03 hoe with Capt chairs, need more room

[radkon]

So I have an 03 Hoe with capt chairs. I currently have a 3 yr old and a 15 month old in kid seats. Found out yesterday another is on the way (Oct). So what should I do? Stick the oldest in a booster in the rear or swap out the capts for a bench? I found an old thread about GM suggesting NOT to put 3 kid seats on the bench but they also said the rear isn't a safe spot either. You're telling me you can't (shouldn't) put more than 2 kids with seats in this monster? :mad2:

 

[FergHoe]

What color is your interior? I have a middle bench...

 

[radkon]

Light tan leather....

 

[FergHoe]

dang. I have dark grey leather.... sorry

 

[05Yukon]

I have never heard that. Do you know where you saw that?

 

[radkon]

I have never heard that. Do you know where you saw that?

Found it here:
http://tahoeforum.com/showthread.php?t=11108

A post on chevroletforum.com had this as the reason......

If you have the bench seat then you get top anchors at all three seating positions but lower anchors at only the center and passenger side seat, the center row buckets have lower and top anchors in each seat.
The front passenger seat and 3rd row seating have no LATCH anchors because it simply is not safe to have small children in these positions.

The reason for the lack of lower anchors directly behind the driver seat is safety, the seat is a 60/40 design with the larger part being towards the driver side, in high speed crash tests with two child seats attached via the LATCH system to this portion of the seat the loads can be so great that the seat frame can fail.
If you must use the seat directly behind the driver use a top tether and the seatbelt shoulder harness to attach it and if done correctly it is safe and will distribute crash impact G forces in a manner that will not cause the seat frame and attachment points to fail. The 2nd row center position is by far the safest place to put a single child.

 

[Custom73]

I think it's talking about the strength of the LATCH supports. That's why the bench seats only have LATCH hooks in the middle and pass side. Just use the 2 LATCH hooks and use the seatbelt for the Driver side seat - very safe and won't overload the LATCH supports.

My '05 Denali has the middle bench. I have 3 kids across the middle seat with no problems, they are 2, 4, 6 yrs old (one 5point harness and 2 boosters). If I were you, I'd keep the current seats and put the older one in the back. A couple of years ago we had a Caravan with 4 buckets - oldest would walk right into the back seat and buckle herself (after a little practice). I loved it, no folding seats to get into the back and no hitting/fighting kids like I have now (when kids are within arms reach they WILL fight).

 

[matt14]

Congratulations on you newest addition. I just had my first in october( all though we we not able to bring him home till december) Anyways, your oldest will be about 2 years old when the newset one arrives and i think that a two year old will be ok back there