02ws602wrx

Hey guys this thread would help me out alot more since my son was born 6/7/11 and my 02 t/a is sitting in the garage waiting for him and me to go cruising (w/o the wife)haha. I have the simpson seat in my subaru and the detachable graco in the ford escape but we also have a extra base for the graco so any pics on how that would sit?

ZyrainInTheMembraine

My wife and I are working on having a kid, so this was an awesome thread! I will probably put my carseat in between the two back seats with the two seatbelts as well... Once I confirm that it is as secure as everyone says.

One safety concern about this comment, though:

I've had the rear seats out for racing, and there's some sharp metal back there that I cut myself on. Probably not a great idea!

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dr_whigham

iTrader: (49)

I'm really not trying to be Debbie Downer here, but if any of you have ever seen an FBody after an accident, you'd seriously rethink ever having a baby, let alone an infant in your car.

It's not my driving I'm worried about; It's the idiots on the roads with me. I'll take my 13 and 9 year olds places every once in a while, but my 4yr old and 10mos old only "look" at my car.

Those of us in the medical field call these cars "fiberglass coffins" for a reason.

wicked383lt1

I've been thru this already and the best thing you can do is not even attempt to put her in there. Congrats...but bd smart about certain things. Listen to the Doc^^^

SEMPER FI!!

ZyrainInTheMembraine

I made this post above ^^ and now have several years of experience with car seat usage in an LT1 (1995 Camaro Z28 T-Tops) This is the third LT1 I've owned. Bought my first one, a 1996 M6 Firebird Formula, in 2001 and I was hooked. Had the car for 8 years, then sold it and bought a 1995 A4 Camaro Z28 -- which I liked a lot, but I really hated the 4L60E transmission. So I recently sold it and bought a 1995 M6 Camaro Z28. Car seat usage began in the '95 A4 and continues in the '95 M6.

When he was first born, we had a rear-facing Graco car seat to share between 3 vehicles (2 primary vehicles and the Camaro). I would put it behind the passenger seat when in the LT1. It barely fit with the passenger seat all the way forward, but it worked. We live out in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by farms and trees. So I'd take him for some slow country cruises, and the v8 rumble would help him fall asleep. The Graco didn't last long, it was part of a set that had a stroller it clicks into with a quick connect. We took the stroller/car seat combo on a summer road trip in another vehicle -- the stroller completely fell apart, and the car seat buckle stopped releasing (one of those "jiggle it while pulling sideways and hoping on one leg" kind of issues).

Even though we had been using it for 3 months, the company we bought it from was willing to give us store credit to get a new car seat. Got a Britax rear facing car seat. This fit too, but again with the passenger seat all the way forward. No room for the wife. Above average car seat though, it was on the cheaper end price-wise, but we never had any problems.

When he was 2, we changed him to forward facing. I had to track down the original GM part for the tether anchor, which was a pain. The local dealership told me to contact my fire department (because they sell auto parts???) and it wasn't until I wrote a letter to the head office that I got a reply with a part number and a link to a place in the U.S. that sells them. Keep in mind, I'm in Canada and I've heard that U.S. and Canada require different parts -- though not sure if this is true. It cost me $75 Canadian to have this little part shipped from the U.S., but a) I wanted the original part for safety reasons rather than fabricate something in this scenario; and b) I couldn't find the part for sale anywhere in Canada. Behind my rear seats, under the carpet above where the fuel tank is located, there are two mounting points with two bolt holes in each of them. One on the driver's side, one on the passenger side. I knew there was no f*n way I was going to ever get a car seat on the driver's side, so I ordered 1 for the passenger side. Installed it with thread lock. Could now tether a forward facing car seat behind the passenger seat!

Tried it with my wife's Diono car seat from her car, and it worked great. She was able to fit comfortably in the passenger seat with the car seat installed, and family trips in the Camaro began.

After a couple weeks she got tired of playing musical car seats with her Diono, so I tried the one from my truck... Which is the $99 "Walmart special". It, too, fit with plenty of room for the wife to ride in the passenger seat.

Since then, I bought a forward-facing Britax for the Camaro because I feel it's a little bit better quality than the "Walmart special". I don't mind using the cheap car seat in my truck, though, so now we have a car seat in each of our 3 vehicles and don't have to switch them around!

He's almost big enough for a booster now, so pretty soon no more car seats.

So here's what I've learned in summary:
* Don't ever plan to put a car seat behind the driver's seat unless you're 3 feet tall and don't mind eating steering wheel/air bag for breakfast. In which case, you probably can't see over the dashboard anyway
* Not all rear-facing seats will fit, but the ones I tried did. However, don't expect to have a passenger ride along with you under any circumstances.
* Pretty sure any forward facing car seat will fit, but you'll need the proper hardware for the tether anchor to be legal (where I live) and for safety reasons. You can have a smaller passenger ride along at this point, my wife is 5'6" and fits with a little bit of room to spare.
* It's a pain to get your kid in and out, but you probably should have guessed this just from the way the car is designed.
* Rear-facing, your kid can see some stuff out the rear window. However, forward facing all your kid will see is seat and trim.
* When forward facing, your kid will kick the back of the passenger seat at some point. So either take his/her shoes off while he's in the seat, or get a cheap seat cover.
* Yeah, driving a kid around in an LT1 is not the best idea someone's ever had, but honestly my wife and I are more worried about him riding with certain other family members who drive while using their phone / have bad habits of tailgating / get lots of tickets / etc than we are about him being in the Camaro. Not to say bad things can't happen, because they definitely can, but I have a perfect driving record at this point in my life and stopped doing stupid stuff many years ago.
* At some point you'll have to tell someone to mind their own business and leave you alone. Maybe even a family member.