3 in the 3rd row of a suburban - possible? with what?

I asked in another thread about narrow, long-lasting (bigger weight limits) car seats and several people suggested the Evenflo Maestro because it's a more budget-friendly option. Then I got thinking about the long-term and how nice it would be to have all 3 "big" kids in the back seat of our 98 suburban if we needed it.

I've seen a couple pictures/threads on here with people who managed to get 3 car seats into the 3rd row of their SUVs. I can't remember what car it was, but one of the pictures was with 3 radians. Are the radians the only way to do that? DH measured the back seat and it was 49 inches. Radians say they are 17 inches wide. The Evenflo Maestro is supposed to 18. The math doesn't work out with 3 of either of those car seats, so I'm hoping someone has some advice.

Anyone get 3 Radians into the 3rd row of a 98 suburban?

How about 3 Maestros? Or 1 Maestro and 2 radians?

And the tethering stuff still confuses me a bit-- what has to be done to get 3 seats properly installed in the back seat anyway? By the time we end up with 3 of either of the seats all the kids would be forward-facing.

Advice? Thoughts?

The math doesn't always add up, some seats overlap and therefore two 17 inch could take up less than 34 inches. I have 2 radians and a 02 suburban, I'll try to see what I can fit back there.
You will probably need some top tether anchors installed. I only have 1 in the third row, hopefully someone will come along with the GM retrofit info.

Okay, I did it. Radian, Graco nautilus, Radian. My seat measures 49in.

I am not a tech, but these are rock solid and independently installed. Neither Radians are top tethered, just wanted to show it fit.

Can you post your kids' ages and weights, and what they ride in currently? That will help a lot to answer your question.

The thing with trying to fit three-across is that the seats often have to puzzle, that is, overlap each other. My third row is a really good example; I can get a Radian (17",) MyRide (20",) and Monterey (18") back there. That adds up to 55", but my back seat is only 47 or 48" wide. The MyRide overlaps the narrowest parts of each of the other two seats, and it's very tight, but they fit perfectly.

This is less likely to be achieved with three of the same seat, and helped by alternating RF/FF seats or low-profile seats and those on a base, although neither of those are always necessary.

You might want to check the 'Successful Three Across' Thread, search Suburban, and see what others have been able to do. I know there have been several.

The two radians and the nauti is extremely helpful. Can you add that to the three across thread? There aren't many options available for that space. I am getting a radian and am going to try some combos. I need 1 rfing and 2 ffing seats right now but will try three seats ffing as well.

the third row of that era Suburban is REALLY tight. You can certainly try it with Radians, but I know for a fact that I was unable to get a Radian between two old-style Parkways in the third row of my 93 Suburban. It just would not fit. (The 98 is not significantly different than the 93, I think 99 was when they went to the current setup.)

It might be possible if you use a Radian between two seats with a high base, like Marathons, so that they puzzle together.

Suburbans 1992-1999 were the same body style. 2000 was the big change. Did a few 3 across in ours. Turbo, evenflo infant no base, turbo. I think we did turbo, ff bv, turbo, but not sure. Suburban has been gone for 6+ months.

Do you have a manual for your suburban? Ours was a year newer 1999. We only had tethers outboard 3rd row. They were the far back cargo hooks. Near the door. I don't know if 1998 is the same or different then 1999. We could only get 1 installed and that would have been 3rd row middle. They would do nothing for the 2nd row.

pippi2077 said:

Suburbans 1992-1999 were the same body style. 2000 was the big change. Did a few 3 across in ours. Turbo, evenflo infant no base, turbo. I think we did turbo, ff bv, turbo, but not sure. Suburban has been gone for 6+ months.

Do you have a manual for your suburban? Ours was a year newer 1999. We only had tethers outboard 3rd row. They were the far back cargo hooks. Near the door. I don't know if 1998 is the same or different then 1999. We could only get 1 installed and that would have been 3rd row middle. They would do nothing for the 2nd row.

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for the 2nd row it is a male belt buckle that you clip into the female buckle and use as the top tether spot....so if you have all the seat belts occupied in the 3rd row, then yeah, nothing can be done with Top Tether for the 2nd row to their "retrofit"

In our 92 suburban - the 3rd row top tethers are the furtherst back cargo anchors and then there is a retro fit for the 3rd row center (a strap that comes together from each of the cargo anchors with a D or O ring to top tether the center position 3rd row). IDK if you can use the retro fit & the cargo anchors all together as top tethers or not....

I haven't tried to get 3 across in the 3rd row of our suburban.....yet.....I think it will take another Radian to do it and I only have 1 here