We are a family of six and we drive a crew cab Chevy truck. That means we utilize all six seats, including the one up-front and in-between the driver and myself.
My son loves this cozy arrangement. He adores sitting up front with the grown-ups and pursues the role of Back-Seat Driver Assistant with gusto (assisting me, Back-Seat Driver Numero Uno). He helps to navigate, reminds us of the speed limits, and when he’s tired, he has me to sleep on. Literally.
I love my son, but it’s time to move on back, boy…
…’cause we got ourselves some extra seats!
Thanks be to all-that-is-good, we had two extra seats installed in our truck last month. Ben reluctantly moved to the back and I am swimming in extra space up front.
I’ll treasure the time we spent together, son, but I’ll also treasure having space to put my coffee cup in the cup holder without your legs knocking it over.
Here’s what our truck looks like from the back:
What’s cool, is we now have a total of eight seats, just like our old minivan. Except now we still have a substantial amount of truck-bed left… and of course, the pulling capacity, which beats any beefed-up SUV or van. (The frontrunners being the Ford Excursion and Ford 1-ton vans.)
Here’s how we did it.
First we called the best custom sleeper top/cap/cab people in the country: Cowtown Sleepers, out of Fort Worth, Texas. We discussed what we wanted and got a bid, made an appointment for the work to be done, and put down a deposit.
We opted for a two-seat cab, with a raised ceiling (more headroom), windows on all sides with two that open and close, a door that locks with its own window and about 26 inches in width. We did not get carpeting, but instead bought a $5 outdoor rug from Wal-Mart and put it on the floor.
We thought about getting a bigger cab (you can go for the 42 inch size!), but opted for a smaller one since it will allow us to pull the RV in the truck bed if we ever want to do that, and also we retain a good deal of truck bed, which we do need. (It’s interesting to note since they create the fiberglass frames in-house, they use one-size and then cut it down to your order. Therefore, a larger cap is not always more expensive.)
They will remove the back window and add a rubber boot seal to attach the cab frame to the truck and keep out the rain.
You can see Bella in her seat below.
The kids can either climb over the truck’s back seats to get in and out, or use the convenient door that leads to the truck bed. Because they are young and less likely to break a hip, jumping down to the ground is no problem for them, and they even enjoy it. We now have a tradition of letting them ride in the truck bed once we enter the RV park and start driving down the driveway. (As long as they sit on the floor of the bed!)
Anyway, if you’re reading this far, you probably want to know the price.
For what we got, we paid a total of about $2500. Not too bad.
Working with Cowtown Sleepers was a great experience. They’ve been doing this for 20+ years and can do anything you want. They’re reasonably priced, but you’ll have to make an appointment several weeks in advance. (Proof of their popularity.)
Here’s an excerpt from their website:
We are located on I-35 South in Fort Worth, TX. Cowtown has been adding that special touch to your truck since 1977. We use quality resins so our tops flex with your truck. Each Cowtown top is designed to minimize wind resistance while maximizing gas mileage. We take pride in the quality of tops we produce.
We WILL NOT build anything that we would not buy ourselves.
We offer a full line of of custom toppers and sleepers. If you need some custom fiberglass work we can do that to. We can also match any paint job. So for your trucks next sleeper, topper, flatlid or if your in need of custom fiberglass work give us a call
(817) 293-9100
If you have any questions about our seats, let me know.
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey, that is really cool (and such a creative solution!). Remind me: Do you pull a 5th wheel (and, if so, what length)?
Hi Stephanie! Yes, we do pull a 35 ft fifth wheel, but we utilize a special drop axle hitch to free up the truck bed. How long is yours?
Increadible Melanie! I love it!
Love the idea. We have a six seat landcruiser, the same seating arrangements as you described. It gets a little squishy, and not so great for trying to convince hubby that a fifth baby could fit!
It’s different travelling with four kids.
We travel in two vehicles. My husband pull the 5th wheel with a big truck and I drive the 15 passenger van with six kids. I tow a flat bed with 4 ATVs, 3 kayaks, 7 bikes and all of the gear to go with it. I actually prefer two vehicles.
Amy — Oh yeah it’s different with four kids! It’s funny how the number of seats you have comes into play with regards to having more kids. Now that we have two extra seats, we won’t be sweating it if we should have another (or twins!).
Sheri — All I have to say is wow! I’m in awe of what your guys are hauling around. I love those passenger vans though… so roomy. I drove a 12-passenger Ford for a few months and enjoyed it.
I’m curious how many miles you guys put behind you with all that stuff? Do you use walkie-talkies or cell phones to communicate while on the road? Do you both have GPS? Pretty cool.
We started our trip with 5 children. I had a feeling I was pregnant when we sold our home but did not get confirmation until two weeks later. Once we had sweet Tytus, we had to get another vehicle. We had some bad circumstances during the first 9 months of our trip and having a second vehicle for my husband to be able to get to where ever the kids and I might be would have been helpful. I feel much safer knowing he is able to get to us quickly if needed. I’m not sure the total mileage, but in one year I pulled it over 20,000 miles. We are on our third year now. We use walkie talkies and cell phones. There have been times when neither of them worked, which made things quite difficult. My husband carries the GPS and follows behind me. He keeps an eye on the stuff I carry on the flat bed. One time, my daughter’s bike was half off the trailer and the back wheel was turning on the ground. I would love my own GPS, but just don’t have the extra money right now. Our life is extremely extreme!
Hi,
We are in same situation, we love our chevy tahoe, just got our 4th child, we need an extra seat.Can you suggest any ideas.We live in Canada.
Thanks for posting this information. We currently have a Tahoe and we have 6 children, Ages 10 down to 8mo. My husband is looking for another vehicle to pull either a boat, or trailer with other items like bikes or ATV’s…Having a truck would work if we do this as an option.