OH NO!!! Help, wwyd? Lots of questions.

My dd1 is at the limits of her marathon Her shoulders are even with the top slots, if not slightly over - I reinstalled it as upright as possible and it didn't help. She just turned 5 this summer, 44", 45#s. I'd like to keep her harnessed for at least another year.

My van is full - pw/ff ma/pw in the third row, rf ma, rf kf in the captain's chairs. It's an 02 Chevy Venture w/tan leather interior. I really don't want a rfer in the 3rd row.

My dd2 is rf in her marathon, 32 months, 27#s, 34.5". I'd really like to keep her rfing. The easiest solution would be to put her ffing in the third row marathon and get dd1 something else and put her in a captain's chair. But then she'd be ffing.

I tried pw/radian/pw in the third row. The radian and parkway sides were flush almost all the way down and it was nearly impossible to buckle the pws. Fyrfightermomma was helping me.

Now, I found a 2001 Venture on CL not far from me. The tranny went so the guy is selling it for parts. It is a 8 passenger w/tan cloth interior. He said he'd sell me the middle row (3 seats) for $50. Does an 01 Venture have latch in the 8 passenger middle row? What about TAs? Would you put cloth seats in the middle row of a leather interior van? Do you think it would look terrible? I know that's silly, but I'm being honest. A new vehicle is not happening soon and dh said to do what I have to do as cheap as possible.

If I had the 3 seats in the middle, I would have pw/kf/rf ma. The pw is easily moved for access to the back. It could be replaced with a backless for my 9 yo if it's a pain.

And now, seats for dd1. I'd love to wait for the new frontier so then she'd have a booster when needed. But I could get a regent for $179 on amazon. I like the regent and it installs great in my third row. I know there are all kinds of new seats coming out and I'm not going to get her something right this second.

Help please. I thought I was all set for another year. She had over an inch of torso growth when I put her seat there at the end of June. I stuck a straw in the slots to see for sure and she is at the top slots.

Thanks!!!!

Do you want to avoid a RF seat in the 3rd row?

Is there any way the MA can rear-face in the back? I know it'd be a PITA to get your rear-facer in her seat in the back like that, but that would leave a captain's chair available for a Nautilus or even the regent.

I really don't want a rf'er in the 3rd row. The kf would fit between the pw's and that would work too, but it would be hard to climb into the van, crawl between the 2 captain's chairs w/the kf to put his seat in. I would have to literally climb into the trunk to buckle in a rf convertible.

We could not get the radian rfing in the third row anywhere. Ffing it only really fit good in the center.

pw/ff ma/pw is a puzzled fit, very tight. The rf ma does not fit in between the pws. My 3rd row is 48-49" wide. I want a new vehicle

Thanks

The LATCH manual says..... The 01 Venture 2nd row bench has 60/40 split and has LATCH on the driver's side. The passenger's side has a tether anchor and a built in child restraint.

For me, I'd rather have cloth seats in a leather seat vehicle than turn my 32 month old FF.

Thanks - the 3 seater middle row has 3 individual seats, all separate - any latch info on that one?

According to the LATCH manual, the 01-15 Ventures with bucket seats have TA's on all positions, and LATCH on the drivers side.

I have an '04, and there is actually LATCH on the integrated seat on the passenger side as well.

One thing to check into before you buy the seats...are you sure you can actually swap out the bench for the buckets? I'd talk to Chevy before I did that :twocents:

I agree, I wouldn't want a RFing seat in a 3rd row either!!

If Chevy says you can swap out the middle row, I'd totally do that, whether it's cloth or not! With seats on it, who's gonna really notice? Well, I would, but if that's what you can afford right now, I'd do it.

Something else I thought of, not sure if it matters to you. I had a Chevy van, I think it was a Venture at a seat check. It was 8 passenger, 3 seats middle row. The center seat was ALR lap belt.

Also, is the floor of your van set up to have 3 seats instead of 2 in the 2nd row?

We used to have a Pontiac Montana (same van as Chevy Venture) and the floor of the 2nd row had the latches for where the seats would go if they were the modular seats 3 across. So I think it would work to take out the capitans chairs and putting in the modular seats. I didn't try it but I am pretty sure they are interchangeable.

The van floor has all the umm..whatever it's called to interchange all the seats. The vehicle manual states all the different possible seating arrangements, the van floor doesn't change.

I think I'll go get the seats. It's almost a 2 hr drive, but since I will keep my captain's chairs, I can switch it back if it doesn't work like I'm hoping.

I REALLY think you should do that too! Especially only for $50.

With the modular seating, there is LATCH driver's side outboard, ALR lapbelt middle, integrated seat outboard. TA's on all 3 seats (it's on the seats themselves).

I love having 2 third rows!

melniemi said:

The van floor has all the umm..whatever it's called to interchange all the seats. The vehicle manual states all the different possible seating arrangements, the van floor doesn't change.

I think I'll go get the seats. It's almost a 2 hr drive, but since I will keep my captain's chairs, I can switch it back if it doesn't work like I'm hoping.

Click to expand...

I hope it works!!

sometimes i put my ds3 in the 3d row of my car RF'ing. the back of my SUV comes up and i stand outside the hatch and buckle him in....im presuming that wouldn't work for you? (as opposed to getting inside the car, in teh back, etc. etc.).

sounds like you have a good solution already, but thought i would mention my way of buckling a RF'ing seat in the 3d row.

It's actually really hard to fit a RF'ing seat in the 3rd row. I tried DD1's TF RF in the 3rd row but it just didn't fit, so I turned her FF'ing.

yeh, i guess it is for some cars, but not mine. its actually really easy in mine...i just thought i would mention the possibility (not having the car in question, i wasnt sure about it).

I would go for the seats as well. Exspecially since they're only $50! Good Luck! I hope it all works out for you.

I can install a seat in the ALR lapbelt spot right? It's just one that I'll pull out all the way and it'll lock?

Thanks.