmare is losing a child. Any MV is not by definition a "safe vehicle" They have no rollover protection are heavy and take lots to stop. They don't have the power to accelerate to avoid obstacles. These vehicles require a ton of attention and skill to operate safely. I personally would not put a child who needs a car seat into one. I commend you for wanting to give your children the experience and it's great to see so much thought put into something like this. You are all actually being parents and actively doing things for your children. I just would absolutely hate to see that a child was harmed through all of this. The kids as well as all of us would be safer in a Volvo. Perhaps waiting a few years would be better?

Otherwise just be certain that the seats are secured and the kids secured to the seats. Liability shouldn't be a concern here. Safety should.

For Ear protection please be sure they have it... 100% of the time the truck is on the road. These things are very loud and the kids can still hear should keep it that way. On long trips i tend to ear plug even in my cucv.

Be safe gents! Best wishes.

Anthony

Whatever you chose everyone BE SAFE!!!

I hear you loud and clear Anthony. I'm not sure about being safer in a Volvo. As safe as Volvo makes them sound, they still only weigh so much. I'd feel safer in my Suburban or a mid 60's Chrysler Imperial. The deuce vs rollover= bad. The deuce vs immovable object=bad. The deuce vs the common vehicle=good!

Recovry4x4 said:

I hear you loud and clear Anthony. I'm not sure about being safer in a Volvo. As safe as Volvo makes them sound, they still only weigh so much. I'd feel safer in my Suburban or a mid 60's Chrysler Imperial. The deuce vs rollover= bad. The deuce vs immovable object=bad. The deuce vs the common vehicle=good!

Click to expand...

Do not underestimate the lengths the Swedes take safety. Have you ever owned a Volvo or SAAB? My mom had a SAAB 9000 that literally saved her life. She rear ended a parked mid 80's Monte Carlo (boat) at highway speed, and walked away without a scratch. The secret is not so much weight, but the way in which the outer structure of the car deforms on impact. I was skeptical too until I saw the wreckage. The car looked far better on the inside than the outside. The interior was perfect. The outside looked fatal. Really amazing engineering. Unfortunately, they were plagued with horrible reliability because SAAB had many GM bean counters calling the shots. Great engineering, poor quality small parts. I can't speak for Volvo, but I hear they are about average for reliability, just expensive to fix.

I know there are limits on engineering, if a SAAB or Volvo gets plowed by a semi it will likely get smooshed. A deuce getting plowed by a semi will put the deuce occupants in a world of hurt as well.