Acadia tip and question, was Re: best configuration for 3 in a 2010 Acadia?

B

bergenbuyer

Guest
I have some tips on car seat configs for the Acadia. I also have a question. I'm trying to fit 3 people in the 3rd row for a road trip (Grandma and other daughter in the 2nd row Capt chairs). My wife, infant carrier and then Britax Marathon. It's just not working as is, not enough room for my wife. I'm thinking about trying a Sunshine Kids Radian as that seems to be the thinnest (shoulder width) seat out there. If you know the marathon the side for the legs protrude up which directly interferes with the snap-in infant carrier. The Radian appears to have a lower height at the leg level, which would allow the infant carrier to snap in. Does this sound doable? Anyone ever try to put 2 car seats (middle and side) in the 3rd row of the Acadia so you have 1 seat available?

Here's my post from another forum:
I know figuring out the safest way to have car seats without buying a minivan was something that I struggled with in buying a car. Once I was able to figure out a way to do it with the Acadia, I bought the car.

I wanted to let everyone know that I was able to take off the headrests of the 2nd row captain's chairs by depressing the leather/cloth down until I was able to remove the little C clip that keeps the headrest from being removed (there are other posts that describe this method, it works). This allowed the car seats to fit better (flush against the seat) without having to recline the seat. By doing that, I can have more leg room in third row. I have a Britax Marathon and a Peg Perego snap-in infant carrier in the captains chairs. There's no need to remove the headrest for the infant carrier, it fits fine as is.

For the third row, it's a little easier to remove the headrest without having to pull down your seat material. Pull the handle on the back of the third row as if you were going to lay the seat down flat, the headrest folds down as you do this, but keep the seat upright, it will be easier to work. You'll see plastic rings around the metal posts and a tiny hole in the plastic ring. Get a wire hanger or something like an awl or a small screwdriver. I used two awls. At the same time press the awls into each hole, this will depress a metal piece that is pressured by a spring. As you press in, pull out on the headrest, and it should come off. You can do this by yourself, but two people would obviously make this easier. Now push those metal posts back into the upright position. This isn't great if you're going to sit back here as you now have two metal posts sticking up, but the car seat is tall enough to cover those posts and actually fit nicely around the plastic of the Marathon seat. This allowed me to put two Britax Marathons in the third row. There is still some room in the middle, but not much. Maybe you could do 3 boosters in the future. I wouldn't put a kid in between as they could get crushed by the two car seats in an accident.

Unfortunately, the geniuses at GM decided to only put 1 tether on the 3rd row and no LATCH hooks. They say you're not supposed to put two seats on 1 tether as the weight could be too much to handle in the event of an accident. I used the seatbelts instead of LATCH which is acceptable, although not as good as LATCH. For the tether, I bought two D-ring connectors from Britax. They actually come with the seats when you buy them, but mine disappeared over the years as they weren't being used. Here they are if you need to buy them as well
http://www.britaxusa.com/buy-parts-accessories.

I pulled back on the carpeted piece that moves up and down as you fold the 3rd row seat and was able to put the straps around a metal tube (drivers side) and a metal frame piece (passenger side) that is under the seat. This seems like a sufficient area as the tube and frame are welded and bolted to the body just as the seat belts are. If someone disagrees, let me know.

With all this, I now have 3 Marathons and 1 infant snap-in safely secured in the car.

I hope this helps anyone else that was facing a similar issue as I.
 
ADS

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
Welcome. I can help with some of the basic aspects.

I have some tips on car seat configs for the Acadia. I also have a question. I'm trying to fit 3 people in the 3rd row for a road trip (Grandma and other daughter in the 2nd row Capt chairs). My wife, infant carrier and then Britax Marathon. It's just not working as is, not enough room for my wife. I'm thinking about trying a Sunshine Kids Radian as that seems to be the thinnest (shoulder width) seat out there. If you know the marathon the side for the legs protrude up which directly interferes with the snap-in infant carrier. The Radian appears to have a lower height at the leg level, which would allow the infant carrier to snap in. Does this sound doable? Anyone ever try to put 2 car seats (middle and side) in the 3rd row of the Acadia so you have 1 seat available?

How old and heavy is the Marathon rider?

The Radian and the Marathon puzzle well together in the same direction, if the infant seat doesn't fit well next to the Radian. But with the base of the Radian being 14" versus the Marathon's flaired areas being 19", you should have much more room. I don't know how they install in the third row, though.

I wanted to let everyone know that I was able to take off the headrests of the 2nd row captain's chairs by depressing the leather/cloth down until I was able to remove the little C clip that keeps the headrest from being removed (there are other posts that describe this method, it works). This allowed the car seats to fit better (flush against the seat) without having to recline the seat. By doing that, I can have more leg room in third row. I have a Britax Marathon and a Peg Perego snap-in infant carrier in the captains chairs. There's no need to remove the headrest for the infant carrier, it fits fine as is.

As long as there are no restrictions in your car's manual, this is fine.

For the third row, it's a little easier to remove the headrest without having to pull down your seat material. Pull the handle on the back of the third row as if you were going to lay the seat down flat, the headrest folds down as you do this, but keep the seat upright, it will be easier to work. You'll see plastic rings around the metal posts and a tiny hole in the plastic ring. Get a wire hanger or something like an awl or a small screwdriver. I used two awls. At the same time press the awls into each hole, this will depress a metal piece that is pressured by a spring. As you press in, pull out on the headrest, and it should come off. You can do this by yourself, but two people would obviously make this easier. Now push those metal posts back into the upright position. This isn't great if you're going to sit back here as you now have two metal posts sticking up, but the car seat is tall enough to cover those posts and actually fit nicely around the plastic of the Marathon seat. This allowed me to put two Britax Marathons in the third row. There is still some room in the middle, but not much. Maybe you could do 3 boosters in the future. I wouldn't put a kid in between as they could get crushed by the two car seats in an accident.

Actually, non harnessed kids are safer between two shelled seats. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-09/chop-htb090905.php

You can't have a person (adult) sit in the back without the headrest. There is no whiplash protection. But if it's ok with your car, that's fine. That sounds a little less than ok, though, without knowing your manual, since there was SO much work involved in getting them off. Generally, if a car is ok with them off, they'll make them easy to remove.

Unfortunately, the geniuses at GM decided to only put 1 tether on the 3rd row and no LATCH hooks. They say you're not supposed to put two seats on 1 tether as the weight could be too much to handle in the event of an accident. I used the seatbelts instead of LATCH which is acceptable, although not as good as LATCH.

Do you have a study for that? LATCH is not safer than the seatbelt, and I see both misused about equally. LATCH has a weight limit, 48 pounds in your vehicle, whereas the seatbelt goes to 350 pounds or so. Provided you have less than 1" of movement at the belt path then the seat is secure, either with LATCH or the seatbelt, and either way is fine. Never both together, but one isn't safer than the other.

For the tether, I bought two D-ring connectors from Britax. They actually come with the seats when you buy them, but mine disappeared over the years as they weren't being used. Here they are if you need to buy them as well
http://www.britaxusa.com/buy-parts-accessories.

Those are for rear facing use ONLY, not forward facing. Is your Marathon rear or forward facing? If it's rear facing, then fine. If it's forward facing you need to put it in the tethered location, or not tether it.

I pulled back on the carpeted piece that moves up and down as you fold the 3rd row seat and was able to put the straps around a metal tube (drivers side) and a metal frame piece (passenger side) that is under the seat. This seems like a sufficient area as the tube and frame are welded and bolted to the body just as the seat belts are. If someone disagrees, let me know.

I'm confused. Is this rear facing or forward? Forward, I massively disagree. Like I said, the D ring is for rear facing tethering ONLY, as the crash forces are very different rear and forward facing. You can also only tether to an approved tether location forward facing. So if you're using a D ring and rigging up a tether somewhere in your car, you're putting your child in the position of crash test dummy. If you're comfortable with that, go for it. Most people would rather leave the crash test dummies in the labs and just follow the instructions the carseat manufacturer has set forth after millions of dollars of testing.

If the seat is rear facing, you just loop the tether around a front seat leg, or since Grandma is sitting in front of the child, use the second row's tether as a rear facing tether, no D ring needed.

With all this, I now have 3 Marathons and 1 infant snap-in safely secured in the car.

Grandma and one Marathon in the middle seats, wife, infant, and second Marathon in the third row. Where's the third Marathon? How old and heavy is the other Marathon rider, and in what direction are they facing?

Wendy
 

snowbird25ca

Moderator - CPST Instructor
I have some tips on car seat configs for the Acadia. I also have a question. I'm trying to fit 3 people in the 3rd row for a road trip (Grandma and other daughter in the 2nd row Capt chairs). My wife, infant carrier and then Britax Marathon. It's just not working as is, not enough room for my wife. I'm thinking about trying a Sunshine Kids Radian as that seems to be the thinnest (shoulder width) seat out there. If you know the marathon the side for the legs protrude up which directly interferes with the snap-in infant carrier. The Radian appears to have a lower height at the leg level, which would allow the infant carrier to snap in. Does this sound doable? Anyone ever try to put 2 car seats (middle and side) in the 3rd row of the Acadia so you have 1 seat available?

I've had 2 in the 3rd row of my Outlook (identical to the Acadia, just made by Saturn.) You may have an easier time with putting your other daughter in the 3rd row so that both adults are in the 2nd row. That being said, it may be a very tight fit still.

I wanted to let everyone know that I was able to take off the headrests of the 2nd row captain's chairs by depressing the leather/cloth down until I was able to remove the little C clip that keeps the headrest from being removed (there are other posts that describe this method, it works). This allowed the car seats to fit better (flush against the seat) without having to recline the seat. By doing that, I can have more leg room in third row. I have a Britax Marathon and a Peg Perego snap-in infant carrier in the captains chairs. There's no need to remove the headrest for the infant carrier, it fits fine as is.

If you have either seat installed with LATCH, then you will need to have the 2nd row seats reclined anyways. It is a specific step in the manual when you read the LATCH installation section. The recline is mentioned again in regards to a ff'ing seat if the headrest interferes, but since it is part of the steps for LATCH installation, it's not something you can skip.

If you want to leave the seats upright, then you'll need to switch to a seatbelt install.

I wouldn't recommend removal of the headrests in general - I've had only 1 seat that was incompatible due to the headrest, while everything else I've tried in there has been fine.


Unfortunately, the geniuses at GM decided to only put 1 tether on the 3rd row and no LATCH hooks. They say you're not supposed to put two seats on 1 tether as the weight could be too much to handle in the event of an accident. I used the seatbelts instead of LATCH which is acceptable, although not as good as LATCH. For the tether, I bought two D-ring connectors from Britax. They actually come with the seats when you buy them, but mine disappeared over the years as they weren't being used. Here they are if you need to buy them as well
http://www.britaxusa.com/buy-parts-accessories.

I pulled back on the carpeted piece that moves up and down as you fold the 3rd row seat and was able to put the straps around a metal tube (drivers side) and a metal frame piece (passenger side) that is under the seat. This seems like a sufficient area as the tube and frame are welded and bolted to the body just as the seat belts are. If someone disagrees, let me know.

The issue with using the D-ring for a ff'ing seat is that it wasn't designed to withstand the forces placed on it by a ff'ing seat. When it's used to create a tether point for a rf'ing child, there is no more than 200lbs of force applied to it during rebound. (This is based on a conversation I had with a person from Britax.) For comparison, a top tether anchor must withstand a pull test of 10,000 N (at a minimum) which converts to approximately 2245lbs. As you can see, there is a huge difference in the minimum amount of weight that the 2 different anchors are designed to bear and I wouldn't trust a D-ring to withstand the forces applied to it in a collision by a ff'ing seat.

It is unfortunate that there aren't more top tether locations in the 3rd row. This seems to be a common problem in many family vehicles. Our Outlook has a 2nd row bench so we have 4 top tether anchors. Of course as soon as you get 3 across the 2nd row, you lose easy access to the 3rd row...

So far as the radian in the 3rd row goes, I've never been completely happy with how it installed in the center position. It might be worth giving the Evenflo Maestro a try - I believe it's a fairly narrow seat as well. Maybe check out the My Ride as well - I've never had it in that position, but I imagine it would be easy to buckle beside due to most of it's width coming from the armrests. :thumbsup:
 

Car-Seat.Org Facebook Group

Forum statistics

Threads
219,655
Messages
2,196,895
Members
13,530
Latest member
onehitko860

You must read your carseat and vehicle owner’s manual and understand any relevant state laws. These are the rules you must follow to restrain your children safely. All opinions at Car-Seat.Org are those of the individual author for informational purposes only, and do not necessarily reflect any policy or position of Carseat Media LLC. Car-Seat.Org makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, currentness, suitability, or validity of any information on this site and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis. If you are unsure about information provided to you, please visit a local certified technician. Before posting or using our website you must read and agree to our TERMS.

Graco is a Proud Sponsor of Car-Seat.Org! Britax is a Proud Sponsor of Car-Seat.Org! Nuna Baby is a Proud Sponsor of Car-Seat.Org!

Please  Support Car-Seat.Org  with your purchases of infant, convertible, combination and boosters seats from our premier sponsors above.
Shop travel systems, strollers and baby gear from Britax, Chicco, Clek, Combi, Evenflo, First Years, Graco, Maxi-Cosi, Nuna, Safety 1st, Diono & more! ©2001-2022 Carseat Media LLC

Top