Booster in 3rd row Dodge Grand Caravan?

fyrfightermomma

New member
I'm so fed up with E in a booster. For whatever reason boosters and my 3rd row of my 06 Grand Caravan (stow n go) don't play nice. It's like the belt guide of the booster holds the belt at a wierd angle and she can't pull the belt out and even I have to use both hands to get it out just to buckle her. She can buckle in DH's car and in mine she can't even loosen the belt. I'm sure the locking latchplates don't help! She's in the 3rd row pass side. I've tried a probooster, turbo, and a big kid (all i had available)

Anyone else have this car? what boosters work well? I can't use driver side because I need the top tether for Sophia's seat and I doubt that would fix the problem. I don't want her in a captain's seat. I really need her 3rd row. Any ideas on other boosters? I just want the shoulder belt to freely move!

She's very narrow. About 40 lbs and 48ish"
 
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emy_lou

New member
I have a 06 Dodge Caravan. The way I have it worked out for us is... one in 3rd row pass(6 yr old), one 3rd row drivers side(5 yr old), and one in 2nd row (Captains chair) drivers side (2 yr old). All of our car seats for this vehicle are now the Graco Nautilus. And I have all 3 of my girls still Harnessed. How old is E? Is it still possible to have E harnessed?
 

fyrfightermomma

New member
I have a 06 Dodge Caravan. The way I have it worked out for us is... one in 3rd row pass(6 yr old), one 3rd row drivers side(5 yr old), and one in 2nd row (Captains chair) drivers side (2 yr old). All of our car seats for this vehicle are now the Graco Nautilus. And I have all 3 of my girls still Harnessed. How old is E? Is it still possible to have E harnessed?

That's our set up now too. E (almost 6) boostered 3rd row pass. S, 4.5 harnessed 3rd row driver and J (1) RFing drivers side. I love the set up!


She could be harnessed in a Frontier 85, but we need it for Sophia who has maxed out most other seats. Plus with only one tether back there, only one kid gets one (and I'm not giving up my set up! lol). We had one kid untethered for a while, but as soon as E could be boostered we switched her to get rid of that factor. E is very mature and has asked to be boostered and at 6 I'm fine with that. She's outgrown everything other than Frontier 85 which she's on the top slots for. Also with the two feeding tubes in her stomach a harness is very sore on her from the harness rubbing

I wonder if a GN in booster mode would work any better. Would you be willing to try to just put a seatbelt through your driver side one and see if the belt moves freely at all??
 

emy_lou

New member
That's our set up now too. E (almost 6) boostered 3rd row pass. S, 4.5 harnessed 3rd row driver and J (1) RFing drivers side. I love the set up!


She could be harnessed in a Frontier 85, but we need it for Sophia who has maxed out most other seats. Plus with only one tether back there, only one kid gets one (and I'm not giving up my set up! lol). We had one kid untethered for a while, but as soon as E could be boostered we switched her to get rid of that factor. E is very mature and has asked to be boostered and at 6 I'm fine with that. She's outgrown everything other than Frontier 85 which she's on the top slots for. Also with the two feeding tubes in her stomach a harness is very sore on her from the harness rubbing

I wonder if a GN in booster mode would work any better. Would you be willing to try to just put a seatbelt through your driver side one and see if the belt moves freely at all??



Sure... I'll go check right now :)
 

emy_lou

New member
Okay so, I did that and it looks like it does move freely but not very much. It was really slow and once it got to a point, it stopped completely!
 

Genevieve

CPST Instructor
I have a T&C, and have the exact same issue. My 6.5 year old can't buckle himself in a booster in the back row and he's got good motor skills. Some seats are less worse than others, but every seat I've tried has the shoulder belt issue. I think I remember the ProBooster (or maybe Monterey?) being not too bad, but he hated that seat for other reasons and we didn't keep it. Currently I have a Harmony Dreamtime there, but it's still a PITA. I deal with it because it provides an awesome belt fit on him. I HATE that back row. Between the enormous hinges for the stow n go and the funky shoulder belts, I will be thrilled when I can drive something else.
 

luckyclov

New member
I'm fairly certain the 3rd row of all Chrysler minivans is possessed, atleast for booster use and especially in the redesigned (2008 and after) models.

I used to have an '05/'06 Caravan, but never had any riders back there, so I don't have any tips. I recently traded in an '09 GC, though, and, OMGosh, we had such a struggle finding a booster that'd work in the 3rd row for DS1. Between the retractors, the vehicle seat bottom slope, tipping issues, bunching, loss of retracting ability, fwd set shoulder belt, and the ENTIRE center seatbelt set-up, it was sooooo frustrating.:(
 

kater-tot82

New member
I have an 08 (or 09) T&C and while we usually have it stowed I have put my 8yo's Monterey back there (3rd row passenger side) and I don't think she had trouble buckling it. I'm not sure if the seatbelts are the same though. She ordinarily is in a captain's chair and if she is back there it's often in a backless. I am not sure if a Monterey would work for your E. My 8yo is 50ish inches and 51lbs and it works great for her.
 

Carrie_R

Ambassador - CPS Technician
One of my Nannyfams has a DGC and Montereys. The dang seatbelts are always twisted (Mom is not diligent about this grr) but aside from that it was the best fit we found for the vehicle.

It is unlikely E would fit well in a Monterey but not impossible. Despite their rep on here, I actually haven't had problems with them fitting narrower riders well. I kind of have hero-worship for that seat, lol.
 

kater-tot82

New member
Yes, my DD isn't broad shouldered or big by any means, and I was surprised that she fits as well as she does in a Monterey. If you haven't tried her in one, I definitely would, to see if it helps the seatbelt issue. (Doesn't BuyBuyBaby sell the Monterey? Could you ask to try one in your car if you have one by you?)
 

Mom2FiveGirls

Active member
I have an 07 grand caravan and I played around with who was going to sit where and decided fairly quickly that kids in HBBs would go in the captains chairs... DD1 and DD2 are/were (DD1 5 stepped recently) in literiders and don't have any problems buckling. HBBs are a pain though! I haven't tried the parkway back there though. I'll stick it back there tomorrow and see if that's any better.
 

Carrie_R

Ambassador - CPS Technician
(Doesn't BuyBuyBaby sell the Monterey? Could you ask to try one in your car if you have one by you?)

I was not able to find the Monterey in store ANYWHERE, I had to order mine online. Obviously that's difficult if you need to check fit, but getting it from somewhere with free/cheap return shipping can make it do-able. :)

(FTR, although she never rode in it, I was satisfied with the fit on my former charge -- 5y2m, 36ishlbs, 42". Total peanut.)
 

momtoo3

Well-known member
DS2 is in a PWSG in the 3rd row pass side of my 03 caravan. I have locking latchplates too. The PWSG was the easiest to get the seat belt to move through. He could probably buckle himself if he was not squished next to a Scenera. I could not get the seat belt to move freely with the Probooster or Turbo. I don't know how the PWSG would be in a newer van though.
 

fyrfightermomma

New member
Thanks guys! Anyone know if an 03 and 05 are the same? I just found out I have an 05, not an 06. If they are, that's good the parkway fits. Is it a newer one or the original parkway?

Also, You guys say the Monterey doesn't have a messed up shoulder belt in the 3rd row? If that's the case, I'll try to get one! She's tall but narrow. I can always return it.

I'm so glad I'm not crazy and others have this issue! I really don't want her in a captains seat. Our set up is so nice!
 

kater-tot82

New member
I have to put the headrest on the baby's True Fit today so I will try DD1's Monterey in the 3rd row to see how the shoulderbelt is. I will try and take pics so you can see how it the shoulderbelt goes through the guide. (I work until 4:30EST so it wouldn't be til tonight).
 

momtoo3

Well-known member
Thanks guys! Anyone know if an 03 and 05 are the same? I just found out I have an 05, not an 06. If they are, that's good the parkway fits. Is it a newer one or the original parkway?

Also, You guys say the Monterey doesn't have a messed up shoulder belt in the 3rd row? If that's the case, I'll try to get one! She's tall but narrow. I can always return it.

I'm so glad I'm not crazy and others have this issue! I really don't want her in a captains seat. Our set up is so nice!

Mine is the newer parkway. I have both the SG and SGL but have only tried the SG back there. The belt guides are slightly different between the 2 different versions so I don't know how the SGL would be.
 

keri1292

Well-known member
Mine is the newer parkway. I have both the SG and SGL but have only tried the SG back there. The belt guides are slightly different between the 2 different versions so I don't know how the SGL would be.

We're having the same problem. :thumbsdown:

Right now Hayden is in a pink flowered Compass B510 because it works the best out of what we have. I'm going to try a Parkway SG, Latch is pointless back there since it is offset anyway. Post back your trial and errors!
 

Swtnsassy2c

New member
I have a 2002 grand caravan and DS just started using his nautilus in booster mode in the 3rd row. He said it's hard to pull the belt though the guides but not bad enough that he needs help buckling.
I don't know if the older dodges have a different backseat. We also don't have captain chairs we have a 2nd row 2 seat bench.
 

luckyclov

New member
I'm pretty sure the 3rd row shoulder belts are set fwd fairly similar in the '05 generation as the '09 generation of Chrysler minivans. I can not tell you how many HBBs (Monterey, X fix, Oobr, PW/PWSG, ProBooster) we went through in the outboard spots of the 3rd row trying to find one that was compatible. If the HBB didn't tip or lean, the shoulder belt just wouldn't route through the guide right and it bunched the shoulder belt to the point that it compromised its ability to retract properly. What finally worked for us was a PWSG in the center. The back of the base had a shape just right for the ridiculous box-y thing (that the shoulder belt from the ceiling connected to) to lay OK. It wasn't my favorite fit, but I didn't have much choice because DD's FR85 wouldn't install back there.
 

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