2013 FORD F250 Owners Manual

The tether strap anchors in your vehicle are in the following positions
(shown from top view):
•F-Series Regular Cab
•F-Series SuperCab
•F-Series Crew Cab
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.
Once the child safety seat has been installed using the safety belt, you
can attach the top tether strap.
32Child Safety
2013 F-250/350/450/550(f23)
Owners Guide gf, 3rd Printing, December 2012
USA(fus)

Tether Strap Attachment
1. Route the child safety seat tether strap over the back of the seat.
For vehicles with adjustable head restraints, route the tether strap under
the head restraint and between the head restraint posts, otherwise route
the tether strap over the top of the seat back. If the top of the safety
seat hits the head restraint, raise the head restraint to let the child seat
fit further rearward.
2. Locate the correct anchor for the selected seating position.
3. You may need to pull the seat back forward to access the tether
anchors. Make sure the seat is locked in the upright position before
installing the child seat.
4. Remove the tether cover.
5. Clip the tether strap to the anchor as shown.
•Front seats (Regular Cab)/Rear
seats (Crew Cab)
If the tether strap is clipped incorrectly, the child safety seat may not be
retained properly in the event of a crash.
6. Tighten the child safety seat tether strap according to the
manufacturer’s instructions.
Child Safety33
2013 F-250/350/450/550(f23)
Owners Guide gf, 3rd Printing, December 2012
USA(fus)

If the safety seat is not anchored properly, the risk of a child being
injured in a crash greatly increases.
If your child restraint system is equipped with a tether strap, and the
child restraint manufacturer recommends its use, Ford also recommends
its use.
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 up to
three child safety seat tether straps.
These straps may be secured below the back of the seat with rubber
bands. To access, reach below the back of the seat and pull tether loop
out of the rubber band securing it.
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.
34Child Safety
2013 F-250/350/450/550(f23)
Owners Guide gf, 3rd Printing, December 2012
USA(fus)

3. Install the child safety seat tightly
using the vehicle belts. Follow the
instructions in this chapter.
4. Tighten the tether strap
according to the child seat
manufacturer’s instructions.
A single loop can be used to route and anchor more than one child seat.
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.
CHILD SAFETY LOCKS (IF EQUIPPED)
When these locks are set, the rear doors cannot be opened from the
inside.
The childproof locks are located on
the rear edge of each rear door and
must be set separately for each
door.
Move the lock control up or down
to engage or disengage the
childproof lock.
Child Safety35
2013 F-250/350/450/550(f23)
Owners Guide gf, 3rd Printing, December 2012
USA(fus)

PRINCIPLES OF OPERATION
WARNING:Always drive and ride with your seat back upright
and the lap belt snug and low across the hips.
WARNING:To reduce the risk of injury, make sure children sit
where they can be properly restrained.
WARNING:Never let a passenger hold a child on his or her lap
while the vehicle is moving. The passenger cannot protect the
child from injury in a crash.
WARNING:All occupants of the vehicle, including the driver,
should always properly wear their safety belts, even when an
airbag supplemental restraint system is provided. Failure to properly
wear your safety belt could seriously increase the risk of injury or
death.
WARNING:It is extremely dangerous to ride in a cargo area,
inside or outside of a vehicle. In a crash, 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.
WARNING:In a rollover crash, an unbelted person is significantly
more likely to die than a person wearing a safety belt.
WARNING:Each seating position in your vehicle has a specific
safety belt assembly which is made up of one buckle and one
tongue that are designed to be used as a pair. 1) Use the shoulder belt
on the outside shoulder only. Never wear the shoulder belt under the
arm. 2) Never swing the safety belt around your neck over the inside
shoulder. 3) Never use a single belt for more than one person.
36Safety Belts
2013 F-250/350/450/550(f23)
Owners Guide gf, 3rd Printing, December 2012
USA(fus)

WARNING:When possible, all children 12 years old and under
should be properly restrained in a rear seating position. Failure
to follow this could seriously increase the risk of injury or death.
WARNING:Safety belts and seats can become hot in a vehicle
that has been closed up in sunny weather; they could burn a
small child. Check seat covers and buckles before you place a child
anywhere near them.
WARNING:Front and rear seat occupants, including pregnant
women, should wear safety belts for optimum protection in an
accident.
All seating positions in this vehicle have lap and shoulder safety belts.
All occupants of the vehicle should always properly wear their safety
belts, even when an airbag supplemental restraint system is provided.
The safety belt system consists of:
•lap and shoulder safety belts.
•shoulder safety belt with automatic locking mode, (except driver
safety belt).
•height adjuster at the front outboard seating positions
•safety belt pretensioner at the front outboard seating positions.
•Safety belt warning light and chime. SeeSafety Belt
Warning Light and Indicator Chimelater in this chapter.
•Crash sensors and monitoring system with readiness
indicator. SeeCrash Sensors and Airbag Indicatorin the
Supplemental Restraints Systemchapter.
The safety belt pretensioners are designed to activate in frontal,
near-frontal and side crashes, and in rollovers. The safety belt
pretensioners at the front seating positions are designed to tighten the
safety belts firmly against the occupant’s body when activated. This helps
increase the effectiveness of the safety belts. In frontal crashes, the safety
belt pretensioners can be activated alone or, if the crash is of sufficient
severity, together with the front airbags.
Safety Belts37
2013 F-250/350/450/550(f23)
Owners Guide gf, 3rd Printing, December 2012
USA(fus)

FASTENING THE SAFETY BELTS
The front outboard and rear safety restraints in your vehicle are
combination lap and shoulder belts.
1. Insert the belt tongue into the
proper buckle (the buckle closest to
the direction the tongue is coming
from) until you hear a snap and feel
it latch. Make sure the tongue is
securely fastened in the buckle.
2. To unfasten, press the release
button and remove the tongue from
the buckle.
Using the Safety Belt with Cinch Tongue (Front Center and Rear
Center Seats Only)
The cinch tongue will slide up and down the belt webbing when the belt
is stowed or while putting safety belts on. When the lap and shoulder
safety belt is buckled, the cinch tongue will allow the lap portion to be
shortened, but pinches the webbing to keep the lap portion from getting
longer. The cinch tongue is designed to slip during a crash, so always
wear the shoulder belt properly and don’t allow any slack in either the
lap or shoulder portions.
38Safety Belts
2013 F-250/350/450/550(f23)
Owners Guide gf, 3rd Printing, December 2012
USA(fus)

Before you can reach and latch a lap and shoulder belt having a cinch
tongue into the buckle, you may have to lengthen the lap belt portion of it.
1. To lengthen the lap belt, pull
some webbing out of the shoulder
belt retractor.
2. While holding the webbing below
the tongue, grasp the tip (metal
portion) of the tongue so that it is
parallel to the webbing and slide the
tongue upward.
3. Provide enough lap belt length so that the tongue can reach the
buckle.
Fastening the Cinch Tongue
WARNING:The lap belt should fit snugly and as low as possible
around the hips, not across the waist.
1. Pull the lap and shoulder belt from the retractor so that the shoulder
belt portion of the safety belt crosses your shoulder and chest.
2. Be sure the belt is not twisted. If the belt is twisted, remove the twist.
3. Insert the belt tongue into the proper buckle for your seating position
until you hear a snap and feel it latch.
4. Make sure the tongue is securely fastened to the buckle by pulling on
the tongue.
While you are fastened in the safety belt, the lap and shoulder belt with
a cinch tongue adjusts to your movement. However, if you brake hard,
turn hard, or if your vehicle receives an impact of 5 mph (8 km/h) or
more, the safety belt will become locked and help reduce your forward
movement.
Safety Belts39
2013 F-250/350/450/550(f23)
Owners Guide gf, 3rd Printing, December 2012
USA(fus)