I am curious to know which year and trim models of SuperCrew have 3 sets of lower anchors to support 3 child seats. So far, with the limited number trucks I've looked in, I've noticed that only my 2004 with cloth interior has it.

Here is my story.....

So, I have a 2004 Ford F-150 SuperCrew that I recently purchased (it is the newer style, not the heritage edition)

It is a fairly base model, as it doesn't have much options besides Power Windows and Air Conditioning. It has the cloth interior, and has the bench seat in the front with the fold up armrest to be able to seat 6.

We were going to visit my sister-in-law who has 2 children in child seats, and we were bringing our daughter who also uses a child seat. This required us to put 3 child seats in the back seat.

And to my pleasant surprise, I have 3 sets of lower anchors in the back seat (that being 6 total anchors, 2 per seat). So putting in the seats, and removing and installing them was a very quick process.

And now since then, I've been in two other SuperCrews, both of which newer than mine, I'm pretty sure one was 2006 and one was 2008, and both had leather. I expected them to both have the 3 full sets of lower anchors, especially they had 3 of the upper straps. These two trucks only had anchoring for either two seats on either side, or one single seat in the middle, as there were only 4 anchors (2 sets of 2).

I know most people don't use them as they don't usually use trucks as family haulers, and also aren't usually trying to put 3 child seats in the back.

This is one of those things that nobody every really looks for or notices they have unless they are trying to do exactly what I did.

So, my question is this, are there any specific trim levels, years, or seat configurations that have or don't have the 3rd set of anchors for a middle child seat?

I've asked around at some dealers and nobody can really give me an answer. As my family is currently expanding I want to keep this in mind as I will want to upgrade to a newer truck in the future and want to know if there are specific trucks that do or don't support anchors for 3 child seats in the back.

I'm even curious about other Makes of truck (GM, Toyota, Nissan, Dodge), and even SUV's in the Second Row. As I have a 2010 Santa Fe that obviously only supports 2 child seats as there isn't even enough room to fit a 3rd. Ever since we found out my truck supports 3, we've been using it way more.

 

My 05 Scab has only 2 sets. One on the left side and one on the right side. It has three loops. I am not realy crazy with how the forward facing car seats go in with the upper teather strap. On my car seat i have to run it rhough the passenger loop and to the center one. It calls out to do that in the Owners Manual.

 

My 2009 only has 2 sets and no loop in the middle. Makes me think there is some federal thing that says you cant have 3 seats that close together.

 

Yeah, I couldn't figure out how to use the stupid straps until I read the manual either.

I am curious, with the 2 sets you have, are they bigger than the outer anchors, and does the manual say anything about if the configuration would allow for a center seat to use the same anchors as they may possibly be designed for multiple seats to be hooked on?

I'm definitely going to be making my way around to a bunch of dealerships to look into this further as I am very curious about this as something for me to consider for my expanding family.

 

I am not sure if the lower anchors are different as far as the size. I was curious also to see if you could run three seats and essentially use the inner 2 points for the seat in the middle. Safety is my main concern, so I may have to look deeper into this if the day comes to run 3 car seats. We do place my daughters seat in the middle and use anchors from the driver and passenger side. We run the top strap of the car seat through the center loop and over to the passenger or driver side top loop. We do have another baby the way and I plan to just place one car seat on each side of the truck for ease of use. One will obviously be forward facing and the other rear facing. I hope I don't get to the point where I have three of my own still in car seats.

 

I just checked the manuals for 2004 compared to any 2005 or newer on http://www.motorcraftservice.com.

In 2004 they explicitly show that they support 3 child seats in the back of any SuperCab or SuperCrew.

But in the 2005 and newer (I only really checked 2005 and 2012, but I assume they are the same in between). They actually have a picture showing they only support a child seat connected to the lower anchors on the driver's side and passenger's side. They also explicitly mention that you SHOULD NOT attempt to connect a child seat in the center to the drivers side or passenger side lower lower hooks as they are spaced too far apart for proper support.

So, from what I found, of the 2004 and newer extended cabs, only 2004 supports 3 child seats to be properly mounted with lower hooks in the back seat.

I'm really curious why they removed the lower hooks from center after 2004.

Now I am really going to have to check out the other manufacturers to see what they do and don't support.

Also, as a side note, the newest Explorer with 3rd row only supports the lower hooks on the passenger side, and not on the drivers side.