Question 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee

Ok friends...give me the low down. BIL and SIL just traded their money-sucker .. um.. Audi A4 for an 07 Jeep Grand Cherokee. SIL is due in October. I highly urged against the JGC after experiencing the God awful headrests when attempting (and failing) to install both a MA and DC outboard in a neighbor's 2006 JGC.

Here are my questions:

Does it have dedicated center LATCH? If no, is sharing allowed? If yes, what is the LATCH limit?

Did I just read correctly that the center seat belt doesn't lock and locking clips are required? They will be using our Graco SR for their DD and then will be using our MA that my DD is just about to outgrow.

Any other tidbits to share? I love my BIL and SIL but am knocking my head on a wall regarding their purchase.

Thanks! ~Mandi

The LATCH manual indicates the '07 Grand Cherokee has dedicated sets of outboard LATCH and allows either 2 outboard lower LATCH anchor installations, or one center lower LATCH anchor installation if the carseat manufacturer allows it, but not 3 lower LATCH anchor installs at all once. A center LATCH installation is allowable if the carseat has flexible lower LATCH connector straps and if the carseat manufacturer allows borrowing outboard lower anchors spaced 480 mm apart (480 mm is about 18.9 inches). Jeeps have a 48 lb. lower LATCH installation weight limit when the top tether is also used. Graco doesn't allow borrowing to do a center LATCH install, but Britax does if the spacing is between 11 and 20 inches so they could do a center LATCH installation with the Britax Marathon.

Locking seatbelt have been required since around the 1996 model year. The seatbelts should either lock at the shoulder belt retractor or at the latchplate in a 2007 model without requiring a locking clip, barring preventing tilting of a rear facing seat where a locking clip could be used on a lap-shoulder belt instead of locking the shoulder belt at the retractor to help prevent tilting. I also seem to remember there's a mixture of locking latchhplates and lockable shoulder belt retractors in some Jeep models, with the center rear position differing from the outboard ones, but I'm blanking on whether it's a locking latchplate or retractor in the center. The Jeep.com website has manuals online for recent Jeep model years at http://www.jeep.com/en/owners/manuals/index.html to see about the seatbelts. Aha, here's the answer straight from the 2007 Grand Cherokee's manual, on page 56 of the .pdf file - locking latchplates ("cinching" in Jeep parlance) outboard, and lockable retractor in the center:

• Except for the second row center seating position, all
passenger seat belts are equipped with cinching latch
plates. The second row center position has an automatic
locking retractor identified by a distinctive label.
Both types of seat belts are designed to keep the lap
portion tight around the child restraint so that it is not
necessary to use a locking clip. If the seat belt has a
cinching latch plate, pulling up on the shoulder portion
of the lap/shoulder belt will tighten the belt (the
cinching latch plate will keep the belt tight, however,
any seat belt system will loosen with time, so check the
belt occasionally and pull it tight if necessary). For the
second row center seat belt with the automatic locking
retractor, pull the belt from the retractor until there is
enough to allow you to pass through the child restraint
and slide the latch plate into the buckle. Then, pull the
belt until it is fully extracted from the retractor. Allow
the belt to return to the retractor, pulling on the excess
webbing to tighten the lap portion about the child
restraint. For additional information, refer to Automatic
Locking Mode earlier in this section.
• In the rear seat, you may have trouble tightening the
lap/shoulder belt on the child restraint because the
buckle or latch plate is too close to the belt path
opening on the restraint. Disconnect the latch plate
from the buckle and twist the short buckle-end belt
several times to shorten it. Insert the latch plate into
the buckle with the release button facing out.

Click to expand...

Thanks so much Jean!! That's exactly what I needed. :thumbsup: