2003 FORD F150 seats

SAFETY SEATS FOR CHILDREN
Child and infant or child safety seats
Use a safety seat that is recommended for the size and weight of the
child. Carefully follow all of the manufacturer’s instructions with the
safety seat you put in your vehicle. If you do not install and use the
safety seat properly, the child may be injured in a sudden stop or
collision.
When installing a child safety seat:
•Review and follow the information
presented in theAir Bag
Supplemental Restraint System
section in this chapter.
•Use the correct safety belt buckle
for that seating position (the
buckle closest to the direction the
tongue is coming from).
•Insert the belt tongue into the
proper buckle until you hear a
snap and feel it latch. Make sure
the tongue is securely fastened in
the buckle.
•Keep the buckle release button
pointing up and away from the
safety seat, with the tongue
between the child seat and the
release button, to prevent accidental unbuckling.
•Place seat back in upright position.
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•Put the safety belt in the automatic locking mode. Refer toAutomatic
locking mode(passenger side front and outboard rear seating
positions-Regular Cab and SuperCab) (passenger side front and rear
seating positions-SuperCrew) (if equipped).
Ford recommends the use of a child safety seat having a top tether
strap. Install the child safety seat in a seating position which is capable
of providing a tether anchorage. For more information on top tether
straps, refer toAttaching safety seats with tether straps.
Carefully follow all of the manufacturer’s instructions included
with the safety seat you put in your vehicle. If you do not install
and use the safety seat properly, the child may be injured in a sudden
stop or collision.
Installing child safety seats with combination lap and shoulder
belts
Air bags can kill or injure a child in a child seat.NEVERplace a
rear-facing child seat in front of an active air bag. If you must
use a forward-facing child seat in the front seat, move the seat all the
way back.
Children 12 and under should be properly restrained in the rear
seat whenever possible.
1. Position the child safety seat in a
seat with a combination lap and
shoulder belt.
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Installing child safety seats in the front row lap belt seating
positions
1. Lengthen the lap belt. To lengthen the belt, hold the tongue so that its
bottom is perpendicular to the direction of webbing while sliding the
tongue up the webbing.
2. Place the child safety seat in the center seating position.
3. Route the tongue and webbing through the child seat according to the
child seat manufacturer’s instructions.
4. Insert the belt tongue into the proper buckle for the center seating
position until you hear a snap and feel it latch. Make sure the tongue is
securely fastened to the buckle by pulling on tongue.
5. Push down on the child seat while pulling on the loose end of the lap
belt webbing to tighten the belt.
6. Before placing the child into the child seat, forcibly tilt the child seat
from side to side and in forward direction to make sure that the seat is
held securely in place. If the child seat moves excessively, repeat steps 5
through 6, or properly install the child seat in a different position.
Installing child safety seat in the second row center seating
position with an automatic locking retractor
1. Place the child safety seat in the center seating position.
2. In a continuous motion, pull out enough webbing from the retractor to
route the tongue through the child seat.
3. While holding the webbing to prevent it from retracting, route the
webbing through the child seat according to the child seat
manufacturer’s instructions. Be sure the belt webbing is not twisted.
4. Insert the tongue into the correct buckle for that seating position until
you hear and feel the buckle engage. Make sure the buckle is latched
securely by pulling on the webbing.
5. If you have not pulled out enough webbing to reach, allow the
webbing to fully retract before attempting to pull it out again and repeat
steps 2 through 4.
6. Pull the webbing through the child seat toward the retractor while
pushing down with your knee on the child seat.
7. Allow the safety belt to retract to remove any slack in the belt. It will
make a clicking noise while doing this.
8. Before placing the child in the seat, forcibly move the seat forward
and side-to-side to make sure the seat is securely held in place.
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9.Check to make sure the child seat is properly secured before each use.
Attaching child safety seats with tether straps
Most new forward-facing child safety seats include a tether strap which
goes over the back of the seat and hooks to an anchoring point. Tether
straps are available as an accessory for many older safety seats. Contact
the manufacturer of your child seat for information about ordering a
tether strap.
The passenger seats of your vehicle are equipped with built-in tether
strap anchors located behind the seats as described below.
The tether anchors in your vehicle may be straps on the seatback or an
anchor bracket on the rear edge of the seat cushion.
The rear seat of the SuperCab has three straps behind the top of the
seatback that function as both routing loops for the tether straps and
anchor loops.
The tether strap anchors in your vehicle are in the following positions
(shown from top view):
Attach the tether strap only to the appropriate tether anchor as
shown. The tether strap may not work properly if attached
somewhere other than the correct tether anchor.
•F150 Regular Cab
•F150 SuperCab
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•F150 SuperCrew
•F150 SuperCrew with quad buckets
Tether strap attachment
1. Position the child safety seat on the seat cushion.
2. Route the child safety seat tether strap over the back of the seat.
3. Locate the correct anchor for the selected seating position.
•You may need to pull the seatback forward to access the tether
anchors. Make sure the seatback is locked in the upright position
before installing the child seat. Refer to theFolding Down The Rear
Seatssection in this chapter for information on how to operate the
rear seats.
4. Clip the tether strap to the anchor as shown.
•Front seat (Regular Cab and
SuperCab only)
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•Rear seats ( with quad buckets
only)
•Rear seats (SuperCrew only)
If the tether strap is clipped
incorrectly, the child safety
seat may not be retained properly
in the event of a collision.
5. Refer to theInstalling child
safety seats in combination lap
and shoulder belt seating
positionssection of this chapter for
further instructions to secure the
child safety seat.
6. Tighten the child safety seat
tether strap according to the
manufacturer’s instructions.
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If the safety seat is not anchored properly, the risk of a child
being injured in a collision greatly increases.
Tether strap attachment rear SuperCab only
There are three loops of webbing just above the back of the rear seat
(along the bottom edge of the rear window) in the SuperCab. These
loops are to be used as both routing loops and anchor loops for child
safety seat tether straps. For example, the center loop can be used as a
routing loop for a child safety seat in the center rear seat and as an
anchoring loop for child seats installed in the outboard rear seats.
Many tether straps cannot be tightened if the tether strap is hooked to
the loop directly behind the child seat. To provide a tight tether strap:
1. Route the tether strap through
the loop directly behind the child
seat.
2. Attach the strap hook onto the
loop behind an adjacent seating
position.
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3. Install the child safety seat tightly
using the safety belts. Follow the
instructions in this chapter.
4. Tighten the tether strap
according to the child seat
manufacturer’s instructions.
Attaching safety seats with LATCH (Lower Anchors and Tethers for
Children) attachments for child seat anchors (if equipped)
Some child safety seats have two rigid or webbing mounted attachments
that connect to two anchors at certain seating positions in your vehicle.
This type of child seat eliminates the need to use seat belts to attach the
child seat. For forward-facing child seats, the tether strap must also be
attached to the proper tether anchor. SeeAttaching safety seats with
tether strapsin this chapter.
Your vehicle be equipped with LATCH anchors for child seat installation
at the following seating positions:
•F150 Regular Cab
•F150 Supercab
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