I've been posting about captains chairs for many months now.

Consensus seems to be that I'm a bad parent and can't control my 3 kids, otherwise wouldn't need them.

Rumor has it that upcoming MDX refresh will offer them, I'll believe it when I see it...

 

I've been posting about captains chairs for many months now.

Consensus seems to be that I'm a bad parent and can't control my 3 kids, otherwise wouldn't need them.

Rumor has it that upcoming MDX refresh will offer them, I'll believe it when I see it...

I work for Acura, yes the 2022 MDX offers a completely removable center section on all trim levels for the second row seats.

 

Since the side seats can move on their own, I believe technically it should be possible to remove the middle seat. How hard it is I cannot tell but should not be that hard to access once the side seats are moved forward. Even though Volvo won't give formal instructions on this people will figure out quite soon once their cars are out of warranty.

 

Not sure on the new 90's, but the old ones had separate bolts for the middle seat which made it removable. The only problem was that there was an SRS system in the seat so an error would show on the dash. People easily fished out the sensor inside the seat and reconnected it to the rest of the wiring, then tucked it out of the way. There's a thread on it in the old 90 section if you want more info or to give it a go yourself!


Sent from my igloo using a polar bear.

 

Why not fold the 2nd row center seat down flat so the kids can clammer through to the 3rd row.

 

Kids would be delighted to jump, in-laws, not so much.

 

I only have one child now, but hoping for another soon...for now, I will try to use one of the outer seats for one car seat, and the middle seat for the other for as long as I can. Then I guess I will have to deal with removing the car seat when using both outer seats for when we need the third row. My guess is we will only use the third row a handful of times when family is in town visiting. Safety is absolutely my #1 priority, over the pain of moving the car seats in and out. There is no choice to me other than the XC90. Safety > Convenience.

 

Is one of your children not old enough for the integrated booster in the middle seat, that's what we're planning on using for our 3.5 year old? If not, and you're still using an infant carrier, go with something like the keyfit 30 and use that in the middle. If they're both in larger seats, get a pair of Diono Rainiers, they'll have no issues fitting side by side and leaving one of the end seats open.

 

Is one of your children not old enough for the integrated booster in the middle seat, that's what we're planning on using for our 3.5 year old?

Not a good idea to have a 3.5 year old using a booster+seat belt. You should use a booster+harness:
https://us.britax.com/car-seats/combination-harness-2-booster/

 

One of the local dealers offered to remove the middle seat in the second row. Obviously it would be a permanent removal. I considered it because my dog likes to lie down in the middle of our Honda Odyssey where we have an open space since we do not have the console there. I hope in the future we can see a 2-2-3 seating arrangement from Volvo.

 

Permanent removal means it can never be put back again, even with right tools? Sounds like smashing the seat down.

 

^ You don't need to have the seats so tight that they don't move at all; you just need to have 1" or less movement at the belt path. I agree with you that most parents don't install tightly enough, but you don't need to go so far as to have no movement whatsoever. With LATCH, it would probably take me only around 2-3 minutes to remove or install a seat if it were one I regularly had to move. A seat belt installation or an installation of an unfamiliar seat would take longer.

 

I will soon have a newborn and a toddler and we were planning to use a Diono Radian and an UppaBaby Mesa infant seat side by side to leave room on one of the sides to access the third row, at least when we have the prospect of grandparents or other guests visiting. The carseat blogs say the XC90 fits three across; any reason to think that you can't do the middle seat and one of the sides, so you can fold down the other side?

 

Center Seat

Has anyone made progress on removal of the center seat in a new XC90?

Want to upgrade to a SUV with 3 rows. The Tahoe looks like the obvious choice, but the XC90 looks much nicer. If I could remove the center seat in the XC90, it would be a great solution.

I have seen the press photo with the XC90 with captains chairs for a foreign market. There may be the possibility for a conversion with OEM parts.

Just looking to see if there is any new info here.

 

Center Seat

Has anyone made progress on removal of the center seat in a new XC90?

Want to upgrade to a SUV with 3 rows. The Tahoe looks like the obvious choice, but the XC90 looks much nicer. If I could remove the center seat in the XC90, it would be a great solution.

I have seen the press photo with the XC90 with captains chairs for a foreign market. There may be the possibility for a conversion with OEM parts.

Just looking to see if there is any new info here.

The 2022 Acura MDX is a better looking SUV than the Tahoe, IMO, and has a removable third row.

 

I stopped by the dealership yesterday and the salesman said that center seat removal is possible. They had done it for a customer at delivery.

He did say that car seats were not meant for the third row. Not sure it is because of lack of latch, or another reason.

 

I was also told by a dealer that the middle seat in the second row could be removed by the dealer. It would be permanent. I did not ask if there was a cost.

 

I believe someone else asked this but does anyone know what is meant by permanent? (ie does it mean it requires an hour or two of labor to reinstall the seat; or does it mean something is actually rendered inoperable or destroyed) Has anyone priced this? Are there any pics?

Thanks

 

Grandma gets the best seat and Daddy gets the chicken leg!

 

i will be looking at this soon. I have # 4 coming very very shortly. I have to put the carrier on one outer position, one is still in a forward facing, so that is going on the other outer position. I am either going to remove the center seat and put the other 2 back there, or use the middle seat still and have the oldest one go through the trunk each time. oh joys!

 

We don't have an XC90, but we do have two minivans. What we've found most helpful is to go with a 2-2-3 configuration; keeping only 2 seats in the 2nd row allows straightforward access to the 3rd row, which we need whenever we want to transport the in-laws (our roof racks have 150 lb limits).

 

Not if there is no plug or disconnect point. They would have to be soldered back, which in my opinion, would be unacceptable. Plus, you would be giving Volvo grounds to void your warranty.

 

Can XC 90 have two car seats one in middle and other on side to give easy access to third row or no.

 

Are there any pics for this??

 

 

Sorry to resurrect an old thread...

I'm new here but this is literally the only thread online I can find that discusses if removing the middle seat in the 2nd row of the new model XC90 is possible. Has anyone done this or have photos from someone who has?

 

I just fold the middle seat backrest down and my 5 and 11 year old can easily climb in and access the 3rd row....

 

Quick answer....not unless you want permanent SRS/seat belt pretensioner errors in your display. The car was never intended for this and certainly not recommended.

 

I checked with the dealer anyway and indeed they said "no". Too bad.

 

I'm betting that it's simply connecting the two wires together to complete a circuit....

 

I can confirm that we need two resistors to disable SRS error. A 3ohm for pretensioner and a 10K ohm for seat belt. I did it for my XC90 today. The pretensioner resistance value is easy to find. I can read the 3ohm resistance on my multimeter. The seat belt value is tricky. My multimeter can't read any value, which makes me to think it should be an open circuit, but it still report a SRS error. Close circuit doesn't work either. It took me several tries on different resistances until I find a working resistor.

Now my XC90 is clear of SRS error without middle seat. It creates a van alike access to 3rd row seats. works very well for my kids.

 

Yes, and pictures of the connectors where you put the resistors please, that would be very handy indeed. A quick guide as to which bolts to undo where would be great as well.

 

It's pretty straight forward to remove the middle seats. There are four hex blots on the floor around corners. Once you remove them, unplug the green connector shown in this picture, and the seat is ready to be moved.

If you leave the connector unplugged, there will be SRS airbag error on the console every time we start the car. We need to "hack" the sensors. It appears that our XC90 sensors are pretty smart, so completing the circuits won't fool the system. I figured that the sensors expect a particular resistance value from the connector. So we need a 3ohm resistor for the pretensioner and a 10K ohm resistor for seat belt. See picture below. The single transistor is a 10K ohm one, and the serial connected resistors together makes 3 ohm resistance.

Once connected and verified no more SRS message. Wrap it up with electrical tape.

Push it under the other seat so we don't step on it.

Cover it with carpet and enjoy the safest minivan

 

I don't know if you are in a hurry, but, since you have highlander in the mix, the third row Lexus RX is coming out around October. Just thought I would mention it in case you didn't already know.

QUOTE=axelfoley55;3399273]Just test-drove the XC90 yesterday. Great car, albeit pricey. It's our top pick as we are looking for a safe third row SUV. Already own an XC60 (with Polestar, love it) and this would be our second car.

Main issue with it is that it seems pretty cumbersome to get in and out of the third row when there are two car seats in the second row. I know this is an issue with all third-row SUVs that don't have captain's chairs in the 2nd row.

Does anyone know if it's possible to remove the center seat so you create a walkway back to the third seat? Or do we put one car seat in the middle and one on the side, leaving a side 2nd row seat open as an easier way to get to the third?

Any help or advice is appreciated as we decide (deciding between this and the Highlander, Durango, Pilot, QX60).[/QUOTE]

 

Man, this is really some hacking. Great job.

 

Excellent job! You should start selling a kit for the job and you would make a fortune! Possibly a new Volvo accessory [emoji848][emoji6]

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