Frog

Brand new to forum....this is a great site!
On to business....I'm a new owner of an 07 LT Uplander. We love it. It has captains chairs with side airbags that the manual says is not removable. I need to get this seat out (behind driver) so that my wife can access the rear bench seat without obstructionto buckle in our twins. Behind the passenger seat, we have our 2 month old. Having that one captain chair folded down, behind driver,stinks b/c it's very hard to get the kids in the back and buckled up. So, any tips on getting this seat out? has it been done before? I know that I have to disconnect the air bag harness and that the dash will light up, but if that's my only issue, I'll get it out tonight.If I can never put it back in, so be it.
Thoughts? Please help so I don't hear my wife screaming all week.
Thanks,
Frog
final queston....will all the other airbags continue to work?

MalibuMaxxSS

fold it forward, there should be a handle on the botom back, lift up this should release the back of the seat and flip it up, it may not cause of the front seat, the captains chairs are bigger....now I cant remember if there is another lever on the bottom front like the samller seat or if this releases the whole seat....if this dont release the seat check for on on the bottom front of the seat, will just look like a lever to slide it forward and back.....I dont have one here to check.... the air bag harness should play no factorthe sensor is in the side of the vehicle for side impact airbags??, only if you removing one of the front seats this would be a factor, say pass side where its on a sensor to detect if anyone is sitting there.

Frog

Thanks for the help Maxx. I'll take a look at it tonight. I'm bummed that these seats cannot be removed. I know they slide back and forth, and to be honest, they may not even be able to be released and tumble forward. IF they did tumble forward, it would be great but I was out looking at it andI tried everything and all it did was go back and forth.

MalibuMaxxSS

thought more, now I remember, move front seat allll the way forward, flip seat down, using side handle, BOTTOM MIDDLE BACK of seat is a cloth pull tab........dead center bottom, hard to see, pull it straight BACK, not up, back, it is right below the handle to slide it back and forth....this releases the whole seat, to put back realign hooks and slap the *** end in the locking tabs on the floor....easy, should take you all of 10 seconds after you find the pull tab....

LOL

MalibuMaxxSS

did you get it out???

Frog

Well......no. The owners manual states that captains seats with side air bags are not removable. All they do is fold down. I can only slide them back and forth once I fold the back forward. Bummer. They don't even tumble forward (they don't unhinge from the back brackets and there are no tabs to pull). Oh well, as the kids get older, it won't be a problem, but buckling them in the rearseat now while trying to get around a big folded captains seat isn't the easiest thing to do, but i'm getting used to it.

CJE

Even if they aren't supposed to be taken out, can I still remove the 2nd row captains chairs if the uplander lt has side impact air bags?

slyde55

I just removed my 2008 Captain chairs with side airbags! You need four hands, pry bars and screwdrivers. Remove black springs on interior bottom first. pry up black clamp lever on outside of seat base AND inside of seat base. This of course after disconnecting the airbag relay( I didn't disconnect battery). You will see the "service air bag" indication on dash. I eliminated this by creating a resistor jump on relay. No service airbag indicator! There is a massive amount of room behind driver seat now.