2004 CADILLAC ESCALADE ESV Owners Manual

Bucket Seats
If your vehicle has bucket seats, the seatbacks can be
reclined and the seats can be folded to give you
more cargo room.
Reclining the Seatbacks
To recline the seatback, do the following:
1. Pull up the lever
located under the seat
cushion. Escalade
lever shown,
Escalade ESV lever
similar.
2. Release the lever to lock the seatback where you
want it. Pull the lever again without pushing on the
seatback and the seatback will go to an upright
position.
Folding the Seatbacks
The seatbacks on the bucket seats may be folded
forward to give you more cargo space.
To fold the seatbacks on the bucket seats, do the
following:
1. Pull up on the strap
loop located at the rear
of the seat cushion
and pull the seat
cushion up and fold
it forward.
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2. Pull the seatback
release lever upward
and pull the seatback
up and fold it down until
it is at. Escalade lever
shown, Escalade ESV
lever similar. On the
Escalade ESV models,
rst remove the
headrest and store it on
the top of the seat
cushion as shown next.
Pull the headrest out from the seatback and slide the
pins into the holes provided in the top of the seat
cushion.
If the seatback cannot fold at because it interferes with
the cushion, try moving the front seat forward and/or
bringing the front seatback more upright.
Escalade ESV Only
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Once the seatbacks are folded down, on Escalade ESV
models only, the rear seat footwell area will be
exposed and will have to be covered by the load oor
panel. To create a load oor, do the following:
1. Release the panels from the seatbacks by pushing
forward on the latches.
2. Then fold the panels back to cover the rear seat
footwell area.Returning the Seatbacks to an Upright
Position
{CAUTION:
If the seatback is not locked, it could move
forward in a sudden stop or crash. That could
cause injury to the person sitting there. Always
press rearward on the seatback to be sure it is
locked.
To return the seatbacks to the upright position, do the
following:
1. On Escalade ESV models, lift the load oor panels
and latch them into the seatback.
2. Lift the seatback up and push it rearward all the
way. On Escalade ESV models, move the headrest
to the seatback.
3. Lower the seat cushion until it latches into position.
4. Pull forward on the seatback and up on the seat
cushion to make sure the seat is securely in place.
5. On Escalade models, return the headrests to the
upright position.
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Safety Belts
Safety Belts: They Are for Everyone
This part of the manual tells you how to use safety
belts properly. It also tells you some things you should
not do with safety belts.
{CAUTION:
Do not let anyone ride where he or she can not
wear a safety belt properly. If you are in a
crash and you are not wearing a safety belt,
your injuries can be much worse. You can hit
things inside the vehicle or be ejected from it.
You can be seriously injured or killed. In the
same crash, you might not be, if you are
buckled up. Always fasten your safety belt,
and check that your passengers’ belts are
fastened properly too.
{CAUTION:
It is extremely dangerous to ride in a cargo
area, inside or outside of a vehicle. In a
collision, people riding in these areas are more
likely to be seriously injured or killed. Do not
allow people to ride in any area of your vehicle
that is not equipped with seats and safety
belts. Be sure everyone in your vehicle is in a
seat and using a safety belt properly.
Your vehicle has a light
that comes on as a
reminder to buckle up. See
Safety Belt Reminder
Light on page 3-36.
In most states and in all Canadian provinces, the law
says to wear safety belts. Here’s why:They work.
You never know if you’ll be in a crash. If you do have a
crash, you don’t know if it will be a bad one.
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A few crashes are mild, and some crashes can be so
serious that even buckled up, a person wouldn’t survive.
But most crashes are in between. In many of them,
people who buckle up can survive and sometimes walk
away. Without belts they could have been badly hurt
or killed.
After more than 30 years of safety belts in vehicles, the
facts are clear. In most crashes buckling up does
matter... a lot!Why Safety Belts Work
When you ride in or on anything, you go as fast as
it goes.
Take the simplest vehicle. Suppose it’s just a seat on
wheels.
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Put someone on it. Get it up to speed. Then stop the vehicle. The rider
doesn’t stop.
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The person keeps going until stopped by something.
In a real vehicle, it could be the windshield...or the instrument panel...
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or the safety belts!
With safety belts, you slow down as the vehicle does.
You get more time to stop. You stop over more distance,
and your strongest bones take the forces. That’s why
safety belts make such good sense.
Questions and Answers About
Safety Belts
Q:Won’t I be trapped in the vehicle after an
accident if I’m wearing a safety belt?
A:Youcouldbe – whether you’re wearing a safety
belt or not. But you can unbuckle a safety belt,
even if you’re upside down. And your chance
of being conscious during and after an accident, so
youcanunbuckle and get out, ismuchgreater if
you are belted.
Q:If my vehicle has air bags, why should I have to
wear safety belts?
A:Air bags are in many vehicles today and will be
in most of them in the future. But they are
supplemental systems only; so they workwith
safety belts – not instead of them. Every air bag
system ever offered for sale has required the use of
safety belts. Even if you’re in a vehicle that has
air bags, you still have to buckle up to get the most
protection. That’s true not only in frontal collisions,
but especially in side and other collisions.
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