Third row of seats.

My family is expanding to three.

Problem: The rear seat of my 2002 X will sit three kids, one car seat and 2 (squished) kids, or two car seats. (The 2002 X has the LATCH system so I am using that). I will soon have two kids who need car seats... what is my oldest daughter supposed to do.

Answer: Third row of seats in the cargo area. I have been told that the back seat from a '68 Bronco will fit in the cargo area, perhaps a good welder could fabricate some linkages and I could connect it to the tiedowns in the back.

How feasible do you think that is?

CyBear,
Congratulations, man are you going to be busy. I have a friend with three kids and I have no idea how he gets anything done.
As far as your seating problem, you're not only going to have to securely attach the seat, but a harness as well, and that might be the problem here. If she's old enough for a three point harness, you're going to have to mount that somewhere back there as well...without taking the interior apart, I'm not sure if you can find a suitable mounting point for the upper support. Even if you can, it'll take some welding to fab that up...
Personally, I don't think the cargo tie downs would be strong enough. You're going to want grade eight fasteners with large backing plates on the other side of the cabin to hold the seat down incase of an impact.
One other thing to think about is emergency ingress/egress. If you have a seat that takes up the entire back, can you get in there and extract her if need be? How about from the second seat? Just call me paranoid. I'd look into a seat that only took up half the back cargo area.
Bogatyr

The cargo area of the Xterra is not designed for a person during a collision.

How would you decided which child to put back there ?

Sell it and buy something with a 3rd row.

Congrats Cybear!
You can put a car seat against each passenger door and put the oldest child in the middle.
With my job, I have to transport kids pretty regularly (and have two kids of my own), and that's how I usually do it. It is cramped, but doable. Not sure I'd travel for any great length like that though (causes GKS...Grumpy Kids Syndrome).
I agree with the others though, I wouldn't add a third row if it's not intended to be that way. You may unfortunately have to sell the X and get a...God forgive me...Caravan. Or Expedition, which isn't too bad.
Sacrifice...that's what being a good parent is all about huh?
Now, as Dr. Laura says, "Cybear, go do the right thing."

To put it in a firmer tone:

DO NOT PUT YOUR PRECIOUS CHILDREN IN THE CARGO AREA!!!
The cargo area is NOT designed to protect anyone back there in the event of a collision, it is a crumple zone. The sides are not reinforced with steel pipe beams like the doors. The materials are not cushioned against striking a person (or vice versa).

Those add-a-seat kits should be outlawed...
Brent

Um yeah, this comes up every now and then. Like XOC said, which kid do you decide to put in the crumple zone? I would never, ever do that. Vehicles that come from the factory with the third row seats have the passenger cabin reinforcement surrounding the third seat; the Xterra does not.

Yup. Buying used caravan might be better answer, and less hassle + worries about collision situation.

Get a caravan, add a 3 in suspension lift, throw on some 33's, mount some off-road lights on top, get a mean bumper and winch, and it's instantly converted from a caravan to a "CaraMAN!" Woohoo! If you can only find one with 4WD that would be awesome. Just think, everyone would be happy! You'll have the space and convenience, plus the coolest dang caravan ever!
Do it!!!
And post pics!

You could probably cobble together a decent lift for a Suzuki XL-7 from Calmini

Brent

How old are your kids?

The one with the best life insurance?

The CARAMAN..thing isn't that far fetched. I live in los angeles, west los angeles to be exact. I have seen a mazda MPV 4wd with a 3 or 4 inch lift kit. I've been meaning to drive by and take a picture of it. I though the mazda minivan looked pretty bad, but with a lift kit, suspension a big tires.. hmmmmm well I'd put it right up there with the beauty of the aztec... lol

NO no no no no no! You've got to think bigger. Minivan schminivan. The ultimate family 4wd hauler soloution is a full size van with a Quigly 4wd conversion and a straight front axle! Pretty much every one of the major surf manufacturers and teams out here have one for their trips to Baja and these things rock. Lots of room for the family and gear with a go-anywhere drivetrain.

I have a 10yo, 4yo, & a 2yo. The youngest is in a carseat on the driver's side. The middle child is in a booster seat on the passenger's side. The oldest is in the center seat. It's the easiest way to get all the kids in the X. (Now that I think about it, I might move the youngest back to the middle position so my oldest has a shoulder restraint) My 10yo is pretty happy being in the middle on longer road trips. No shortage of places to rest her head and she gets a great view of the road.

Could buy an AWD Chevy Astro. It sits on a full ladder frame (based on the old S-10 chassis) and seats eight. Could probably lift it and puts some meaty tires on it.

Plus, there's a pretty good aftermarket on those for dropping in a 350 V-8. Might even luck out and get an S-10 Blazer transfer case in there.

My wife's got an Astro and...

The Astro/Safari twins had the absolute worst frontal crash ratings of any van in production, airbags or not. I would NEVER ride in the front of one of those, much less allow someone I loved to drive one. Sell it.

How about a VW 4x4 Syncro?

VERY good call, do it!

Brent

TAKE THE ADVICE GIVEN!! the two are only gona be in the big car seats for a while so im sure you can manage, if not sell and get somethin else.