I am kicking around the idea of picking up a Jeep. But we have at least 5 more years of car seats and with a Jeep the boosters will most certainly be a 4 point booster and not just the cheapo that raises the kid up for the regular seatbelt use.

I want a no frills Jeep. V6, manual transmission, I'll add a lift and tires. Pretty much will always have the doors off and just a bikini top in the summer.

Winter I'll drop the doors and hard top on it.

Since a bit of wheeling is planned the LATCH system for the rear seat is an absolute MUST if I decide to make the venture.

I know in Fords they started showing up in the early 2000s dependent upon model.
Even my 2014 Toyota only has one in the 3rd row which is a gigantic nusance as it is in the middle of 2 seats.

Any clue what year they were standard in the Wrangler. The latch system in usually integrated in the seat so I could likely buy an older model without the latch system and swap the rear bench from a newer model, no?

I thought they were required by law after 2001?
In our Flex it's similar to your Toyo, only 1 in the 3rd row. Don't recall if we have all 3 or just the outboard 2 in the 2nd row.

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
I thought they were required by law after 2001?
In our Flex it's similar to your Toyo, only 1 in the 3rd row. Don't recall if we have all 3 or just the outboard 2 in the 2nd row.

I had an 02 Ford that did not have them and the in laws 2016 Tahoe does not have them.

Jeep has published the owners manuals for a lot of the Wranglers online.

I have a 2012 two door Wrangler and the LATCH system is in the rear seat, two doors have two while the Unlimited has three anchors.

I'm not too sure about the seat changing, floor anchors and seat belt mounting could be challenging if not impossible without major floor modifications, that is just my opinion though.

And Jeep dealers will decline to get involved due to liability. When I was in GM dealerships every so often we received an official notification that corporate would not assist us with any modifications to the vehicle as delivered from them due to safety, emissions and warranty issues that could arise from this. And any modifications done were at the dealers and persons doing the modifications own risk.

Lost count over the years of how many new and used car managers got pissed off over that because "I'm going to lose the sale because the middle row seats are wrong".........

Any Jeep I buy will long be out of warranty. I am in no way worried about dealerships it will never see one.
I am wanting the earliest possible with the LATCH system.

LATCH was phased in, as it were. With the 2001 the "top" anchors were introduced (they are actually on the rear floor on the cargo area). 2003 the lower seat anchors were introduced, along with rear headrests. The rear seat was completely redesigned that year (I believe it may have also become a split fold able); I have a 2001 and from the pics and diagrams I have seen I do not think the newer seat could be easily retrofitted to an earlier model. Same with the top anchor in the cargo area, there is and was no approved retrofit kit available for the models without (the anchor appears to be welded in, probably has reinforcement that cannot be seen also).

Another consideration is that the passenger airbag deactivation switch was discontinued as a standard feature around 2003. I have a time or two used a car seat in the front when the rear seat was removed and was able to easily deactivate the pass airbag.

Of the two, the top anchor I think is the most important consideration; I never had a problem using the rear seatbelt to secure a seat in place.

Another tip; at least in the 2-door model, it is easiest to place a rear facing infant in its seat from the back of the jeep. The cargo area is only about 12 inches wide behind the rear seat .

Kevin

Thank you very much.
That is just the info I was looking for, looks like I'll be looking at 2003 and above. Too bad they redesigned the rear bench that year too.