Making a 2001 Voyager an 8 seater?

mylittlet · May 11, 2012

We have owned a 1997 and 2003 voyager/caravan and have moved our 3rd row to the 2nd row and it worked. I have a friend expecting #7 and would like to make her 2001 voyager an 8 seater. She has a bench in the 2nd row and 3rd row. Both solid benches. Can she buy another 3rd row 2001 or another year bench to make her van big enough for her and the kids to go places? Her oldest is almost old enough to drive, so she would be in the front seat.

Keeanh · May 11, 2012

pippi2077 said:
We have owned a 1997 and 2003 voyager/caravan and have moved our 3rd row to the 2nd row and it worked. I have a friend expecting #7 and would like to make her 2001 voyager an 8 seater. She has a bench in the 2nd row and 3rd row. Both solid benches. Can she buy another 3rd row 2001 or another year bench to make her van big enough for her and the kids to go places? Her oldest is almost old enough to drive, so she would be in the front seat.

That's what I would do. She could phone Chrysler if she wanted a definite answer. But I know you're allowed to move that rear seat up. It's in the manual. And rear seats are cheap. The guy at the scrapyard makes fun of me because I keep buying his taupe 3rd Generation Caravan rear benches to dismantle for headrest parts.

I would just want to see the source vehicle myself and see what sort of collision it was in, or what went wrong with the vehicle. Best case would be to get a newer bench from someone who wants a cargo van, or from a van that broke down but was never in a crash. But I would be okay with one from a minor collision. We all keep using our own vehicles after a crash and almost no-one replaces seat belts etc.. And it doesn't take much to write off 10yo Caravans. All the ones I've scavenged from had very minor damage.

Do her current benches have fabric-covered headrests with thick foam? Or vinyl-covered thin ones that slant forward? The first is typical of 3rd gen, second type is typical of 4th gen (although I think there was some overlap in 2000/2001). Hers should be a 4th gen if it's a 2001 model year. The benches might be the same, but I would try to get one from the same generation. You should have owned one of each seeing as you had a 97 & an 03 so you may be able to tell for sure what she has.

3rd Gen = 1996-2000
4th Gen = 2001-2007 (so if this is indeed what she has, she could probably get a newer bench in good condition)