How Well Do Car Seats Fit in the GMC Sierra 1500?

A generation or two ago, there may not have been much point in having a child seat test for a full-size pickup truck. Back then, most trucks were two-door models with single bench seats and were not really considered family vehicles. If the household had another vehicle, that one would probably carry the baby. But today, the Sierra, like others in its category, is primarily a four-door truck with a spacious back seat, making it frequently serve as the main family vehicle. However, for young and growing families, even a roomy back seat can be an issue if the child car seats do not fit or are hard to install.  

Fortunately, the automotive website Cars.com features a regular segment where the editors select a vehicle and test how well different car seats work, how easy it is to find and use the latch mechanisms, and how straightforward the seats are to install overall. They recently focused on the Sierra 1500 crew cab in Denali trim, and Valley GMC shares its findings. 

Test Procedure 

At Cars.com, all car seat tests are conducted by editors Jennifer Geiger and Jennifer Newman. Both are certified child safety seat installation technicians and mothers. For each test, the front seats are adjusted for a six-foot-tall driver and a shorter front passenger. Since it would be impossible to test every car seat on the market, the tests use seats that reasonably represent their respective categories. These seats are: 

• Chicco KeyFit 30 infant-safety seat 
• Graco Contender 65 convertible seat (front-facing and rear-facing) 
• Graco TurboBooster seat 

Front airbags can cause serious injury to children in car seats and those weighing less than about 66 pounds. Therefore, it is always advised to install a car seat in the second row (if applicable). For the testing, infant and convertible seats are placed behind the front passenger seat, while booster seats are positioned behind the driver. They also test the convertible seat in its forward-facing position in the middle of the second row to verify if the second row can accommodate three child seats simultaneously. The accessibility of the child seat latches is also scored. Each test results in a school grade from A to F, which are defined as follows: 

1. Plenty of room for the car seat and the child; doesn’t impact driver or front-passenger legroom. Easy to find and connect to Latch and tether anchors. No fit issues involving head restraint or seat contouring.
2. One room, fit or connection issue.
3. Marginal room plus one fit or connection issue.
4. Insufficient room, plus multiple fit or connection issues.
5. Does not fit or is unsafe.

High Ratings 

The Sierra 1500 received an A in four of the five evaluations, with a B for the forward-facing convertible test. The below discussions of each test result are taken verbatim from the Cars.com report. 

Latch: Grade A 

“The two sets of lower anchors are exposed for easy access and connection. Three top tether loops sit behind the head restraints; they’re not very intuitive to use, however, and we recommend learning about them in the truck’s owner’s manual.” 

Infant Seat: Grade A 

“This seat was easy to install via the exposed lower anchors, and our 5-foot-6-inch front passenger had ample legroom in front of it.” 

Rear-Facing Convertible: Grade A 

“As with the infant seat, the rear-facing convertible went in without a problem and front-passenger legroom was not impacted.” 

Forward-Facing Convertible: Grade B 

“After removing the head restraint, the forward-facing convertible fit well. We had no issue using the lower anchors for installation, but we needed to consult the owner’s manual to determine the truck’s setup for top tether anchors. The Denali Ultimate versions have three tether straps, one behind each head restraint; to connect, the car seat’s tether strap must be routed through the tether anchor loop closest to the car seat and then connected to the tether anchor loop for the seating position next to it. This wasn’t complicated to do once we read about it in the owner’s manual, but caregivers installing car seats are unlikely to figure this out on their own, as the loops hidden behind the head restraints are unlabeled.” 

Booster: Grade A 

“The booster fit well once we removed the head restraint. The buckle on the driver’s side is floppy, but the other two are on rigid stalks that should be easy for kids to grasp and use independently.” 

Three-Child Seat Accommodation? 

Yes, you can fill the whole back seat with child seats if your situation demands it.  

It takes more than a back seat and a second set of doors to be a proper family vehicle, particularly when the family is young and growing, but the Sierra passed with flying colors. Check out the many Sierra 1500 models in the Valley GMC inventory in Auburn, Washington.