How Well Do Trucks Handle Car Seats?
The ultimate utility players when it comes to vehicles, pickup trucks are proven cargo haulers. One thing families may not realize about pickups is that they also excel at carrying child-safety seats.
The certified child-safety seat technicians at sister site Cars.com check the vehicles we test-drive to see how well and how many child-safety seats a vehicle can handle. Most of the full-size pickups they’ve tested accomplish something many families need: They accommodate three child-safety seats in the rear seat. Of course, the backseats of some pickups do that better than others. Cab configuration affects how well three car seats fit in the back and the types of safety seats you own impacts car-seat installation, as well.
Midsize pickups also pull duty as family haulers and some of them can fit three child-safety seats in the rear, too.
Check out these Car Seat Checks from Cars.com to find out what our technicians liked and disliked about the way the following pickups carry child-safety seats.
Full-Size Pickups
- 2016 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Crew Cab
- 2015 Ford F-150 SuperCab
- 2015 Ford F-150 SuperCrew
- 2013 Ford F-150 XLT SuperCrew
- 2016 GMC Sierra 1500 Crew Cab
- 2015 Ram 1500 Crew Cab
- 2016 Toyota Tundra Double Cab
Midsize Pickups
- 2015 Chevrolet Colorado Crew Cab
- 2017 Honda Ridgeline Crew Cab
- 2016 Nissan Frontier Crew Cab
- 2016 Toyota Tacoma Crew Cab
No matter the type of pickup, our technicians have found that trucks’ tether anchors — a critical part of a vehicle’s Latch system for connecting child-safety seats — are tricky to find and use. They created a guide for finding and using pickups’ tether anchors; read it here. And while you’re at it, discover some of the common car-seat mistakes parents and caregivers make in this video.
Cars.com’s Editorial department is your source for automotive news and reviews. In line with Cars.com’s long-standing ethics policy, editors and reviewers don’t accept gifts or free trips from automakers. The Editorial department is independent of Cars.com’s advertising, sales and sponsored content departments.
