'06/'07 Dodge Durango ??'s

My friends have a new (either '06 or '07) Dodge Durango and 4 boys (7, 4, 3, 1). They are young (23 and 21) and learning about carseats and have gone to local carseat checks, but still have trouble getting them in correctly.

My questions are:

Where are the tether anchors?

How do you lock the seatbelts?

Is it easy to use LATCH (lower anchors) on this vehicle?

Which carseats fit well?

Thank you!!!!

Henrietta

I can't comment on carseat compatibility, ease of install with LATCH or how the seatbelts lock, but I can look up the tether and lower anchor info. in the LATCH manual. The '04-'07 Durango has top tether anchors for each second row seating position, located on the back of the vehicle seat, and 2 sets of outboard lower LATCH anchors. There are no top tether anchors or lower LATCH anchors in the third row. The second row center position can be used with a flexible LATCH child seat if the child seat instructions also allow it.

As far as I know, the Durangos have a similar back seat to the extended Ram trucks. We have a Mega Cab, and installing seats is an absolute dream! It has 3 LATCH + 3 tether positions across the back. The LATCH are well spaced and very easy to use. I am not *sure* where the Tether locations in the Durango would be, as they are attatched to the back wall of my truck. My best guess in the Durango would be on the back of the seats. The seat belts are locking seatbelts. You pull the seat belt all the way out and then let it "click" back into the right position. If my information is correct, ad the Durango is similar to the Extended cabs... ANY seats will work well back there. There is a ton of space! I would guess that I would have no problem fitting 3 Regents side by side. It is huge. We are going to be taking a roadtrip in the truck in 2 weeks with 4 adults and a RF Ma in the back center position. We KNOW there will be enough space to be super comfy. HTH!

"The second row center position can be used with a flexible LATCH child seat if the child seat instructions also allow it."

This means that you can use the outboard LATCH anchors for a center install, correct??

Also, the seatbelt doesn't ratchet back in--I tried yesterday. And they don't seem lock at the latchplate either. Can you turn the manual locking mechanism off/on (as in maybe they have it turned off by accident)? Do the seatbelts lock at the latchplate when they are hooked up? Do I have to turn the latchplate over?

I'm determined to get them straightened out! She is worried about the kids and says that the seats are bothering her, but I'm not sure she has the energy this week to deal with it. The youngest is a houdini--even if I could convince her to keep him rearfacing (I gave them all this info several times!), it wouldn't be safe now. She has to be able to see him clearly. She's bought and returned 5 different carseats in the last few weeks, and he's managed to get his arms out of all of them, even when the straps are so tight they are leaving marks. But that's another story!!!

Henrietta

If the seats are not ratcheting back, they should be checking in with Dodge, that just doesn't sound right. But another way of locking the seat belts, would be to twist the seat belt 180* at the point where you put the seatbelt into the seatbelt stalk. Not twisting the actual stalk, but the seatbelt itself.

I have an 05 durango, and the seatbelts don't ratchet back (except for the center belt in the middle row, which I have taken in 3 times because it locks and doesn't release!!!). I am checking with dodge right now because it says in the owners manual it says that they're supposed to. I currently have a MA installed RF outboard and a turbo booster outboard in the middle tow. I can squeeze between them when I need to ride back there, but my dh can't. We just sent a regent back because I couldn't comfortably squeeze between the 2 seats. Also, because the third row doesn't have latch and I couldn't use the LBP on the regent anymore, the seat could only be used outboard in the middle row. You would have to uninstall the seat every time you need to get into the third row, or crawl over the seat. With 4 kids, it would be best to install 2seats in the 3rd row, and in the middle row, install one outboard and one in the middle so that the other outboard seat could be lifted to allow access to the 3rd row. Kinda weird that both cars are having trouble with the seatbelts! As of right now, there's no recall, I'm out of warranty, and it looks like I'll have to pay for them to be fixed

Soooo, I just called chrysler and they told me to take it to the dealership to have it formally diagnosed before they can tell me if they'll fix it for me or not. If yours in an 06 or 07, it is probably still under warranty.

One of my friends has i think '06 that i helped her fit her AOE seat which i know it's a great seat... but he dh went to get it at BRU and the who 'one seat ever needed' sucked him in vs the $300 britax seat ... anyways they have a 9 month old who's 25# so this will NOT be the last seat he needs if he keeps growing like he is he won't make it to 40#s and be 4 years old... anywho rant over...
I installed in with LATCH in the passanger side is was pretty easy install with the LATCH on the cosco seat usally sucks IMO b/c of the big adjuster but we got it by pulling it back through under the cover... i would think about any of my seats below would work well in the car with LATCH. seat belts are light weight cinching so i hate them but they can work with a 1/2 twist usally. i have the cinching in my dodge intrepid so the are pretty simalar...

henrietta said:

"The second row center position can be used with a flexible LATCH child seat if the child seat instructions also allow it."

This means that you can use the outboard LATCH anchors for a center install, correct??

Click to expand...

Correct, so long as the carseat manual also allows it and the carseat has flexible LATCH straps, not rigid LATCH like say a Baby Trend Latch Loc base.