2021 FORD F-150 Owners Manual

CHILD RESTRAINTS RECOMMENDATION
Recommended Restraint Type
Child Size, Height, Weight, or Age
Use a child restraint (sometimes
called an infant carrier, convertible seat, or toddler seat).
Children weighing 40 lb (18 kg) or less (generally
age four or younger).
Use a belt-positioning boosterseat.
Children who have outgrown or no longer properly
fit in a child restraint (generally children who areless than
57 in (1.45 m) tall, are greater than age
four and less than age 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 vehicle seatbelt having thelap belt snug and low across the
hips, shoulder belt centered across the shoulder and chest, and seat backrest upright.
Children who have outgrown or no longer properly
fit in a belt-positioning booster seat (generally chil- dren who are at least
57 in (1.45 m) tall or greater
than 80 lb (36 kg) or 100 lb (45 kg) if recommended by child restraint manufacturer).
You are required by law to properly use
child restraints for infants and toddlers in
the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Many states and provinces require that
small children use approved booster seats
until they reach age eight, a height of 57 in
(1.45 m)
tall, or 80 lb (36 kg). Check your
local and state or provincial laws for
specific requirements about the safety of
children in your vehicle.
When possible, properly restrain children
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.
When installing a rear facing child restraint,
adjust the vehicle seats to avoid
interference between the child restraint
and the vehicle seat in front of the child
restraint. INSTALLING CHILD
RESTRAINTS
USING SEATBELTS WARNING:
Depending on where
you secure a child restraint, and
depending on the child restraint design,
you may block access to certain seatbelt
buckle assemblies and LATCH lower
anchors, rendering those features
potentially unusable. To avoid risk of
injury, make sure occupants only use
seating positions where they are able to
be properly restrained.
Note: The following does not apply to the
front center position of Super Cab and Crew
Cab vehicles.
Note: Although the child restraint
illustrated is a forward facing child restraint,
the steps are the same for installing a rear
facing child restraint.
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Perform the following steps when
installing a child restraint with seatbelts.
1. Position the child restraint in a seat
with a seatbelt. 2. Pull down on the shoulder belt and
then grasp the shoulder belt and lap
belt together. 3.
While holding the shoulder and lap belt
portions together, route the tongue
through the child restraint according
to the child restraint manufacturer's
instructions. Make sure you did not
twist the belt webbing. 4. Insert the belt tongue into the proper
buckle for that seating position until
the latch engages. Make sure the
tongue is latched securely by pulling
on it. 5. To put the retractor in the automatic
locking mode, grasp the shoulder
portion of the belt and pull downward
until you pull all of the seatbelt out.
Note: The automatic locking mode is
available on the front passenger and rear
seats. This mode is also available on the
center seat of a Regular Cab. This vehicle
does not require the use of a locking clip.
6. Allow the belt to retract to remove slack. The seatbelt clicks as it retracts
to indicate it is in the automatic locking
mode.
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7.
Pull the seatbelt out of the retractor to
make sure the retractor is in the
automatic locking mode. You should
not be able to pull more belt out. If the
retractor is not locked, unbuckle the
belt and repeat Steps 5 and 6. 8.
Remove remaining slack from the belt.
Force the seat down with extra weight,
for example, 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 exists once you add the extra
weight of the child to the child restraint.
It also helps to achieve the proper
snugness of the child restraint to your
vehicle. Sometimes, a slight lean
toward the buckle helps to remove
remaining slack from the belt.
9. If the child restraint has a tether strap, attach it. 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 in (2.5 cm) of movement.
We recommend checking with a NHTSA
Certified Child Passenger Safety
Technician to make certain the child
restraint is properly installed. In Canada,
check with Transport Canada for referral
to a Child Car Seat Clinic.
Using Seatbelts WARNING:
Always use both the
lap and shoulder portion of the seatbelt
in the center seating position.
Note: The following applies to the front
center position of Super Cab and Crew Cab
vehicles.
The seatbelt webbing below the tongue is
the lap portion of the seatbelt. The
webbing above the tongue is the shoulder
belt portion of the seatbelt.
1. Position the child restraint in the front center seat.
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2. Slide the tongue up the webbing.
3. While holding both shoulder and lap
portions next to the tongue, route the
tongue and webbing through the child
restraint according to the child restraint
manufacturer's instructions. Make sure
you did not twist the belt webbing. 4. Insert the belt tongue into the proper
buckle for that seating position until
the latch engages. Make sure the
tongue is latched securely by pulling
on it. 5.
When pushing down with your knee on
the child restraint, pull up on the
shoulder belt portion to tighten the lap
belt portion of the seatbelt.
6. Allow the seatbelt to retract and remove any slack in the belt to securely
tighten the child restraint in the vehicle.
7. If the child restraint has a tether strap, attach it. 56
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8. 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 in (2.5 cm) of movement.
9. Check from time to time to be sure that
there is no slack in the lap and shoulder
belt. The shoulder belt must be snug
to keep the lap belt tight during a crash.
We recommend checking with a NHTSA
Certified Child Passenger Safety
Technician to make certain the child
restraint is properly installed. In Canada,
check with Transport Canada for referral
to a Child Car Seat Clinic.
USING LOWER ANCHORS AND
TETHERS FOR CHILDREN WARNING: Do not attach two child
safety restraints to the same anchor. In
a crash, one anchor may not be strong
enough to hold two child safety restraint
attachments and may break, causing
serious injury or death. WARNING:
Depending on where
you secure a child restraint, and
depending on the child restraint design,
you may block access to certain seatbelt
buckle assemblies and LATCH lower
anchors, rendering those features
potentially unusable. To avoid risk of
injury, make sure occupants only use
seating positions where they are able to
be properly restrained.
The Lower Anchors and Tethers for
Children (LATCH) system has three vehicle
anchor points: •
Two lower anchors where the vehicle
seat backrest and seat cushion meet,
called the seat bight.
• One top tether anchor behind that
seating position.
LATCH compatible child restraints have
two rigid or webbing mounted
attachments. These attachments 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 seatbelts to
attach the child restraint.
However, you can still use the seatbelt to
attach the child restraint if the lower
anchors are not used. For forward-facing
child restraints, you must also attach the
top tether strap to the proper top tether
anchor if a top tether strap has been
provided with your child restraint.
Follow the instructions later in this chapter
on attaching child restraints with tether
straps.
INSTALLING A CHILD RESTRAINT
IN A CENTER SEAT WARNING: The standardized
spacing for LATCH lower anchors is 11 in
(280 mm) center to center. Do not use
LATCH lower anchors for the center
seating position unless the child restraint
manufacturer's instructions permit and
specify using anchors spaced at least as
far apart as those in this vehicle.
The lower anchors at the center of the
second row rear seat are spaced
25.7 in
(652 mm) apart. The standardized spacing
for LATCH lower anchors is 11 in (280 mm)
center to center.
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You cannot install a child restraint with
rigid LATCH attachments at the center
seating position. You can only use LATCH
compatible child restraints with
attachments on belt webbing at this
seating position provided that the child
restraint manufacturer's instructions
permit use with the anchor spacing stated.
Do not attach a child restraint to any lower
anchor if another child restraint is attached
to that anchor.
Each time you use the child restraint, check
that the seat is properly attached to the
lower anchors and tether anchor, if
applicable. Tug the child restraint from side
to side and forward and back where it is
secured to the vehicle. The seat should
move less than 1 in (2.5 cm).
If you did not properly anchor the child
restraint, the risk of a child being injured in
a crash greatly increases.
COMBINING THE SEATBELT AND
LOWER ANCHORS FOR
ATTACHING CHILD RESTRAINTS
When used in combination, you may attach
either the seatbelt or the LATCH lower
anchors first, provided a proper installation
is achieved. Attach the tether strap
afterward, if it is included with the child
restraint.
USING TETHER STRAPS
Many forward-facing child restraints
include a tether strap which extends from
the back of the child restraint and hooks
to an anchoring point called the top tether
anchor. Tether straps are available as an
accessory for many older child restraints. Contact the manufacturer of your child
restraint for information about ordering a
tether strap, or to obtain a longer tether
strap if the tether strap on your child
restraint does not reach the appropriate
top tether anchor in the vehicle.
Attach the tether strap only to the
appropriate tether anchor. The tether strap
may not work properly if attached
somewhere other than the correct tether
anchor.
If you install a child restraint with rigid
LATCH attachments, do not tighten the
tether strap enough to lift the child
restraint off the vehicle seat cushion when
the child is seated in it. Keep the tether
strap just snug without lifting the front of
the child restraint. Keeping the child
restraint just touching the vehicle seat
gives the best protection in a severe crash.
Once you have installed the child restraint
using either the seatbelt, the lower anchors
of the LATCH system, or both, you can
attach the top tether strap.
ATTACHING THE FRONT SEAT
TETHER STRAP
Regular Cab
1. Route the child restraint tether strap
over the back of the seat and under the
head restraint.
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Note:
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 backrest.
2. Locate the correct anchor for the selected seating position. You may
need to pull the seat backrest forward
to access the tether anchors. Make sure
the seat is locked in the upright position
before installing the child restraint.
3. Clip the tether strap to the anchor.
4. Tighten the child restraint tether strap according to the manufacturer's
instructions.
If you incorrectly clip the tether strap, the
child restraint may not be retained properly
in the event of a crash.
If you did not properly anchor the child
restraint, the risk of a child being injured in
a crash greatly increases.
If your child restraint system has a tether
strap, and the child restraint manufacturer
recommends its use, we also recommend
its use.
ATTACHING THE REAR SEAT
TETHER STRAP (If Equipped)
Crew Cab and Super Cab There are three loops of webbing above
the back of the rear seat. Use these loops
as routing loops and anchor loops for up
to three child restraint tether straps.
For example, you can use the center loop
as a routing loop for a child restraint in the
center rear seat and as an anchoring loop
for child restraints installed in the
outermost rear seats.
Many tether straps cannot be tightened if
the tether strap is hooked to the loop
directly behind the child restraint.
To provide a tight tether strap:
1.
Route the vehicle tether loop between
the head restraint posts, then route the
child restraint tether strap through the
loop, forward of the head restraint.
2. Hook the strap to the vehicle tether anchor loop in the adjacent seating
position. If using the driver side, pass
the strap behind the shoulder belt for
the center seat. Put the tether strap
through the routing loop. The head
restraint support post holds the child
restraint tightly, but the head restraint
post is not strong enough to hold the
child restraint during a crash.
3. Tighten the tether strap according to the child restraint manufacturer's
instructions.
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If you did not properly anchor the child
restraint, the risk of a child being injured in
a crash greatly increases.
If your child restraint system has a tether
strap, and the child restraint manufacturer
recommends its use, we also recommend
its use.
BOOSTER SEATS
Use a belt-positioning booster seat for
children who have outgrown or no longer
properly fit in a child restraint and meet
the following criteria.
•
Generally children who are less than
57 in (1.45 m) tall.
• Are greater than age four (4) and less
than age twelve (12).
• Are between
40 lb (18 kg) and 80 lb
(36 kg) and upward to 100 lb (45 kg).
Many state and provincial laws require that
children use approved booster seats until
they reach age eight, a height of
57 in
(1.45 m) tall, or 80 lb (36 kg).
Booster seats should be used until you can
answer yes to all of these questions when
seated without a booster seat: •
Can the child sit all the way back
against their vehicle seat backrest with
knees bent comfortably at the edge of
the seat cushion?
• Can the child sit without slouching?
• Does the lap belt rest low across the
hips?
• Is the shoulder belt centered on the
shoulder and chest?
• Can the child stay seated like this for
the whole trip?
Always use booster seats in conjunction
with your vehicle lap and shoulder belt.
Types of Booster Seats •
Backless booster seats
If your backless booster seat has a
removable shield, remove the shield.
If a vehicle seating position has a low seat
backrest or no head restraint, a backless
booster seat may place your child's head,
as measured at the tops of the ears, above
the top of the seat. In this case, move the
backless booster to another seating
position with a higher seat backrest or
head restraint and lap and shoulder belts,
or consider using a high-back booster seat.
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