So just curious...for those of us with the 2nd row bench seat...is it even possible or feasible to remove the bench and install captains chairs? I'm sure the seats would be expensive so outside of the price, whatever it may be, does anyone know if the captains chairs would just bolt right in or is the floor design completely different?
Swap out bench for captain's chairs?
1 reading
Campfire79
1 - 20 of 34 Posts
Joined
·
181 Posts
So just curious...for those of us with the 2nd row bench seat...is it even possible or feasible to remove the bench and install captains chairs? I'm sure the seats would be expensive so outside of the price, whatever it may be, does anyone know if the captains chairs would just bolt right in or is the floor design completely different?
Joined
·
447 Posts
Hey Campfire, just curious, why are you considering the swap? I have the Captains chairs in mine, which are nice, but currently not ideal for me. The reason being I have a 1 yr old, my wife sits next to her in the second row. This puts my 5 yr old in the 3 rd row by herself( which she loves.). I bought the truck because it was in stock with the rest of the options I was looking for. Our situation is temporary, in a couple of years the little one will be big enough to sit w/ her sister in the second row. My wife will be able to sit back upfront, next to me. We would then be able to keep the 3 rd row folded down most times. Currently, needing the 3 rd row up, obviously cuts severely into cargo room. The upside, is my wife has some more room currently in the second row, just with the baby, not crammed w/ a car seat & booster seat. The downside currently, I would feel safer with my older daughter in the 2 nd row, with more of a buffer from a rear end collision. Also, with the captains chairs, the vehicle becomes 6 passenger, opposed to 7. Like I stated earlier, in a couple of years, this vehicle will suit our needs perfect. That being the reason, I proceeded. The Durango is a second vehicle, we have a JGC also, so it is working out fine. I am satisfied with my choice, just interested in a different point of view.
Joined
·
181 Posts
Well, I currently have 2 kids, so the bench works perfect. My wife didn't want the captain's as it cuts seating capacity. I was just thinking, what if my wife gets pregnant again and we have a third? It would be a royal pain to have to remove a car seat to fold one side down to get the oldest into the 3rd row constantly instead of them being able to walk between the seats. The only other option would be they would have to climb through the rear hatch and keep one side of the 3rd row folded down, that would be awkward. Just was curious in case it was to happen what my options would be, figured it would be easier to swap to captains than to either just deal with it or have to buy another D.
Joined
·
2,287 Posts
I've got 3 kids, 2 in rear-facing seats and I can confirm it's a pain in the ass to get my son buckled in the 3rd row with the captains chairs
Joined
·
181 Posts
I'm not worried about getting my oldest buckled, she is 5 and very close to being able to buckle her own seatbelt. It's the access that concerns me.I've got 3 kids, 2 in rear-facing seats and I can confirm it's a pain in the ass to get my son buckled in the 3rd row with the captains chairs
Joined
·
447 Posts
Got ya, just curious, seems there downsides of both setups when kids are involved. The grass is sometimes greener...At least they will grow into our Ds. Thanks for the response & good luck!
Billy
Joined
·
2,287 Posts
The access is a pain too because you do have to remove a base/seat in order to fold the chair, unless you have 2 seats in the 3rd row and leave 1 captain empty. But then you've got little cargo room left. Right now, Id prefer the bench so I could have 2 next to each other with the 3rd in the back
Joined
·
181 Posts
Once your son can buckle himself, won't it be easier with the captains? I'm assuming to get to the back seat he just walks between the captain's and the only reason you need to fold a chair is to buckle him?
Joined
·
2,287 Posts
He can only do that now because the twins are still in infant seats. Once they move to rear facing convertible seats, he won't be able to walk around b/c the conv seats are right up against the back of the front seats. My situation is a bit unique as I have twins. Didn't have them when I got captains chairs
Joined
·
2,287 Posts
Joined
·
181 Posts
I see, you are in a bit of a predicament. ;-)He can only do that now because the twins are still in infant seats. Once they move to rear facing convertible seats, he won't be able to walk around b/c the conv seats are right up against the back of the front seats. My situation is a bit unique as I have twins. Didn't have them when I got captains chairs
Joined
·
255 Posts
I don't think it's possible, I think the set up on the floor and brackets would be different.
I have a 05 with 3rd row and bench seats.
In the 05 I could fold just one seat down to access the back but, it was still a pain in the ass.
I have 4 kids and 2 are fraternal twins which were a surprise.
My middle one wasn't even 2 when I had my twins so how I set it up was twin a 3rd row pass side, middle son in car seat 3rd row driver side, twin b middle row pass side, then my oldest middle driver side and I would just pop that seat down.
It was a lot of stretching and a real chore.
I got my D in Feb of 08, twins were born Aug of 07.
What made me get the D is I got pulled over in my 01 dodge stratus.
I had my twins rear facing by the doors and middle son car seat forward facing in the back seat.
Talk about a tight squeeze and my oldest 5 at the time was in the front.
I got pulled over and was told it is illegal in the state of Ga to have a child under 12 in the front of a vehicle with airbags.
My kids are now older.
Oldest will be 13 in March, middle will be 10 in Dec, and my twins turned 8 in Aug.
It's not bad at all once the can climb in themselves but, before age 5 is a real chore.
I have a 05 with 3rd row and bench seats.
In the 05 I could fold just one seat down to access the back but, it was still a pain in the ass.
I have 4 kids and 2 are fraternal twins which were a surprise.
My middle one wasn't even 2 when I had my twins so how I set it up was twin a 3rd row pass side, middle son in car seat 3rd row driver side, twin b middle row pass side, then my oldest middle driver side and I would just pop that seat down.
It was a lot of stretching and a real chore.
I got my D in Feb of 08, twins were born Aug of 07.
What made me get the D is I got pulled over in my 01 dodge stratus.
I had my twins rear facing by the doors and middle son car seat forward facing in the back seat.
Talk about a tight squeeze and my oldest 5 at the time was in the front.
I got pulled over and was told it is illegal in the state of Ga to have a child under 12 in the front of a vehicle with airbags.
My kids are now older.
Oldest will be 13 in March, middle will be 10 in Dec, and my twins turned 8 in Aug.
It's not bad at all once the can climb in themselves but, before age 5 is a real chore.
Joined
·
156 Posts
I totally will have this issue with the bench seat in about 6 months as we are due with our 3rd child in April. So I actually plan on either having the 40 of the 60/40 always down so that my oldest can access the back, put my middle in the middle and the infant behind the driver. Orrrr, buy all new carseats that are narrow and put all 3 on the bench like in the picture.
![]()
Joined
·
30 Posts
Sorry for grave digging an old thread, but this was the most recent one on this topic, I think.
Can someone with captains chairs take their Durango outside during a sunny day, fold a chair forward, and snap a few pictures of the floor? I'll do the same with my bench seat set up and we can compare instead of speculate.
I wouldn't be surprised if the bracket mounts are the same and some mounts simply aren't used depending on your seat configuration
Can someone with captains chairs take their Durango outside during a sunny day, fold a chair forward, and snap a few pictures of the floor? I'll do the same with my bench seat set up and we can compare instead of speculate.
I wouldn't be surprised if the bracket mounts are the same and some mounts simply aren't used depending on your seat configuration
1 - 20 of 34 Posts
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
