1998 TOYOTA 4RUNNER belt

4RUNNER (1998)
To release the belt, press the
buckle- release button. ÐStowing rear seat belts
The rear seat belts can be stowed
when not in use.Seat belts must be stowed before you
fold the seat back. (See ºRear
seatsÐFold down rear seatº in this
chapter.)ÐSeat belt extender

4RUNNER (1998)
If your seat belt cannot be fastened
securely because it is not long enough,
a personalized seat belt extender is
available from your Toyota dealer free
of charge.
Please contact your local Toyota deal-
er so that the dealer can order the
proper required length for the extend-
er. Bring the heaviest coat you expect
to wear for proper measurement and
selection of length. Additional ordering
information is available at your Toyota
dealer.
CAUTION
When using the seat belt extend-
er, observe the following. Failure
to follow these instructions could
result in less effectiveness of the
seat belt restraint system in case
of vehicle accident, increasing the
chance of personal injury. Never use the seat belt extend-
er if you can fasten the seat
belt without it.
Remember that the extender
provided for you may not be
safe when used on a different
vehicle, or for another person
or at a different seating posi-
tion than the one originally in-
tended for.
3SRS driver and front
passenger airbags

4RUNNER (1998)
The SRS (Supplemental Restraint
System) airbags are designed to
provide further protection for the
driver and front passenger when
added to the primary protection
provided by the seat belts.
In response to a severe frontal im-
pact, the SRS airbags work together
with the seat belts to help prevent or
reduce injury by inflating, in order to
decrease the likelihood of the driver 's
or front passenger 's head or chest
directly hitting the steering wheel or
dashboard. The passenger airbag is
activated even with no passenger in
the front seat.
Be sure to wear your seat belt.CAUTION
A driver or front passenger too
close to the steering wheel or
dashboard during airbag deploy-
ment can be killed or seriously
injured. Toyota strongly recom-
mends that: The driver sit as far back as
possible from the steering
wheel while still maintaining
control of the vehicle.
The front passenger sit as far
back as possible from the dash-
board.
All vehicle occupants be proper-
ly restrained using the available
seat belts.

4RUNNER (1998)
The SRS airbag system is designed
to activate in response to a severe
frontal impact within the shaded
area between the arrows in the il-
lustration.
There may be the case that the SRS
airbags will not activate with such an
impact in which the occupant wearing
the seat belt correctly would not get
serious injury.
The SRS airbags will deploy if the
severity of the impact is above the
designed threshold level, comparable
to an approximate 20 km/h (14 mph)
collision when impacting straight into
a fixed barrier that does not move or
deform.
If the severity of the impact is below
the above threshold level, the SRS
airbags may not deploy. However, this threshold velocity will
be considerably higher if the vehicle
strikes an object, such as a parked
vehicle or sign pole, which can move
or deform on impact, or if it is in-
volved in an underride collision (e.g.
a collision in which the nose of the
vehicle ºunderridesº, or goes under,
the bed of a truck).
It is possible with collision severity at
the marginal level of airbag sensor
detection and activation that only one
of your vehicle's two airbags will
deploy.
For the safety of all occupants, be
sure to always wear seat belts.

4RUNNER (1998)
The SRS airbag system mainly con-
sists of the following components and
their locations are shown in the il-
lustration.
1 SRS airbag warning light
2 Airbag module for driver (airbag
and inflator)
3 Airbag module for passenger (air-
bag
and inflator)
4 Airbag sensor assembly
The airbag sensor assembly consists
of a safing sensor and airbag sensor. In a severe frontal impact, sensors
detect deceleration and the system
triggers the airbag inflators. Then a
chemical reaction in the inflators mo-
mentarily fills the air
bags with non-
toxic gas to help restrain the forward
motion of the occupants.
When the airbags inflate, they produce
a fairly loud noise and release some
smoke along with non- toxic gas. This
does not indicate a fire. Be sure to
wash off any residue as soon as pos-
sible to prevent minor skin irritation.
Deployment of the airbags happen in
a fraction of a second, so the airbags
must inflate with considerable force.
While the system is designed to re-
duce serious injuries, it may also
cause minor burns or abrasions and
swellings.
Parts of the airbag module (steering
wheel hub, dashboard) may be hot for
several minutes, but the airbags them-
selves will not be hot. The airbags are
designed to inflate only once.
A crash severe enough to inflate the
airbags may break the windshield as
the vehicle buckles. In vehicles with
a passenger airbag the windshield
may also be damaged by absorbing
some of the force of the inflating air- bag.
CAUTION
The SRS airbag system is de-
signed only as a supplement to
the primary protection of the
driver side and front passenger
side seat belt systems. The
front seat occupants can be
killed or seriously injured by an
inflating airbag if they do not
wear the available seat belts.
During sudden braking just be-
fore a collision, an unrestrained
driver or front passenger can
move forward into direct con-
tact with or close proximity to
the airbag which may then
deploy during the collision. To
obtain maximum protection in
an accident, the driver and all
passengers in the vehicle must
wear their seat belts. Wearing a
seat belt during an accident re-
duces the chances of death or
serious injuries or being thrown
out of the vehicle. For instruc-
tions and precautions concern-
ing the seat belt system, see
Seat beltsº in this chapter.

4RUNNER (1998)
Improperly seated and/or re-
strained infants and children
can be killed or seriously in-
jured by a deploying airbag. An
infant or child who is too small
to use a seat belt should be
properly secured using a child
restraint system. Toyota strong-
ly recommends that all infants
and children be placed in the
rear seat of the vehicle and
properly restrained. The rear
seat is the safest for infants
and children. For instructions
concerning the installation of a
child restraint system, see
Child restraintº in this chapter.

4RUNNER (1998)
Do not sit on the edge of the
seat or lean over the dashboard
when the vehicle is in use. The
airbags inflate with considerable
speed and force; you may be
killed or seriously injured. Sit
up straight and well back in the
seat, and always use your seat
belt.

4RUNNER (1998)
In the following cases, contact your
Toyota dealer as soon as possible:
The SRS airbags have been in-
flated.
The front part of the vehicle
(shaded in the illustration) were in-
volved in an accident that did not
cause the SRS airbags to inflate.
The pad section of the steering
wheel or front passenger airbag
cover (shaded in the illustration) is
scratched, cracked, or otherwise
damaged.
NOTICE
Do not disconnect the battery
cables before contacting your To-yota dealer.
Toyota strongly urges the use of
child restraint systems for children
small enough to use them.
The laws of all fifty states in the
U.S.A. and Canada now require the
use of a child restraint system.
Your vehicle conforms to SAE J1819.
If a child is too large for a child re-
straint system, the child should sit in
the rear seat and must be restrained
using the vehicle's seat belt. See
ºSeat beltsº for details.CAUTION
For effective protection in auto-
mobile accidents and sudden
stops, children must be proper-
ly restrained using a seat belt
or child restraint system de-
pending on the age and size of
the child. Holding a child in
your arms is not a substitute
for a child restraint system. In
an accident, the child can be
crushed against the windshield,
or between you and the ve-
hicle's interior.
Child restraintÐ
ÐChild restraint precaution