Austin Mierau

Hi everyone I am new to the Jeep world and looking to get my first Jeep. My wife and I had our first kid about a year ago and im looking for something a little more practical but still has some fun factor to it. Im curently driving a 2003 Mustang GT and the biggest issue with that car is to fit the car seat in the back the front seat needs to be up as far as possible to the point that no one can sit in front. The back seat looks somewhat small in the xj as well and was wondering how practical it is to put a car seat (eventually two) in the back and still have adequate room for the front two seats. Also any other info about having kids and using an xj as a daily driver (split betweent my motorcycle) would be usefull. I do plan also on doing some light off roading. My wife still isnt fully convinced on me getting a 20+ year "bro" car as she says. Any info for those of you that have kids would be nice! Thanks for the help!

downs

Pretty similar situation. Depending on car seat of course. They make new car seats so bulky you basically have to have a minivan or full size SUV to really fit them in there. Lucky for me my daughter can ride forward facing now which frees up a ton of space, my son still rides rear facing and I have to put him on the passenger side and run the seat pretty far forward. I'm at work today but can take pictures tomorrow when I get home if you would like. I'm about to install some ZJ rear seats and they look like they may give me a little more space for seats as well.

5-Speed

Part of the reason I sold my XJs was cause of the car seat situation. They just dont fit good (rear facing) and they dont have the lower 2 permanent tie down points. Like Downs said, you have to put the seat pretty far forward eliminating the use of the front seat. Its not the ideal vehicle for being kid friendly but it will work. I even had aftermarket front seats that had more rear clearance then the factory ones.

Lone Ranger

I remember my 2001 had the anchor points. We boutht the XJ new for the birth of my daughter cause I had a CJ at the time which was not safe for an adult much less an infant. I guess car seats like everything else have grown in size. I carried 3 kids around in the back till they were about 12. But yes the back seat is small and not comfortable for anthing but small kids.

downs

They're called the LATCH system. And they arent any safer than a seat installed properly with a regular seatbelt. Theyre just more convenient to use and less likely to be used improperly. They're limited to 65 lbs kid and seat weight combined.

Theres kits out there to retrofit the system in but the stock seatbelts are plenty safe.

Here's my current install. Theyre both the same brand and model of seat a few years apart.

WeirdWizard

Depends on the car seat. I have a 5 year old and one on the way. We're buying our second XJ tomorrow specifically for the old lady to haul the kids around in. Theres no reason you can't fit 2 seats but I am planning on putting WJ rear seats in my rig

Kxj99

I know this is an old thread, but was wondering how the WJ seats worked out. Did they make a difference?

Michael Rueber

For the good of the group and anyone who searches this topic in the future. I just bought a 2001 XJ (at the writing of this, it is 20 years old with 90,000). To my knowledge, this was the only year with a child safety tether that was factory installed. Apparently, there was/is a kit that can be installed into earlier models. I could not find any documentation as to where these tethers were located. I finally found mine. The previous owner had put in a new headliner and messed up the installation of the rear plastic trim by the rear hatch. I removed the trim because it looked strange. Under the trim and some extra headliner fabric were 3 tether points. I cut the fabric and (i believe) properly put the trim on with the tether points exposed. From what I was reading, there might be factory-installed nuts welded to attach these anchors in earlier models. This will allow you to properly install a forward-facing seat. Rear-facing is doable without the tether. Both are difficult because of the spongy seat and buckle stop on the seatbelt. I read in one place that the XJ is one of the worst vehicles to install a kid's seat. It is doable.

Jeep released a child restraint PDF for all* models of jeeps produced between 01-13. All except the XJ! It really wasn't much help for me but for those of you looking at other jeeps, this might be helpful.

http://owners.mopar.ca/en/manuals/20...SUV-SU-1st.pdf

eaf1991

I have a 1999 XJ and was wondering how you did this?

UKXJ

An XJ is about the same size as the larger stationwagons from the likes of Volvo, Mercedes & Audi, it makes me wonder how their European owners (who have presumably bought them as big family cars) manage.

Of course, it might explain why SUV's are so prevalent on the school run.