Seating 6 or 7 on long trips
01-14-22, 05:29 PM
#16
Why not do a dry run somewhere closer with all the passenger sans cargo? I've only done two 4-hour drives, just my wife and two kids (5-6 and 5-0 in height), which I considered very easy. (I've done multiple 22-23.5 hour trips, non-stop except only to refuel and bathroom break --no rest, sleep, or meals, which I still consider easy.**) It's always all in the preparation. Here are some things to consider...
If you're the driver and one adult takes the front passenger seat (preferably the tallest), you have two more adults you can split between the second and third rows. Since you have a 3 and 5-year old, you'll need the two shortest/smallest of the adults to rotate between the 2nd and 3rd rows to tend to the 3-year old in the 3rd row. The family pet will have to be in the middle seat of the 2nd row. The two adults can rotate at every stop. The adult that's "resting" can do so with the 5-year old and dog in the second row. Optimize the distances between the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd row for legroom. There's no need to max out the leg room for any of the 3 rows since you'll be making plenty of stops anyway. Plan your stops ahead of time. Since there are a lot of people, this will multiply the number of stops you'll need to make. It's just the reality of things. Just a tip, I've created temporary favorites of all the stops in my Waze app so that breaks don't look so distant for my family (this was with my wife's minivan on longer drives, not the GX.)
Fill every cup holder with a snack and water. The little cargo area you have left, put more water/drinks back there and snacks that's accessible to the 3rd row adult. Everything else you will not need to access until you've reached your destination or sleep/rest stopover will go on the rooftop cargo carrier.
**When I did my 23-hour drives solo, back-to-back, three times in a row, I only packed Slim Jims, Red Bull and 2 liters of water. This way I only stopped to pee when I needed gas, stayed awake with something to chew on (beef jerky), and stayed alert the whole time because I was hydrated and not hungry.
If you're the driver and one adult takes the front passenger seat (preferably the tallest), you have two more adults you can split between the second and third rows. Since you have a 3 and 5-year old, you'll need the two shortest/smallest of the adults to rotate between the 2nd and 3rd rows to tend to the 3-year old in the 3rd row. The family pet will have to be in the middle seat of the 2nd row. The two adults can rotate at every stop. The adult that's "resting" can do so with the 5-year old and dog in the second row. Optimize the distances between the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd row for legroom. There's no need to max out the leg room for any of the 3 rows since you'll be making plenty of stops anyway. Plan your stops ahead of time. Since there are a lot of people, this will multiply the number of stops you'll need to make. It's just the reality of things. Just a tip, I've created temporary favorites of all the stops in my Waze app so that breaks don't look so distant for my family (this was with my wife's minivan on longer drives, not the GX.)
Fill every cup holder with a snack and water. The little cargo area you have left, put more water/drinks back there and snacks that's accessible to the 3rd row adult. Everything else you will not need to access until you've reached your destination or sleep/rest stopover will go on the rooftop cargo carrier.
**When I did my 23-hour drives solo, back-to-back, three times in a row, I only packed Slim Jims, Red Bull and 2 liters of water. This way I only stopped to pee when I needed gas, stayed awake with something to chew on (beef jerky), and stayed alert the whole time because I was hydrated and not hungry.
Last edited by Seanzky; 01-14-22 at 05:33 PM.
01-14-22, 06:19 PM
#17
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
One thing i do have is a travel trailer a 4x8 one that i picked up from harbor freight. So worst case I could load up to 1700lbs worth of luggage on there
01-14-22, 06:32 PM
#18
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
Definitely, I think we will do a couple of dry runs 2 hours or so with passengers. I am not too worried about the cargo as i can use my trailer and roof box if need be.
In general, the full load will be only to Rochester, if that which is about 360 miles and for a couple of days at most. Most times i will carry a max of 5 passengers 3 adults + 2 kids
WOW!!! I don't think I can even manage a 12 hour drive straight up anymore, let alone 24 hours straight.. Too old for that
So my wish list for the 3+2 config is
1) A drive to yellowstone and surrounding areas, UTAH, national parks etc
2) The alaska highway and the dempsey highway
Which i think would be fun to drive on some of those off -road trails, which is probably only possible with the GX type rig like Muley Point in Utah.
A third trip would be down to St Louis via WV , Memphis, OK and colorado. Maybe I can try to get to black bear pass
.
But this would be only in 2-3 years. For the time being, we would go to Rochester, NY or the surroundings which is about a 6-8 hours.
In general, the full load will be only to Rochester, if that which is about 360 miles and for a couple of days at most. Most times i will carry a max of 5 passengers 3 adults + 2 kids
WOW!!! I don't think I can even manage a 12 hour drive straight up anymore, let alone 24 hours straight.. Too old for that
So my wish list for the 3+2 config is
1) A drive to yellowstone and surrounding areas, UTAH, national parks etc
2) The alaska highway and the dempsey highway
Which i think would be fun to drive on some of those off -road trails, which is probably only possible with the GX type rig like Muley Point in Utah.
A third trip would be down to St Louis via WV , Memphis, OK and colorado. Maybe I can try to get to black bear pass
.But this would be only in 2-3 years. For the time being, we would go to Rochester, NY or the surroundings which is about a 6-8 hours.
Why not do a dry run somewhere closer with all the passenger sans cargo? I've only done two 4-hour drives, just my wife and two kids (5-6 and 5-0 in height), which I considered very easy. (I've done multiple 22-23.5 hour trips, non-stop except only to refuel and bathroom break --no rest, sleep, or meals, which I still consider easy.**) It's always all in the preparation. Here are some things to consider...
If you're the driver and one adult takes the front passenger seat (preferably the tallest), you have two more adults you can split between the second and third rows. Since you have a 3 and 5-year old, you'll need the two shortest/smallest of the adults to rotate between the 2nd and 3rd rows to tend to the 3-year old in the 3rd row. The family pet will have to be in the middle seat of the 2nd row. The two adults can rotate at every stop. The adult that's "resting" can do so with the 5-year old and dog in the second row. Optimize the distances between the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd row for legroom. There's no need to max out the leg room for any of the 3 rows since you'll be making plenty of stops anyway. Plan your stops ahead of time. Since there are a lot of people, this will multiply the number of stops you'll need to make. It's just the reality of things. Just a tip, I've created temporary favorites of all the stops in my Waze app so that breaks don't look so distant for my family (this was with my wife's minivan on longer drives, not the GX.)
Fill every cup holder with a snack and water. The little cargo area you have left, put more water/drinks back there and snacks that's accessible to the 3rd row adult. Everything else you will not need to access until you've reached your destination or sleep/rest stopover will go on the rooftop cargo carrier.
**When I did my 23-hour drives solo, back-to-back, three times in a row, I only packed Slim Jims, Red Bull and 2 liters of water. This way I only stopped to pee when I needed gas, stayed awake with something to chew on (beef jerky), and stayed alert the whole time because I was hydrated and not hungry.
If you're the driver and one adult takes the front passenger seat (preferably the tallest), you have two more adults you can split between the second and third rows. Since you have a 3 and 5-year old, you'll need the two shortest/smallest of the adults to rotate between the 2nd and 3rd rows to tend to the 3-year old in the 3rd row. The family pet will have to be in the middle seat of the 2nd row. The two adults can rotate at every stop. The adult that's "resting" can do so with the 5-year old and dog in the second row. Optimize the distances between the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd row for legroom. There's no need to max out the leg room for any of the 3 rows since you'll be making plenty of stops anyway. Plan your stops ahead of time. Since there are a lot of people, this will multiply the number of stops you'll need to make. It's just the reality of things. Just a tip, I've created temporary favorites of all the stops in my Waze app so that breaks don't look so distant for my family (this was with my wife's minivan on longer drives, not the GX.)
Fill every cup holder with a snack and water. The little cargo area you have left, put more water/drinks back there and snacks that's accessible to the 3rd row adult. Everything else you will not need to access until you've reached your destination or sleep/rest stopover will go on the rooftop cargo carrier.
**When I did my 23-hour drives solo, back-to-back, three times in a row, I only packed Slim Jims, Red Bull and 2 liters of water. This way I only stopped to pee when I needed gas, stayed awake with something to chew on (beef jerky), and stayed alert the whole time because I was hydrated and not hungry.
01-15-22, 07:15 AM
#19
Lead Lap
Maybe I missed it, but this is all assuming your 2nd row isn't the captain's chair variety, correct? Either way, that's way too much for the GX for that long of a trip. Sorry to say.
01-15-22, 12:59 PM
#20
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
yes, my 2nd row is not a captains chair. So i finally tried sitting in there with the car seats and all and I am 5'9 180 avg to slim build i guess. This is what i think will work and only a couple of trials can tell
- 3 adults + 2 car seats using only the 2nd row. I find that I can even sit in the middle of the two car seats, so moving one car seat to the middle should make it pretty comfortable. Now i need to find a slim profile booster seat and then that configuration is all set. Obviously the back would be for luggage/dogs and that will depend on a few different factors. I also think that an adult can be pretty comfy in the 3rd row if both seats are up, but gettin in an out of there is a pain
- With one of the 3rd row seats down, we could have the big golden on there, and a person/child on the second one in the 3rd row. This gets a bit tight/crowded overall but I think its doable for the 6-8 hour trips once or twice a year
- 3 adults + 2 cars seats . One car seat in the 2nd row and one in the 3rd row. This would be the config I would try for really long road trips that are more than 1K miles.
- This is the big question mark config for me.. Two car seats in the 3rd row and two adults + golden in the second ... not sure how that would work out.
- The 3rd row has no tether anchor, any thoughts on trying on hook on to something in the seat rails. Any thoughts here will be appreciated
- The left side cup holder is like an 1/8th of an inch deep in the 3rd row.. Is that an anomaly or am i missing something?
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