Newest, most important mod yet! Stop on in here!

[OHP]

Nice write up. Congrats on the upcoming addition to the family. No one can possibly make you understand how your life is about to change. It is an amazing experience.

Momo, I don't envy the experience of new born twins, however, it would have been nice to knock em both out at the same time.

My 8 month old's car seat went in the runner about 30 minutes ago. I got the job of taking the boy to the doc in the morning.

After 2, I'm a car seat pro now.

 

[momo.75]

Good thing is we don't know any different, since these were our first kids. Not that we are having any more, but if we had a single child it would seem like a cake walk.....lol

 

[stanleybb50]

Bookmarked - I'll be needing this in October for our first!

Knocking out all the other mods first, because I know I wont do ____ to the 4R pretty soon here.

Last thing is tires, then come the baby seats..!

 

[AleksV]

Congrats on the baby, hope all goes well

 

[Husker Z]

Zach gets a nice sample of what it's going to be like when he comes over and my kids give him hell! Though mine are a bit older now and a little bit easier, they are fun as hell, most of the time!

Don't fault Zach for not taking a ton of install pics, I was moving relatively quickly, I had a beer getting warm.

Car seats are wonderful things, but I'm so sick of them at this point I can't stand it! My 7 year old is now in a booster, which is nice, especially in our XC90 which has a booster built in. But, we still have the larger Recaros for my 3 year old and they are a pain in the ass to move around, if you need to.

I hate to wish my kids youth away, but I do wish I was done with these car seats!!

Happy to help bro, they are pretty confusing when you just look at the pictures.

 

[zstampe]

Here's what goes next to the seat......

 

[rebelbowtie]

congrats again, i think we spoke about this in my intro thread.it was only a little over a month ago i was putting my first car seat base into my Audi A4…let me tell you the 4Runner is so much friendlier when it comes to kid ****. it took 20 minutes just to get the straps to clip onto the seat belt anchors, the 4Runner takes 3 seconds tops. it def wins the family friendly hauler award.

 

[zstampe]

congrats again, i think we spoke about this in my intro thread.it was only a little over a month ago i was putting my first car seat base into my Audi A4…let me tell you the 4Runner is so much friendlier when it comes to kid ****. it took 20 minutes just to get the straps to clip onto the seat belt anchors, the 4Runner takes 3 seconds tops. it def wins the family friendly hauler award.

Thanks again bro! Ya it was super easy now that I know what I'm doing.

 

[smichaelq]

Yes, baby seat goes in the middle. What amazes me is how rapid the child/baby seat technology evolves...to the point of where the first child/baby seat you buy will be illegal by the time your next child is born.

The anchor is super-duper important. In a high-impact crash, the seatbelt can fail. Please anchor you kiddy seat, folks!

I've got an 18 month old son. The tech doesn't evolve. The law suits build up.

By the time my wife was 8 months pregnant to my sons first check up the legal recomendations had already changed on when you could turn the car seat to face forward. (?!?).

"They" said dont have a baby bumper in the crib. My wife did some research and something like 3 kids died when they were left unsupervised in the crib and suffocated. Tragedy yes. Avoidable yes. Just dont keep changing the regualtions so that the consumer has to keep buying upgraded systems every couple of months and/or not allowing the use of one car seat to pass on to the next child. I am sure that Graco, etc is at the center of any new studies presetned by the saftey boards. ( I sound like a conspiracy theorist, but its late so I'll rant)

My favorite was my wife looked up to see what doctors in other countries said about activity during pregnancy. My wife always wanted a glass of wine and we both thought it was crazy that all the US info dont do it!

She found a site with all the different countries and what they recommend. France said no more than 5 cigarettes and 4 glasses of wine.

We figured 1 glass a day was ok. We dont smoke anymore so no problem there.

In the end the kids are great and spend all the time with them you can when they are new and figuring everything out. a year more and my Patrick will be handing me wrenches. I cant wait!!

BTW: My dad was on the fire department in MA growing up. I started bying my son all the old Tonka fire trucks and stuff I had. He loves fire engines. We go to stations and watch em roll by the window while he goes 'woo woo woo'. Its great. Enjoy!

Heres a pic of my guy driving the 4R

 

[JeepWinch]

France said no more than 5 cigarettes, 2 bong hits, 1 line of cocaine, and 4 glasses of wine.

Something tells me we shouldnt listen to the French. She could probably eat as many croissants as she wants, and still be okay.

 

[08T4R]

Just went through this install myself. Put one in my runner and one in our camry. I tried to figure out if center placement was better. The manuals do not state anything about it, and I looked because both vehicles have side curtain air bags. We ended up putting ours on the passengers sides. In the center spot the anchor straps would cross right over the seat belt buckles for the other two seats..I may go try again and see. Also my bases have adjustable bottoms on them to correct the angle. They are graco snugride models. Congrats to all the new dads! We're due May 7th, but due to blood platelet issues if he doesn't come before Wednesday, they're going to induce. My last weekend as a child free man!

Off topic, but OP where'd you get the d-link mount in your hitch?

 

[zstampe]

I've got an 18 month old son. The tech doesn't evolve. The law suits build up.

By the time my wife was 8 months pregnant to my sons first check up the legal recomendations had already changed on when you could turn the car seat to face forward. (?!?).

"They" said dont have a baby bumper in the crib. My wife did some research and something like 3 kids died when they were left unsupervised in the crib and suffocated. Tragedy yes. Avoidable yes. Just dont keep changing the regualtions so that the consumer has to keep buying upgraded systems every couple of months and/or not allowing the use of one car seat to pass on to the next child. I am sure that Graco, etc is at the center of any new studies presetned by the saftey boards. ( I sound like a conspiracy theorist, but its late so I'll rant)

My favorite was my wife looked up to see what doctors in other countries said about activity during pregnancy. My wife always wanted a glass of wine and we both thought it was crazy that all the US info dont do it!

She found a site with all the different countries and what they recommend. France said no more than 5 cigarettes and 4 glasses of wine.

We figured 1 glass a day was ok. We dont smoke anymore so no problem there.

In the end the kids are great and spend all the time with them you can when they are new and figuring everything out. a year more and my Patrick will be handing me wrenches. I cant wait!!

BTW: My dad was on the fire department in MA growing up. I started bying my son all the old Tonka fire trucks and stuff I had. He loves fire engines. We go to stations and watch em roll by the window while he goes 'woo woo woo'. Its great. Enjoy!

Heres a pic of my guy driving the 4R

I think a lot of what you said hit the nail on the head.

Your son is going to be a gear head it looks like, if he likes fire stuff here's what I did last night, we had an awesome structure fire. I'm paying for it today though......its hard to see but I'm the 4th from the right.

 

[zstampe]

Just went through this install myself. Put one in my runner and one in our camry. I tried to figure out if center placement was better. The manuals do not state anything about it, and I looked because both vehicles have side curtain air bags. We ended up putting ours on the passengers sides. In the center spot the anchor straps would cross right over the seat belt buckles for the other two seats..I may go try again and see. Also my bases have adjustable bottoms on them to correct the angle. They are graco snugride models. Congrats to all the new dads! We're due May 7th, but due to blood platelet issues if he doesn't come before Wednesday, they're going to induce. My last weekend as a child free man!

Off topic, but OP where'd you get the d-link mount in your hitch?

Congrats!!! Enjoy the last weekend then, spend some quality time with your wife.

I got it off another member here when he sold his 4runner. It's the Warn receiver shackle. It's stout too. They have similar ones at tractor supple company if you have one of those stores local.

 

[rebelbowtie]

i prefer a pintle style reciever myself, unfortuneately i lost mine somehow. theyre NOT cheap to purchase either

 

[zstampe]

i prefer a pintle style reciever myself, unfortuneately i lost mine somehow. theyre NOT cheap to purchase either

Never though about that. What makes them better? Those are pretty pricey.

 

[rebelbowtie]

Never though about that. What makes them better? Those are pretty pricey.

they arent better per say, just my personal preference.

theyre easier to use IMO since you dont have to unscrew the shackles, plus i can still use it to tow my trailer cuz i have a pintle ring on my trailer. only down side is theyre about $90, but its safer than pulling off a ball mount because those can snap pretty easily.

 

[smichaelq]

I think a lot of what you said hit the nail on the head.

Your son is going to be a gear head it looks like, if he likes fire stuff here's what I did last night, we had an awesome structure fire. I'm paying for it today though......its hard to see but I'm the 4th from the right.

I could smell my dad after just seeing that pic. He died about 11yrs ago. Made it to Chief. But I can always remeber that structure fire smell.

My son and I watch youtube clibs of trucks on calls and he could watch them all day. Who needs Sesame Street.

Stay safe!

 

[zstampe]

I could smell my dad after just seeing that pic. He died about 11yrs ago. Made it to Chief. But I can always remeber that structure fire smell.

My son and I watch youtube clibs of trucks on calls and he could watch them all day. Who needs Sesame Street.

Stay safe!

Thanks man. And thanks for your dads service.

I love that smell too.....gives me goosebumps even lol.