Dodge Caravan

Dillipop

Well-known member

• Mar 17, 2006

• #1

My mom is looking at getting a 2006 caravan. I have been looking online to see if I can find out about tethers and such. The Dodge website says there are 2 latch locations in the center row and 2 in the rear row. Do those include tethers also? Also, is there a tether anchor spot in the 3rd seat of the rear row? And, is there a lap shoulder belt in the center of the rear bench? I ask because she is getting this vehicle with the hopes of easily transporting my 2 kids when she has them and when my sister comes to visit with her child (they live across the country so would be flying). She doesn't want to squish people into a sedan. Any information would be helpful. Thanks.

 

SafeDad

CPSDarren - Admin

Staff member

• Mar 17, 2006

• #2

I have not seen a 2006 model, so I do not know for sure, sorry. Many previous years had only 2 LATCH in the second row and a single top tether in the third row. LATCH does imply both lower anchors and a top tether, though.

 

S

SusanMae

Senior Community Member

• Mar 18, 2006

• #3

I would also think that if it says LATCH posistions it would have anchors and tethers though.

This is because LATCH stands for:

Lower Anchors and Tethers for CHildren

Susan

 

Dillipop

Well-known member

• Mar 18, 2006

• #4

I assumed there were tethers with the lower anchors. However, sometimes when people talk about latch they are only referring to the actually lower anchors, even on this board. I just wanted to cover my bases in case dodge also referred to the lower anchors as the latch anchors.

Does anyone know if there is a tether anchor in the third rear seating position? If not, can one be installed? Also is there a lap shoulder belt in the center seat? That is probably most important. Having all seats with 3 point belts. Thanks again.

 

ShyGecko

New member

• Mar 21, 2006

• #5

I had a 2001 Caravan and it had a tether for the middle seat in the 3rd row, so I'm sure the 2006 one does also. My boss (I'm a nanny) has a 2004 Town & Country...I can look in her van or ask and see if she has the shoulder belt in that position. I am thinking no though, b/c I used her van while she was out of town and my son had to sit outboard, I'm thinking b/c there wasn't a shoulder belt for his HBTB. I'll make sure for you though.

Kara

ETA - I just looked at photos of the Dodge Caravan on their website, and it shows that there is NOT a shoulder belt in the middle position, 3rd row. If you go here http://www.dodge.com/caravan/photos.html and look at the 3rd photo, top row under "Grand Caravan", you can clearly see the lap belt only.

 

SafeDad

CPSDarren - Admin

Staff member

• Mar 22, 2006

• #6

Chrysler removed some 3rd row tether anchors in their minivans after 2001, presumably because new federal testing requirements made it cheaper to simply remove them than to retest and/or reinforce them. I don't know if they were added again in recent years.

 

Dillipop

Well-known member

• Mar 23, 2006

• #7

Oddysey and Sienna?

How about the Oddysey and Sienna? HOw many anchor spots, top and lower do each of them have? How about head restraints and lap/shoulder positions? Based on crash results and resale, they are now looking at these instead of the caravan. I know they are safe and reliable, but don't know much else about them.

 

SafeDad

CPSDarren - Admin

Staff member

• Mar 23, 2006

• #8

The 2004-2006 Sienna has 4 seating positions (5 in the 8-passenger version) with full LATCH, lower anchors and top tether anchor. All have shoulder belts and head restraints.

The 2005 Odyssey has 3 seating positions with full LATCH. For 2006, they added two additional top-tether anchor only locations, in addition to the 3 full LATCH positions. All seats have shoulder belts and head restraints, also.

I have not seen a 2006 Dodge/Chrysler van to compare, sorry.

 

SafeDad

CPSDarren - Admin

Staff member

• Mar 23, 2006

• #9

Incidentally, when an auto manufaturer advertises LATCH, it will be both lower anchors and top tether anchor by definition. Of course, there can always be mistakes in advertising and such, so best to check in person.

 

L

LEAW

New member

• Apr 2, 2006

• #10

Dodge only has lap/shoulder in the outboard 3rd row, lap in the middle. Honestly, off the top of my head, I don't think there are tether anchors in the back row at all, but (someone correct me if I'm wrong) you can tether to any nonmoving part of the vehicle, not just the anchors?

Does anyone know if it is possible to seat 3 RF in the 3rd row of a caravan? What seats? I've done 2 (snugride base/seat and a cosco scenera) but never tried 3.

 

Jeanum

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus

Staff member

• Apr 2, 2006

• #11

Sorry, I don't know about the number of tether anchors for the 3rd row in the Caravan but I do want to clarify where you can tether in a vehicle:

Actually, you are only supposed to use designated tether anchors intended for carseats to tether a forward facing child safety seat. You cannot tether forward facing seats to anything else in the vehicle, only to the tether anchors.

For Britax convertible seats and the Sunshine Radian, which do allow you to tether rear facing, you may tether to a fixed part of the vehicle such as the seat rail of a seat in front of the rear facing carseat.

 

SafeDad

CPSDarren - Admin

Staff member

• Apr 2, 2006

• #12

That is correct- Front facing carseats can only be top tethered to a tether anchor designated by the vehicle manufacturer. In some instances, a seatbelt from the seat behind can be used, though this is not usually necessary.

Rear-facing tethers from Britax can be tethered to some other locations.

 

L

LEAW

New member

• Apr 18, 2006

• #13

Thanks Jean, we're still RF only, so I didn't think to clarify that.

My dodge DOES have tether locations in the rear bench... but no seat anchors, and the seatbelts aren't retracting either.. what a PITA when I had to take 3 kids the other day!

 

U

Unregistered

Guest

• May 1, 2006

• #14

response to #10

I do not know what the term RF refers to, so I am not sure I am answering your question. I have 3 carseats securely strapped in the 3rd row bench seat of my Dodge Caravan. It is difficult strapping the seat in the center position, but it can still be done safely and securely. You can also carry 8 passengers in a Caravan if you move your 3rd row seat to the center (2nd row) position and buy another 3rd row bench seat. I just discovered this myself, and it works great. There is still plenty of room, and all carseats and booster seats belt in safely. Don't know if I have helped, but I hope so.

 

U

Unregistered

Guest

• May 1, 2006

• #15

more response to #10

Sorry, I just realized RF means rear-facing. It can be done, but I am not sure which carseat brands will work. I use my rear-facing carseats without the base (only on ones designed to use a seatbelt also, some are not designed this way, you have to check on the carseat itself.) when I need to put 3 in the 3rd row bench seat. That works great, because it is the base that is so wide and makes putting in 3 difficult. My rear-facing carseats are designed to either use a base or not and strap directly to the lap or shoulder belt. I use a locking clip on the lap belt in the center position. Hope this helps also.

 

U

Unregistered

Guest

• May 1, 2006

• #16

IIRC techs on this forum have stated metal H-shaped locking clips are not okay to use on a lap only seatbelt. The locking clip is supposed to be used only on lap/shoulder type seatbelts only. If it's used on a lap only belt, the clip becomes a dangerous projectile in a crash.

 

my3girls

New member

• May 1, 2006

• #17

Unregistered - I used to use the locking clip on the lap belt, but I learned on this site that it's not allowed. You may need to start a new thread to get a tech to figure out what type of lap belt you have and what you need to be doing. The answer for my situation was to just flip the male end of the buckle over once (so it goes in backwards) right before you buckle it. HTH

 

Victorious4

Senior Community Member

• May 1, 2006

• #18

Never use a locking clip on a lap-only belt....

This link is quite helpful > http://www.cpsafety.org/articles/lockincss.aspx