The “Chevy” Chevrolet Silverado (and its badge clone, the GMC Sierra), is one of the most popular pickup trucks available today in the United States, competing with full-sized pickups like the Ford F-150, Honda Ridgeline, Toyota Tundra and Dodge Ram. Available in single, double, and crew cab versions, the Silverado is popular among construction, plumbing, electrical, and other physical occupations. However, it’s also used by a number of families who need ways of transporting their children when more traditional vehicles like cars and minivans aren’t available. I spent the past weekend with a few new and old Silverados trying all of my available car seats out to see what would fit in terms of 3 across car seat installations.
If you want to keep your children as safe as possible, regardless of your vehicle, you’ll want to follow best practices. I typically suggest keeping children rear-facing as long as possible (until 4 or 5 like the Swedes), followed by harnessing until they can safely use booster seats (until at least 5, like the Swedes), and then boostering until the 5 step test is passed (typically between 10, 11, and 12). Beyond that, I suggest keeping kids in the back seat until at least 13, and delaying teen solo driving until 18 if possible. The goal isn’t to move through seats as quickly as possible; it’s to keep kids as safe as possible whenever they’re in motor vehicles.These guidelines keep your children as safe as possible by keeping them in the right orientations as long as possible.
However, if you’re going to do a good job following these guidelines, you need to know which car seats will and won’t work in your Chevy Silverado, which is why I put this guide together. Here’s what I found about which car seats will fit best in a Silverado. I’ll continue to add more car seats as I find them and have more Silverados at my disposal.
You can access the complete 3 across guide for every vehicle here and the complete list of recommended seats here. The guide to recommended Canadian car seats is here. 3 across car seat images are courtesy of Wikipedia.
2019, 2020 Chevrolet Silverado (GMT T1XX)
Guaranteed 3 across installations:
Clek Fllo (x3).
Clek Foonf (x3).
Diono Radian 3RXT (x3).
Diono Radian 3RX (x3).
Clek Oobr (x3).
Diono Rainier (x3).
Maxi-Cosi RodiFix (x3).
Tips and Tricks:
This generation of the Chevy Silverado is at least 229 inches long and 81 inches wide, which, as with the previous generation, means you’re not going to have any trouble when it comes to 3 across installations in terms of width, regardless of which seats you choose, due to the width. Whatever you want is pretty much guaranteed to fit. The main thing to watch out for is front-to-back space, which will be tighter if you aren’t using a Crew Cab setup.
2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 Chevrolet Silverado (GMT K2XX, GM GMT901)
Guaranteed 3 across installations:
Clek Fllo (x3).
Clek Foonf (x3).
Diono Radian 3RXT (x3).
Diono Radian 3RX (x3).
Clek Oobr (x3).
Graco Contender (x3).
Combi Coccoro (x3).
Graco Nautilus, Recaro Performance RIDE, Graco Size4Me 65.
Graco Nautilus, Recaro Performance RIDE, Graco Contender.
Recaro Performance Sport, Graco Nautilus, Graco Size4Me 65.
Recaro Performance Sport, Graco Nautilus, Graco Contender.
Diono Rainier (x3).
Diono Pacifica (x3).
Diono Olympia (x3).
Tips and Tricks:
This generation of the Chevy Silverado is at least 224 inches long and 80 inches wide, which, as with the previous generation, means you’re not going to have any trouble when it comes to 3 across installations in terms of width, regardless of which seats you choose, due to the width. Whatever you want is pretty much guaranteed to fit. The main thing to watch out for is front-to-back space, which will be tighter if you aren’t using a Crew Cab setup.
1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 Chevrolet Silverado
Guaranteed 3 across installations:
Clek Fllo (x3).
Clek Foonf (x3).
Diono Radian 3RXT (x3).
Diono Radian 3RX (x3).
Clek Oobr (x3).
Graco Contender (x3).
Combi Coccoro (x3).
Graco Nautilus, Recaro Performance RIDE, Graco Size4Me 65.
Graco Nautilus, Recaro Performance RIDE, Graco Contender.
Recaro Performance Sport, Graco Nautilus, Graco Size4Me 65.
Recaro Performance Sport, Graco Nautilus, Graco Contender.
Diono Rainier (x3).
Diono Pacifica (x3).
Diono Olympia (x3).
Tips and Tricks:
This generation of the Chevy Silverado is at least 220 inches long and 78 inches wide, which means you’re not going to have any trouble when it comes to 3 across installations in terms of width, regardless of which seats you choose, due to the width. For example, I was able to achieve the Graco-Graco-Recaro installations with at least 3 inches to spare in terms of width.
The challenge, if you have any, will come with front-to-back space when using certain seats or if you have passengers and drivers who need more leg room. This won’t be an issue when it comes to the extended cab, but you naturally won’t have as much room in the double cab, and of course, it won’t be relevant in the single cab.
If you find my information on best practices in car and car seat safety helpful, you can do your shopping through this Amazon link. Canadians can shop here for Canadian purchases. Have a question or want to discuss best practices? Send me an email at carcrashdetective [at] gmail [dot] com.