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2004 TACOMA from Sep. ’03 Prod. (OM35814U)
Pull the seatback lock release belt for-
ward and fold down the seat back.
CAUTION
When returning the seatback to the
upright position, observe the follow-
ing precautions in order to prevent
personal injury in a collision or sud-
den stop:
Make sure the seatback is securely
locked by pushing forward and rear-
ward on the top of the seatback.
Failure to do so will prevent the
seat belt from operating properly.
Make sure the seat belts are not
twisted or caught in the seatback
and are arranged in their proper
position and are ready to use.You can use the rear seatback as a tem-
porary table when the vehicle is stopped.
See “Seatback table” in Section 1−10 for
instructions.
CAUTION
To avoid serious injury:
Do not set up the rear seatback
table while the vehicle is moving.
Do not sit on the folded rear seat-
back table.
Folding rear seatback (double
cab models)
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To use the armrest, do this.
To lower: Pull the lock release strap and
down the armrest.
To raise: Push down the lock release
strap and up the armrest.
NOTICE
To prevent damage to the armrest,
avoid putting heavy loads on it.
Toyota strongly urges that the driver and
passengers in the vehicle be properly re-
strained at all times with the seat belts
provided. Failure to do so could increase
the chance of injury and/or the severity of
injury in accidents.
The seat belts provided for your vehicle
are designed for people of adult size,
large enough to properly wear them.
Child. Use a child restraint system ap-
propriate for the child until the child be-
comes large enough to properly wear the
vehicle’s seat belts. See “Child restraint”
in this Section for details.
REGULAR CAB MODELS—
If a child is too large for a child restraint
system, the child should sit in the seat
and must be restrained using the vehicle’s
seat belt.
XTRA −CAB and DOUBLE CAB MODELS—
If a child is too large for a child restraint
system, the child s hould sit in the rear
seat and must be restrained using the
vehicle’s seat belt. According to accident
statistics, the child is safer when properly
restrained in the rear seat than in the
front seat. If a child must sit in the front seat, the
seat belts should be worn properly. If an
accident occurs and the seat belts are not
worn properly, the force of the rapid infla-
tion of the airbag may cause death or
serious injury to the child.
Do not allow any children to stand up or
kneel on either rear or front seats. An
unrestrained child could suffer serious in-
jury or death during emergency braking or
a collision. Also, do not let the child sit
on your lap. Holding a child in your arms
does not provide sufficient restraint.
Small framed person or youth in a
3 point type seat belt.
On models with
a bench seat, have a small −framed person
or youth sit slightly closer to the center
of the vehicle (so the shoulder belt does
not cross over the neck). On models with
separate seats, move the seat fully back-
ward .
Pregnant woman. Toyota recommends the
use of a seat belt. Ask your doctor for
specific recommendations. The lap belt
should be worn securely and as low as
possible over the hips and not on the
waist.
Armrest Seat belts—
—Seat belt precautions
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Ta b
Buckle
Adjust the seat as needed and sit up
straight and well back in the seat. To
fasten your belt, pull it out of the re-
tractor and insert the tab into the
buckle.
You will hear a click when the tab locks
into the buckle.
The seat belt length automatically adjusts
to your size and the seat position.
The retractor will lock the belt during a
sudden stop or on impact. It also may
lock if you lean forward too quickly. A
slow, easy motion will allow the belt to
extend, and you can move around freely. When a passenger ’s shoulder belt is com-
pletely extended and is then retracted
even slightly, the belt is locked in that
position and cannot be extended. This fea-
ture is used to hold the child restraint
system securely. (For details, see “Child
restraint” in this Section.) To free the belt
again, fully retract the belt and then pull
the belt out once more.
If the seat belt cannot be pulled out of the
retractor, firmly pull the belt and release
it. You will then be able to smoothly pull
the belt out of the retractor.CAUTION
After inserting the tab, make sure
the tab and buckle are locked and
that the belt is not twisted.
Do not insert coins, clips, etc. in
the buckle as this may prevent you
from properly latching the tab and
buckle.
If the seat belt does not function
normally, immediately contact your
Toyota dealer. Do not use the seat
until the seat belt is fixed, because
it cannot protect an adult occupant
or your child from injury.
Ta k e u p
slack
To o h i g h
Keep as low on
hips as possible
Adjust the position of the lap and
shoulder belts.
Position the lap belt as low as possible
on your hips—not on your waist, then ad-
just it to a snug fit by pulling the shoulder
portion upward through the latch plate.
—Fastening front and rear
outside seat belts
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2004 TACOMA from Sep. ’03 Prod. (OM35814U)
If your seat belts cannot be fastened se-
curely because they are not long enough,
a personalized seat belt extender is avail-
able from your Toyota dealer free of
charge.
Please contact your local Toyota dealer so
that the dealer can order the proper re-
quired length for the extender. Bring the
heaviest coat you expect to wear for prop-
er measurement and selection of length.
Additional ordering information is available
at your Toyota dealer.
CAUTION
When using the seat belt extender,
observe the following precautions.
Failure to follow these instructions
could reduce the effectiveness of the
seat belt restraint system in case of
an accident, increasing the chance of
personal injury.
Remember that the extender pro-
vided for you may not be safe when
used on a different vehicle, for
another person, or at a different
seating position than the one origi-
nally intended.
Be sure to wear the seat belt with-
out the seat belt extender if you
can fasten the seat belt without the
extender.
Do not use the seat belt extender
when installing a child restraint
system on the front or rear passen-
ger seat. If installing a child re-
straint system with the seat belt
extender connected to the seat belt,
the seat belt will not securely hold
the child restraint system, which
could cause death or serious injury
to the child or other passengers in
the event of collision.
To connect the extender to the seat
belt, insert the tab into the seat belt
buckle so that the “PRESS” signs on
the buckle release buttons of the ex-
tender and the seat belt are both facing
outward as shown.
You will hear a click when the tab locks
into the buckle.
When releasing the seat belt, press on
the buckle release button on the extender,
not on the seat belt. This helps prevent
damage to the vehicle interior and extend-
er itself.
When not in use, remove the extender
and store in the vehicle for future use.
—Seat belt extender
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In response to a severe frontal impact,
the SRS airbags work together with the
seat belts to help reduce injury by inflat-
ing. The SRS airbags help reduce injuries
mainly to the driver ’s or front passenger ’s
head or chest caused by hitting the ve-
hicle interior.
When the passenger airbag manual on−off
switch is in the “ON” position, the front
passenger airbag is activated even with
no passenger in the front seat.
Always wear your seat belt properly.
Your vehicle is equipped with a crash
sensing and diagnostic module, which will
record the use of the seat belt restraint
system by the driver when the SRS air-
bags are inflated.CAUTION
The SRS airbag system is designed
only as a supplement to the prima-
ry protection of the driver and front
passenger seat belt systems. The
driver and front passenger can be
killed or seriously injured by the
inflating airbags if they do not wear
the available seat belts properly.
During sudden braking just before
a collision, an unrestrained driver
or front passenger can move for-
ward into direct contact with or
close proximity to the airbag which
may then deploy during the colli-
sion. To ensure maximum protection
in an accident, the driver and all
passengers in the vehicle must
wear their seat belts properly. Wear-
ing a seat belt properly during an
accident reduces the chances of
death or serious injury or being
thrown out of the vehicle. For in-
structions and precautions concern-
ing the seat belt system, see “Seat
belts” in this Section.
Improperly seated and/or restrained
infants and children can be killed
or seriously injured by the deploy-
ing airbags. An infant or child who
is too small to use a seat belt
should be properly secured using a
child restraint system. As to Xtra
cab models, Toyota strongly recom-
mends 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 con-
cerning the installation of a child
restraint system, see “Child re-
straint” in this Section.
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Your vehicle is equipped with a crash
sensing and diagnostic module, which will
record the use of the seat belt restraint
system by the driver when the SRS air-
bags are inflated.CAUTION
The SRS airbag system is designed
only as a supplement to the prima-
ry protection of the driver and front
passenger seat belt systems. The
driver and front passenger can be
killed or seriously injured by the
inflating airbags if they do not wear
the available seat belts properly.
During sudden braking just before
a collision, an unrestrained driver
or front passenger can move for-
ward into direct contact with or
close proximity to the airbag which
may then deploy during the colli-
sion. To ensure maximum protection
in an accident, the driver and all
passengers in the vehicle must
wear their seat belts properly. Wear-
ing a seat belt properly during an
accident reduces the chances of
death or serious injury or being
thrown out of the vehicle. For in-
structions and precautions concern-
ing the seat belt system, see “Seat
belts” in this Section.
Improperly seated and/or restrained
infants and children can be killed
or seriously injured by the deploy-
ing airbags. An infant or child who
is too small to use a seat belt
should be properly secured using a
child restraint system. Toyota
strongly recommends that all in-
fants and children be placed in the
rear seat of the vehicle and proper-
ly restrained. The rear seat is the
safest for infants and children. For
instructions concerning the installa-
tion of a child restraint system, see
“Child restraint” in this Section.
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If you must put infant or child age
1 to 12 in a passenger risk group
on the right front seat, make sure
the passenger airbag manual on off
switch is in the “OFF” position and
that the indicator light is on. (For
details, see “SRS driver airbag and
front passenger airbag” in this Sec-
tion.)
Do not use the seat belt extender
when installing a child restraint
system on the front or rear passen-
ger seat. If installing a child re-
straint system with the seat belt
extender connected to the seat belt,
the seat belt will not securely hold
the child restraint system, which
could cause death or serious injury
to the child or other passengers in
the event of collision.
Make sure you have complied with
all installation instructions provided
by the child restraint manufacturer
and that the system is properly se-
cured. If it is not secured properly,
it may cause death or serious injury
to the child in the event of a sud-
den stop or accident.
Vehicles without passenger airbag
manual on off switch—
Toyota strongly urges use of a
proper child restraint system which
conforms to the size of the child,
installed on the rear seat. Accord-
ing to accident statistics, the child
is safer when properly restrained in
the rear seat than in the front seat.
Never install a rear facing child re-
straint system on the front passen-
ger seat. In the event of an acci-
dent, the force of the rapid inflation
of the front passenger airbag can
cause death or serious injury to the
child if the rear facing child re-
straint system is installed on the
front passenger seat.
A forward facing child restraint sys-
tem should be allowed to be
installed on the front passenger
seat only when it is unavoidable.
Always move the seat as far back
as possible, because the front pas-
senger airbag could inflate with
considerable speed and force.
Otherwise, the child may be killed
or seriously injured.
Do not use the seat belt extender
when installing a child restraint
system on the front or rear passen-
ger seat. If installing a child re-
straint system with the seat belt
extender connected to the seat belt,
the seat belt will not securely hold
the child restraint system, which
could cause death or serious injury
to the child or other passengers in
the event of collision.
Make sure you have complied with
all installation instructions provided
by the child restraint manufacturer
and that the system is properly se-
cured. If it is not secured properly,
it may cause death or serious injury
to the child in the event of a sud-
den stop or accident.
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A child restraint system for a small
child or baby must itself be properly
restrained on the seat with either the
lap belt or the lap portion of the lap/
shoulder belt. You must carefully con-
sult the manufacturer ’s instructions
which accompany the child restraint
system.
To provide proper restraint, use a child
restraint system following the manufactur-
er ’s instructions about the appropriate age
and size of the child for the child restraint
system.
Install the child restraint system correctly
following the instructions provided by its
manufacturer. General directions are also
provided under the following illustrations.
The child restraint system should be
installed on the rear seat if your vehicle
is equipped with rear seats. According to
accident statistics, the child is safer when
properly restrained in the rear seat than
in the front seat.
When not using the child restraint system,
keep it secured with the seat belt or place
it somewhere other than the passenger
compartment. This will prevent it from in-
juring passengers in the event of a sud-
den stop or accident.Child restraint systems are classified into
the following 3 types depending on the
child’s age and size.
(A) Infant seat
(B) Convertible seat
(C) Booster seat
Install the child restraint system following
the instructions provided by its manufac-
turer.
Your vehicle has anchor brackets for se-
curing the top strap of a child restraint
system.
For instructions about how to use the an-
chor bracket, see “—Using a top strap” in
this Section.
The child restraint lower anchorages ap-
proved for your vehicle may also be used.
See “—Installation with child restraint low-
er anchorages” in this Section.
(A) Infant seat
(B) Convertible seat
—Child restraint system
—Types of child restraint
system