2011 FORD F150 seats

Important child restraint precautions
WARNING:Always make sure your child is secured properly in
a device that is appropriate for their height, age and weight.
Child safety restraints must be purchased separately from the vehicle.
Failure to follow these instructions and guidelines may result in an
increased risk of serious injury or death to your child.
WARNING:All children are shaped differently. The
Recommendations for Safety Restraints are based on probable
child height, age and weight thresholds from NHTSA and other safety
organizations or are the minimum requirements of law. Ford
recommends checking with a NHTSA Certified Child Passenger Safety
Technician (CPST) and consult your pediatrician to make sure your
child seat is appropriate for your child, and is compatible with and
properly installed in the vehicle. To locate a child seat fitting station
and CPST contact the NHTSA toll free at 1-888-327-4236 or on the
internet at http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov. In Canada, check with your local
St. John Ambulance office for referral to a CPST or for further
information, contact your provincial ministry of transportation, your
local St. John Ambulance office at http://www.sfa.ca, or Transport
Canada at 1–800–333–0371 (http://www.tc.gc.ca). Failure to properly
restrain children in safety seats made especially for their height, age,
and weight may result in an increased risk of serious injury or death to
your child.
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Recommendations for Safety Restraints for Children
Child size, height, weight, or ageRecommended
restraint type
Infants or
toddlersChildren weighing 40 lb (18 kg) or less
(generally age four or younger)Use a child safety
seat (sometimes
called an infant
carrier, convert-
ible seat, or tod-
dler seat).
Small
childrenChildren who have outgrown or no lon-
ger properly fit in a child safety seat
(generally children who are less than
4 feet 9 inches (1.45 meters) tall, are
greater than age four (4) and less than
age twelve (12), and between 40 lb
(18 kg) and 80 lb (36 kg) and upward
to 100 lb (45 kg) if recommended by
your child restraint manufacturer)Use a belt-
positioning
booster seat.
Larger
childrenChildren who have outgrown or no lon-
ger properly fit in a belt-positioning
booster seat (generally children who
are at least 4 feet 9 inches (1.45 me-
ters) tall or greater than 80 lb (36 kg)
or 100 lb (45 kg) if recommended by
child restraint manufacturer)Use a vehicle
safety belt having
the lap belt snug
and low across
the hips, shoulder
belt centered
across the shoul-
der and chest,
and seatback up-
right.
•You are required by law to properly use safety seats for infants and
toddlers in the U.S. and Canada.
•Many states and provinces require that small children use approved
booster seats until they reach age eight, a height of 4 ft 9 in.
(1.45 meters) tall, or 80 lb (36 kg). Check your local and state or
provincial laws for specific requirements regarding the safety of
children in your vehicle.
•When possible, always properly restrain children twelve (12) years of
age and under in a rear seating position of your vehicle. Accident
statistics suggest that children are safer when properly restrained in
the rear seating positions than in a front seating position.
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Follow all the safety restraint and airbag precautions that apply to adult
passengers in your vehicle.
If the child is the proper height, age, and weight (as specified by your
child safety seat or booster manufacturer), fits the restraint and can be
restrained properly, then restrain the child in the child safety seat or
with the belt-positioning booster. Remember that child seats and
belt-positioning boosters vary and may be designed to fit children of
different heights, ages and weights. Children who are too large for child
safety seats or belt-positioning boosters (as specified by your child safety
seat manufacturer) should always properly wear safety belts.
SAFETY SEATS FOR CHILDREN
Infant and/or toddler seats
Use a safety seat that is recommended for the size and weight of the
child.
When installing a child safety seat:
•Review and follow the information
presented in theAirbag
supplemental restraint system
(SRS)section in this chapter.
•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.
•In order to install your child seat properly, you may need to remove
the head restraint to access the child seat tether. SeeFront seatsand
Rear seatsin this chapter for information on removing the headrests.
Airbags can kill or injure a child in a child seat. NEVER place a
rear-facing child seat in front of an active airbag. If you must use a
forward-facing child seat in the front seat, move the vehicle seat all the
way back.
Children 12 and under should be properly restrained in a rear seating
position whenever possible. If all children cannot be seated and
restrained properly in a rear seating position, properly restrain the
largest child in the front seat.
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Installing child safety seats with combination lap and shoulder
belts
Check to make sure the child seat is properly secured before each use.
Children 12 and under should be properly restrained in a rear seating
position whenever possible. If all children cannot be seated and
restrained properly in a rear seating position, properly restrain the
largest child in the front seat.
When installing a child safety seat with combination lap/shoulder belts:
•Use the correct safety belt buckle for that seating position.
•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 help prevent accidental unbuckling.
•Place vehicle seat back in upright position.
•Put the safety belt in the automatic locking mode. Refer to step 5
below. This vehicle does not require the use of a locking clip.
WARNING:Depending on where you secure a child restraint,
and depending on the child restraint design, you may block
access to certain safety belt buckle assemblies and/or LATCH lower
anchors, rendering those features potentially unusable. To avoid risk of
injury, occupants should only use seating positions where they are able
to be properly restrained.
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If you are using a front center seat, seeInstalling child safety seats in
cinch tongue combination lap and shoulder belt seating position
later in this chapter for instructions.
Perform the following steps when installing the child seat with
combination lap/shoulder belts:
Note:Although the child seat illustrated is a forward facing child seat,
the steps are the same for installing a rear facing child seat.
1. Position the child safety seat in a
seat with a combination lap and
shoulder belt.
2. Pull down on the shoulder belt
and then grasp the shoulder belt
and lap belt together.
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8. Remove remaining slack from the
belt. Force the seat down with extra
weight, e.g., by pressing down or
kneeling on the child restraint while
pulling up on the shoulder belt in
order to force slack from the belt.
This is necessary to remove the
remaining slack that will exist once
the additional weight of the child is
added to the child restraint. It also
helps to achieve the proper
snugness of the child seat to the
vehicle. Sometimes, a slight lean
towards the buckle will additionally
help to remove remaining slack from the belt.
9. Attach the tether strap (if the child seat is equipped). Refer to
Attaching child safety seats with tether strapslater in this chapter.
10. Before placing the child in the
seat, forcibly move the seat forward
and back to make sure the seat is
securely held in place. To check
this, grab the seat at the belt path
and attempt to move it side to side
and forward and back. There should
be no more than 1 inch (2.5 cm) of
movement for proper installation.
11. Ford recommends checking with a NHTSA Certified Child Passenger
Safety Technician (CPST) to make certain the child restraint is properly
installed.
Installing child safety seats in cinch tongue combination lap and
shoulder belt seating position (front center seating position only)
The belt webbing below the tongue is the lap portion of the combination
lap/shoulder belt, and the belt webbing above the tongue is the shoulder
belt portion of the combination lap/shoulder belt.
WARNING:Always use both lap and shoulder safety belt in the
center seating position.
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5. Insert the belt tongue into the
proper buckle (the buckle closest to
the direction the tongue is coming
from) for that seating position until
you hear a snap and feel the latch
engage. Make sure the tongue is
latched securely by pulling on it.
6. While pushing down with your
knee on the child seat pull up on
the shoulder belt portion to tighten
the lap belt portion of the
combination lap and shoulder belt.
7. Allow the safety belt to retract and remove any slack in the belt to
securely tighten the child safety seat in the vehicle.
8. Attach the tether strap (if the child seat is equipped). Refer to
Attaching child safety seats with tether strapslater in this chapter.
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9. Before placing the child into the
child seat, forcibly pull the child
seat forward and back to make sure
that the seat is held securely in
place. To check this, grab the seat
at the belt path and attempt to
move it side to side and forward and
back. There should be no more than
1 inch (2.5 cm) of movement for
proper installation.
10. Check from time to time to be sure that there is no slack in the
lap/shoulder belt. The shoulder belt must be snug to keep the lap belt
tight during a collision.
11. Ford recommends checking with a NHTSA Certified Child Passenger
Safety Technician (CPST) to make certain the child restraint is properly
installed. In Canada, check with your local St. John Ambulance office for
referral to a CPST.
WARNING:Airbags can kill or injure a child in a child seat. If
you must use a forward-facing child seat in the front seat, move
seat all the way back.
WARNING:Rear facing child seats should NEVER be placed in
front of an active airbag.
Attaching child safety seats with LATCH
(Lower Anchors and Tethers for CHildren) attachments
The LATCH system is composed of three vehicle anchor points: two (2)
lower anchors located where the vehicle seat back and seat cushion meet
(called the “seat bight”) and one (1) top tether anchor located behind
that seating position.
LATCH compatible child safety seats have two rigid or webbing mounted
attachments that connect to the two lower anchors at the LATCH
equipped seating positions in your vehicle. This type of attachment
method eliminates the need to use safety belts to attach the child seat,
however the safety belt can still be used to attach the child seat if the
lower anchors are not used. For forward-facing child seats, the top tether
strap must also be attached to the proper top tether anchor, if a top
tether strap has been provided with your child seat. SeeAttaching child
safety seats with tether strapsin this chapter for more information.
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