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school_run_dadOP
ShotgunNashville, TN18 posts, joined Jun 2025
baby number three is due in october. we have a 2017 Tahoe LT with the 2nd row captains, which was great with two kids and is about to be a problem. current seats are a Graco 4Ever (the 5 year old) and a Chicco KeyFit 30 for the baby that is coming, plus the 2 year old in a Britax Marathon.
wife wants all three in the second row so nobody is climbing into the way back at the school pickup line. i have been sitting in dealer lots in Cool Springs with a tape measure looking stupid. what i think i know so far:
2021+ Tahoe with the bench is wider than mine because of the independent rear suspension change, but i cannot find a straight answer on whether three real seats fit. Expedition Max feels huge inside. the Wagoneer salesman swore three across fits "easy," which i trust about as far as i can throw the Wagoneer.
anybody actually doing three across in one of these, which seats?
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third_row_legroom
Tow PackagePlano, TX29 posts, joined Jun 2025
did three across in a 2023 Suburban for about eight months before the oldest graduated to a booster in the third row. same second row as the new Tahoe, so it applies.
it fits, but not with the seats you have. the Graco 4Ever is a big wide seat and it eats the middle. we ended up with two Diono Radian 3QX on the outboards and a narrow infant base in the middle. the Radians are 17 inches wide and they fold, which you will love the first time you fly. buckling the middle one was a two hand job for my wife but doable.
the other thing nobody mentions. with three seats installed on the bench, the third row on the Tahoe is basically closed unless you uninstall one. the bench tip-and-slide does not work with a seat latched in. so if you ever have a fourth kid in a carpool, plan on that.
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yukon_xl_miles
Long WheelbaseAlbuquerque, NM44 posts, joined Jun 2025
one detail on the GM trucks. the 2021+ bench only has LATCH anchors in the two outboard spots and the middle on most trims. we have a 2022 Yukon XL Denali with captains so i cannot test it, but my sister has the Tahoe RST bench and she had to seatbelt-install the middle seat. that is fine as long as it is done right, a seatbelt install is as safe as LATCH when it is tight.
check the owner manual page for your exact year, they shuffled anchor positions around between model years and between bench and 60/40.
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school_run_dadOP
ShotgunNashville, TN18 posts, joined Jun 2025
ok this was useful. update from this weekend. took all three of our seats to the CarMax in Antioch and asked to try them in a 2022 Expedition Max XLT with the bench and a 2023 Tahoe LT with the bench. salesman thought i was nuts but he was bored.
Tahoe: 4Ever plus Marathon plus the KeyFit base did NOT fit. the Marathon and the 4Ever were touching and the middle base would not sit flat. third_row is right, our seats are too fat.
Expedition Max: fit, barely, all three. the seatbelt buckle for the middle was jammed under the edge of the 4Ever though, so my wife would hate it.
so i think it is narrower seats either way. Diono it is. now the actual question is Tahoe or Max, and that is a whole other argument with my wife about garage length.
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raleigh_family_of_six
ShotgunRaleigh, NC14 posts, joined Jun 2025
four kids here and we have an Expedition Max now. we run two boosters and a high back in the second row and our teenager in the third. honestly the Max's real advantage for us is not the second row, it is that with the third row up you still get a full size cooler and four backpacks behind it. in the Tahoe we test drove you could not.
garage length is real though. the Max is 221.9 inches and it clears our garage door by about a hand when the hitch is off. measure yours before you fall in love.
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mod_lisa_k
ModeratorOmaha, NE48 posts, joined Jun 2025
whatever you end up with, get the install checked by a certified tech before october. most fire stations and a lot of hospitals do it free. the NHTSA site has a car seat inspection station finder, put your zip in. our tech in Omaha found the base on our 2nd kid's seat was 2 inches off level and i had installed it myself "perfectly."
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school_run_dadOP
ShotgunNashville, TN18 posts, joined Jun 2025
closing the loop. bought two Diono Radian 3QX on prime day, $219 each, and kept the KeyFit for the baby. did a dry fit in my brother in law's 2022 Tahoe bench and all three went in with about an inch to spare, middle installed with the seatbelt.
we have not bought the new truck yet. the wife wants to see what Tahoe prices do after the model year flip. the 2017 with captains is going to get us to october, then it is decision time.
