Question Car Seats in Minivans

We might be taking a minivan with us back to our new place - a 5 hour drive. Not exactly sure on all the van specifics but it is a two door Chrysler, helpful, I know
This is probably a dumb questions. Is it better to put the seats on the back bench or there are the two individual (captain??) seats in the middle. Obviously those two seats would be easier for me to access and take care of the boys. But, whatever is safer I am all for. We will have one FF and one RF in infant seat...unless I miraculously get something else in the next two-three days.
Thanks for answering the dumb question

No question is dumb Any position is fine as long as the car seats are properly installed.

The captain chairs would definitely be easier for a long ride to hand a drink or snack back to them

How old and weight/height on the kids? What seats are you using?

I agree that installing on the captain's chairs is preferable. They are generally super easy to install on because the LATCH anchors (if available) are usually easily accessible, and you don't have to be concerned with puzzling seats side by side.

Tethering your FF seat will be a little different than you might be used to in a sedan. The top tether anchors in minivans are usually located on the back/bottom of the captain's chairs themselves, so be sure to check the vehicle manual to determine the correct anchor point.

2001 and newer Caravans will have LATCH. Prior years didn't even have tether anchors.

If it's 2001-ish, the tether anchor is a little metal bar just below where the seat folds, on the back of the seat. Not sure about the newer body style(s).

If you don't have tether anchors, and aren't using the back row, it is possible to tether to the back seatbelt. Text me if that's the case and I'll walk you through it step-by-step.

TerisBoys said:

2001 and newer Caravans will have LATCH. Prior years didn't even have tether anchors.

If it's 2001-ish, the tether anchor is a little metal bar just below where the seat folds, on the back of the seat. Not sure about the newer body style(s).

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FYI the Chrysler version is called the Town & Country

vonfirmath said:

FYI the Chrysler version is called the Town & Country

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I could've sworn she said Dodge in the first post - my mistake.

Same tips though - the Chrysler, Dodge, and Plymouth minivans are all essentially the same with different labels.

It's a 99 Dodge Caravan, the Chrysler version of that. I was confused when FIL said it was a Dodge, then I saw the car and said, no, it's a Chrysler! Didn't know they were all the same. 30 month DS is 26-28 LBS FF in a Britex Roundabout 50 (with more room he could RF ) And 16 month DS is 24-26 LBS in a Keyfit 30 (obviously RF)
If we can get an electrical problem sorted out we'll be taking the van. but there are no dashboard lights. I think that might be important, maybe

TerisBoys said:

I could've sworn she said Dodge in the first post - my mistake.

Same tips though - the Chrysler, Dodge, and Plymouth minivans are all essentially the same with different labels.

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I knew the Caravan and Town & country were essentially the same. What is the Plymouth called?

The long discontinued Plymouth version goes by the Voyager/Grand Voyager model name. ETA: The Plymouth version's last model year was the 2000 model, pre-dating factory equipped top tether anchors and LATCH by 1 model year in the Chrysler minivan model lineup, but retrofittable with top tether anchors per the LATCH manual.

Thanks Jean - I tried to post earlier, but got a database error.

longstocking said:

It's a 99 Dodge Caravan, the Chrysler version of that. I was confused when FIL said it was a Dodge, then I saw the car and said, no, it's a Chrysler! Didn't know they were all the same. 30 month DS is 26-28 LBS FF in a Britex Roundabout 50 (with more room he could RF ) And 16 month DS is 24-26 LBS in a Keyfit 30 (obviously RF)
If we can get an electrical problem sorted out we'll be taking the van. but there are no dashboard lights. I think that might be important, maybe

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I'm surprised your 16 month old still fits in the Keyfit. Is there at least an inch above the head?

cookie123 said:

I'm surprised your 16 month old still fits in the Keyfit. Is there at least an inch above the head?

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Yeah there is. He's little. I just saw him in it last week.
He had been riding in the RA50 before her accident, her oldest was in a radian with her and the youngest was in a different vehicle not in the accident. Big brother got little brother's seat for a while and luckily little brother still fit in the keyfit.

Dash lights - there's a knob that rolls up and down to the right of the headlight knob - make sure it hasn't been dimmed all the way down. Otherwise, check fuses.

Anchors can be retrofit into it - they'll go on the floor near the rear bench for the captain's chairs, and in the cargo area for the rear bench. I have pictures of them in my 97 if you'd like to see the placement.

longstocking said:

It's a 99 Dodge Caravan, the Chrysler version of that. I was confused when FIL said it was a Dodge, then I saw the car and said, no, it's a Chrysler! Didn't know they were all the same. 30 month DS is 26-28 LBS FF in a Britex Roundabout 50 (with more room he could RF ) And 16 month DS is 24-26 LBS in a Keyfit 30 (obviously RF)
If we can get an electrical problem sorted out we'll be taking the van. but there are no dashboard lights. I think that might be important, maybe

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Does he fit with more than 1" of hard shell above his head rear-facing? Or is it that he has not enough leg room?

If it were me...Without having forward facing top tethers (if you cannot do it KetchupQueen's way or have TT's retrofitted quickly) I would Rear face him as long as he fits in the seat by height (he is good for weight). I personally prefer that all FF seats are tethered if at all possible and RF if that is not possible. :twocents:

I have skinny minny short kids so DS will fit just fine RF. Lets just say 30 month DS can still wear 18 month clothes, although getting a tad short and snug.
For now we're renting a car to get us to our destination then we'll be car-less until we can get one of the cars working. That solves all my car seat problems
The van has nothing working for the control panel so we know it's not just dim lights. Doesn't show speed, mileage, etc.
We were hoping to have a car by this weekend but the holidays really messed everything up. No one is open to work on cars. Not even insurance will help until next week. I've been trying to figure out what our settlement will be so I can start looking for another car...or get our totaled one fixed. According to insurance I picked a really bad time to file a claim. I'm sorry I didn't plan my car accident better. Didn't mean to inconvenience you
I'm still hoping to end up with the van. It's older than the one we totaled but I want the extra room. I'll have to check into getting anchors installed...never knew that was possible.

Yeah, I believe all vehicles that were made before LATCH was required can have tether anchors retrofitted for free. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
We got dh's brother's 1995 truck this past summer and it didn't have tether anchors. We got one put in for free, we have a spare seat in there that the girls ride in sometimes so I wanted it to be tethered.

Retrofitting the Chrysler minivans with top tether anchors was touched upon already in previous posts. I just need to type up the tether anchor part numbers and the Chrysler service bulletin info. from the LATCH manual in a moment for the OP to have all the necessary info. to retrofit it. The 1996-2000 Chrysler/Dodge minivans can have a tether anchor retrofitted for each rear seating position, and the tether anchor points for retrofitting the top tether anchors are located on the vehicle floor as Teri helpfully mentioned above. The part number for each second row seating position 04864118AB, and the part number for each third row seating position is 05018506AA. Retrofitting should be done free of charge (parts and labor) at a Chrysler dealership. You'll need to refer the dealership to Chrysler service bulletin number 23-029-08 for details of this free retrofit policy, and the dealer can also find additional information in Warranty Information Center (WIC) article #1339. :thumbsup:

On top tether anchor retrofits in general, it really depends on the vehicle model/model year and upon the vehicle manufacturer as to whether or not it's retrofittable with top tether anchors, and whether or not it's free to do so. Not every manufacturer has a free tether anchor retrofit program. U.S./domestic brands tend to have free tether anchor retrofits for pre-factory equipped retrofittable models. GM provides 1 tether anchor retrofit free, Ford does multiple tether anchors, as does Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep, for retrofittable vehicle models through their respective programs/service bulletins, while non-domestic brands generally involve out of pocket expenses for the vehicle owner to retrofit. In some cases it's a nominal out of pocket expense, like Toyota's $5 per top tether anchor voucher program through SafetyBeltSafe USA, and in other cases it's somewhat more spendy in terms of parts and labor for non-domestic branded cars.

http://www.angelfire.com/mi3/terib/tethers.html

Placement varied slightly depending on wheelbase and what the middle row was. But this is what retrofit anchors will look like.

*Standard disclaimer - that webpage is from Feb 2001. William was very near the RF limits of the Roundabout even though he's 'young' to be FF by today's standards.