Page 57 of 446

Black plate (1,1)Chevrolet Equinox Owner Manual - 2011
Seats and Restraints 3-1
Seats and
Restraints
Head Restraints
Head Restraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2
Front Seats
Seat Adjustment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-3
Power Seat Adjustment . . . . . . . 3-3
Lumbar Adjustment . . . . . . . . . . . 3-6
Reclining Seatbacks . . . . . . . . . . 3-7
Heated Front Seats . . . . . . . . . . . 3-9
Rear Seats
Rear Seats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-10
Safety Belts
Safety Belts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-11
How to Wear Safety BeltsProperly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-15
Lap-Shoulder Belt . . . . . . . . . . . 3-20
Safety Belt Use During Pregnancy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-25
Safety Belt Extender . . . . . . . . . 3-25 Safety System Check . . . . . . . . 3-25
Safety Belt Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-26
Replacing Safety Belt System
Parts After a Crash . . . . . . . . . 3-26
Airbag System
Airbag System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-27
Where Are the Airbags? . . . . . 3-29
When Should an AirbagInflate? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-31
What Makes an Airbag Inflate? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-33
How Does an Airbag Restrain? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-33
What Will You See After an Airbag Inflates? . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-34
Passenger Sensing
System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-35
Servicing the Airbag-Equipped Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-40
Adding Equipment to the Airbag-Equipped Vehicle . . . 3-40
Airbag System Check . . . . . . . . 3-42
Replacing Airbag System Parts After a Crash . . . . . . . . . 3-42
Child Restraints
Older Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-43
Infants and YoungChildren . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-45
Child Restraint Systems . . . . . 3-48
Where to Put the Restraint . . . 3-50
Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children (LATCH
System) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-52
Replacing LATCH System Parts After a Crash . . . . . . . . . 3-57
Securing Child Restraints (Rear Seat ) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-58
Securing Child Restraints (Front Passenger Seat) . . . . 3-60
Page 58 of 446

Black plate (2,1)Chevrolet Equinox Owner Manual - 2011
3-2 Seats and Restraints
Head Restraints
The vehicle's front and rear seats
have head restraints in all outboard
seating positions.
{WARNING
With head restraints that are not
installed and adjusted properly,
there is a greater chance that
occupants will suffer a neck/
spinal injury in a crash. Do not
drive until the head restraints for
all occupants are installed and
adjusted properly.
Adjust the head restraint so that the
top of the restraint is at the same
height as the top of the occupant's
head. This position reduces the
chance of a neck injury in a crash.1. Pull the head restraint up toraise it. To lower the head
restraint, press the release
button, located on the head
restraint post on the top of the
seatback, while you push the
head restraint down.
2. Push down on the head restraint after the button is released to
make sure that it is locked in
place.
The vehicle's rear seat head
restraints are not adjustable.
The head restraints not designed to
be removed.
Page 59 of 446

Black plate (3,1)Chevrolet Equinox Owner Manual - 2011
Seats and Restraints 3-3
Front Seats
Seat Adjustment
{WARNING
You can lose control of the
vehicle if you try to adjust a
manual driver seat while the
vehicle is moving. The sudden
movement could startle and
confuse you, or make you push a
pedal when you do not want to.
Adjust the driver seat only when
the vehicle is not moving.
To adjust a manual seat:
1. Pull the handle at the front ofthe seat cushion.
2. Move the seat forward or rearward to adjust the
seat position.
3. Release the handle to stop the seat from moving.
4. Try to move the seat back and forth to be sure it is locked
in place.
Power Seat Adjustment
Four‐Way Power Driver Seat
To adjust a power seat, if equipped:
.Move the seat forward or
rearward using the handle under
the front of the seat cushion (A).
See Seat Adjustment on
page 3‑3.
.Raise or lower the entire seat by
moving the control (B) up
or down.
To adjust the seatback, see
Reclining Seatbacks on page 3‑7.
Page 60 of 446

Black plate (4,1)Chevrolet Equinox Owner Manual - 2011
3-4 Seats and Restraints
To adjust the lumbar support, see
Lumbar Adjustment on page 3‑6.
Eight‐Way Power Seats
To adjust a power seat, if equipped:
.Move the seat forward or
rearward by sliding the control
forward or rearward.
.Raise or lower the front or rear
part of the seat cushion by
moving the front or rear of the
control up or down.
.Raise or lower the entire seat by
moving the entire control up
or down.
To adjust the seatback, see
Reclining Seatbacks on page 3‑7.
To adjust the lumbar support, see
Lumbar Adjustment on page 3‑6.
Memory Seat and Mirrors
On vehicles with the memory
feature, the “1”and “2”buttons on
the outboard side of the driver seat
are used to manually save and
recall the driver seat and outside mirror positions. These manually
stored positions are referred to as
Button Memory positions.
The vehicle will also automatically
save driver seat and outside mirror
positions to the current driver
Remote Keyless Entry (RKE)
transmitter when the ignition is
turned off. These automatically
stored positions are referred to as
RKE Memory positions. See
Remote Keyless Entry (RKE)
System Operation on page 2‑3
for
more information.
Storing Button Memory Positions
To save positions into Button
Memory:
1. Adjust the driver seat, seatback recliner, and both outside mirrors
to the desired driving positions.
2. Press and release the MEM (Memory) button.
3. Press “1”until a beep sounds.
4. Repeat Steps 1 through 3 for a second driver using “2.”
Page 61 of 446

Black plate (5,1)Chevrolet Equinox Owner Manual - 2011
Seats and Restraints 3-5
Recalling Button Memory
Positions
To recall the manually saved Button
Memory positions, press and hold
“1”or“2.” The driver seat and
outside mirrors move to the
positions stored to those buttons
when pressed. Releasing “1”or“2”
before the stored positions are
reached stops the recall.
If something has blocked the driver
seat while recalling a memory
position, the recall may stop.
Remove the obstruction; then press
and hold the appropriate manual
control for the memory item that is
not recalling for two seconds. Try
recalling the memory position again
by pressing the appropriate memory
button. If the memory position is still
not recalling, see your dealer for
service. Recalling RKE Memory Positions
(Memory Remote Recall)
The Memory Remote Recall feature
can recall the driver seat and
outside mirrors to previously stored
RKE Memory positions when
entering the vehicle.
Every time the ignition is turned off,
the positions of the driver seat and
outside mirrors are automatically
stored to the RKE transmitter that
was used to start the vehicle. These
positions are called RKE Memory
positions and may be different than
the previously mentioned Button
Memory positions saved to the
“1”
or“2” buttons. To automatically
recall RKE Memory positions,
unlock the driver door with the
RKE transmitter and open the driver
door. If the driver door is already
open, pressing the RKE transmitter
K button will also activate the
RKE Memory recall. The driver seat
and outside mirrors will move to the
previously saved RKE Memory
positions. This feature is turned on or off using
the vehicle personalization menu.
See
“Memory Remote Recall” under
Vehicle Personalization on
page 5‑32 for more information.
To stop recall movement, press any
of the memory, power mirror,
or power seat controls.
If something has blocked the driver
seat while recalling a memory
position, the recall may stop.
Remove the obstruction; then press
and hold the appropriate manual
control for the memory item that is
not recalling for two seconds. Try
recalling the memory position again
by opening the driver door and
pressing the RKE Kbutton. If the
memory position is still not recalling,
see your dealer for service.
Page 62 of 446

Black plate (6,1)Chevrolet Equinox Owner Manual - 2011
3-6 Seats and Restraints
Easy Exit Driver Seat
This feature moves the seat
rearward allowing the driver more
room to exit the vehicle.
To activate, turn the ignition off and
open the driver door. If the driver
door is already open, turning the
ignition off will activate the easy exit
driver seat.
This feature can be turned on or off
using the vehicle personalization
menu. See“Easy Exit Driver Seat”
under Vehicle Personalization on
page 5‑32 for more information. To stop recall movement, press one
of the memory or power seat
controls.
If something has blocked the driver
seat while recalling the exit position,
the recall may stop. Remove the
obstruction; then press and hold the
power seat control rearward for
two seconds. Try recalling the exit
position again. If the exit position is
still not recalling, see your dealer for
service.Lumbar Adjustment
Power Lumbar
Eight-Way Power Seat Shown,
Four-Way Similar
If available, the switches are on the
outboard side of the seats.
Press and hold the front or rear of
the switch (A) to increase or
decrease lumbar support. Release
the control when the seatback
reaches the desired level of lumbar
support.
Page 63 of 446
Black plate (7,1)Chevrolet Equinox Owner Manual - 2011
Seats and Restraints 3-7
Reclining Seatbacks
{WARNING
Sitting in a reclined position when
the vehicle is in motion can be
dangerous. Even when buckled
up, the safety belts cannot do
their job when reclined like this.
The shoulder belt cannot do its
job because it will not be against
your body. Instead, it will be in
front of you. In a crash, you
could go into it, receiving neck or
other injuries.(Continued)
WARNING (Continued)
The lap belt cannot do its job
either. In a crash, the belt could
go up over your abdomen. The
belt forces would be there, not at
your pelvic bones. This could
cause serious internal injuries.
For proper protection when the
vehicle is in motion, have the
seatback upright. Then sit well
back in the seat and wear the
safety belt properly.
Do not have a seatback reclined if
the vehicle is moving.
Page 64 of 446

Black plate (8,1)Chevrolet Equinox Owner Manual - 2011
3-8 Seats and Restraints
Manual Reclining Seatbacks
{WARNING
You can lose control of the
vehicle if you try to adjust a
manual driver seat while the
vehicle is moving. The sudden
movement could startle and
confuse you, or make you push a
pedal when you do not want to.
Adjust the driver seat only when
the vehicle is not moving.
{WARNING
If either seatback is not locked, it
could move forward in a sudden
stop or crash. That could cause
injury to the person sitting there.
Always push and pull on the
seatbacks to be sure they are
locked.
To recline a manual seatback:
1. Lift the lever.
2. Move the seatback to thedesired position, and then
release the lever to lock the
seatback in place.
3. Push and pull on the seatback to make sure it is locked.
To return the seatback to the upright
position:
1. Lift the lever fully without applying pressure to the
seatback, and the seatback will
return to the upright position. 2. Push and pull on the seatback to
make sure it is locked.
Power Reclining Seatbacks
To adjust a power seatback,
if available:
.Tilt the top of the control
rearward to recline.
.Tilt the top of the control forward
to raise.