3rd row 2002 suburban 3 across

aja

New member
i need to get three across in the 3rd row. we have guardianship of a relative's baby for awhile and need to get 5 seats in our suburban (for at least a couple months it looks like).

the seats i have are:

radian xtsl
myride
myride
como
prosport
young sport
avenue
snugride 30

my oldest (tall skinny 6 year old) only fits in the prosport. the middle three (5 years ~ 40lbs dressed, 2.5 year old twins ~ 30lbs dressed) can fit in the myrides and como. the twins can fit in any of the seats ff (except the snugride of course) and the myrides and radian rf.

right now we have the seats as they are in my sig pic, plus the baby in the snugride without the base in the flip up middle row seat. it is not working. the seat doesn't flip very well and the seatbelt doesn't retract very well. plus i can't get to the third row at all to help the kids back there if they need it (and they do).

the outboard seats in the third row have tether anchors OR the middle seat, but not all 3. all 3 seats in the middle row have tether anchors.

i'm going out to try this afternoon and here's what i'm thinking:

driver passenger
rf myride rf myride
prosport snugride30 ffxtsl

that is IF the prosport, snugride, and xtsl fit 3 across there AND i can pass the snugride past the xtsl.

if that doesn't work all i can come up with is this (i'm pretty sure these would all fit):

driver passenger
prosport snugride30
ffmyride ffxtsl ffmyride

that would leave the xtsl untethered and have the two year olds ff in the third row. :-/

any other suggestions? i would be willing to buy another seat if it would make a big difference.
 
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jourdysmom

CPST Instructor
I do not believe that you can get a Radian in the 3rd row at all... I am certain that it has been shown here to be incompatible. :( Sorry nobody else has answered...
 

aja

New member
I do not believe that you can get a Radian in the 3rd row at all... I am certain that it has been shown here to be incompatible. :( Sorry nobody else has answered...

i saw that mentioned on the three across thread. i'm sure we've had ours installed third row before. i don't even remember it being a particularly difficult install. :confused:
 

J-max

CPST Instructor
I do not believe that you can get a Radian in the 3rd row at all... I am certain that it has been shown here to be incompatible. :( Sorry nobody else has answered...

i saw that mentioned on the three across thread. i'm sure we've had ours installed third row before. i don't even remember it being a particularly difficult install. :confused:

the radian is incompatable with the suburban 3rd row after the '98 body style change (I believe that was the year):(

It looks and feels like it works (no side to side movement) but it you grab the front of the radian, it slip about a foot forward, then is very loose.

you CAN get a RF radian install in the third row, if you do it on the passenger side and can keep the fold up seat folded.

I would try to get 2 or all 3 of your RF in the third row if you can, and load over the back seat. I am thinking you can get the SR30 in the middle and the XTSL on the passenger side and maybe you can still fit something else on the drivers side (ave, maybe?) any chance you could get your hands on a classic RA? that fits great back there and you could get the RF radian and something else low profile on the outsides of it?
 

aja

New member
the radian is incompatable with the suburban 3rd row after the '98 body style change (I believe that was the year):(

It looks and feels like it works (no side to side movement) but it you grab the front of the radian, it slip about a foot forward, then is very loose.

you CAN get a RF radian install in the third row, if you do it on the passenger side and can keep the fold up seat folded.

I would try to get 2 or all 3 of your RF in the third row if you can, and load over the back seat. I am thinking you can get the SR30 in the middle and the XTSL on the passenger side and maybe you can still fit something else on the drivers side (ave, maybe?) any chance you could get your hands on a classic RA? that fits great back there and you could get the RF radian and something else low profile on the outsides of it?

i'm going to have to try a 3rd row radian install again now because that just isn't making sense in my mind. we had a radian installed back there for over a year - and reinstalled it several times. i can't believe i could just not notice that.


i am not able to load rf kids into the third row in this car. i could easily with our odyssey and decently with our montana van, but with how large the cargo area is, plus the strollers back there, plus my size and fitness level it just isn't happening.

eta: is the issue that makes the radian move forward so much because the bottom part of the seat is not stationary? like is the seat cushion removable from the bench or something? i'm trying to imagine why that would happen.
 
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aja

New member
i'm going to try myride/como/myride in the third row then. they puzzle really well together rf so i'm hoping they will ff. i can't think of any other solution if i can't use a radian back there.
 

Jillybeans5

Active member
The issue with the RN and the suburban 3rd row seems to be because the seatbelts are forward of the seat bight. I've tried it myself in my 05' Yukon xl. It seems perfect until you pull forward on the bottom of the RN, then it slides way forward and becomes super loose. If no one ever pulled on it, it might seem tight for a long time. Good luck, that 3rd row is pretty tricky for such a large vehicle.
 

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