FORD EXPEDITION 2003 2.G Owners Manual

•The second row center seat can be moved forward to keep a child in a
child restraint close to the front seat occupants. The seat should be
moved to the full rearward position when it is occupied by older
children or adults.
Ford recommends the use of a child safety seat having a top tether strap
and LATCH attachments. Install the child safety seat in a seating position
which is capable of providing tether and LATCH anchors. For more
information, refer toAttaching child safety seats with tether straps.
andAttaching safety seats with LATCH (Lower Anchors and Tethers
for Children) attachments for child seat anchorsin 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.
Installing child safety seats with combination lap and shoulder
belts
Air bags can kill or injure a child in a child seat.NEVERplace a
rear-facing child seat in front of an active air bag. If you must
use a forward-facing child seat in the front seat, move the seat all the
way back.
Children 12 and under should be properly restrained in the rear
seat whenever possible.
1. Position the child safety seat in a
seat with a combination lap and
shoulder belt.
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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 seat
according to the child seat
manufacturer’s instructions. Be sure
the belt webbing is not twisted.
4. 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.
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5. To put the retractor in the
automatic locking mode, grasp the
shoulder portion of the belt and pull
downward until all of the belt is
pulled out and a click is heard.
6. Allow the belt to retract. The belt will click as it retracts to indicate it
is in the automatic locking mode.
7. Pull the lap belt portion across
the child seat toward the buckle and
pull up on the shoulder belt while
pushing down with your knee on the
child seat.
8. Allow the safety belt to retract to
remove any slack in the belt.
9. 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. There should be no
more than one inch of movement for
proper installation.
10. Try to pull the belt 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
two through nine.
Check to make sure the child seat is properly secured before each use.
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Installing child safety seats in the center front seating position
Always transport children 12 years old and under in the rear
seats and always properly use appropriate child restraints.
It is safer to install child safety seats in seating positions that
have child seat anchors. The front seat has no tether anchor nor
does it have LATCH anchors.
1. Lengthen the lap belt. To lengthen the belt, hold the tongue so that its
bottom is perpendicular to the direction of webbing while sliding the
tongue up the webbing.
2. Place the child safety seat in the center seating position.
3. Route the tongue and webbing through the child seat according to the
child seat manufacturer’s instructions.
4. Insert the belt tongue into the proper buckle for the center seating
position until you hear a snap and feel it latch. Make sure the tongue is
securely fastened to the buckle by pulling on tongue.
5. Push down on the child seat with your knee while pulling on the loose
end of the lap belt webbing to tighten the belt.
6. Before placing the child into the child seat, forcibly move the child
seat from side to side and forward to make sure that the seat is held
securely. If the child seat moves excessively, repeat steps 5 through 6, or
properly install the child seat in a different position.
Attaching child safety seats with tether straps
Most new forward-facing child safety seats include a tether strap which
goes over the back of the seat and hooks to an anchoring point. Tether
straps are available as an accessory for many older safety seats. Contact
the manufacturer of your child seat for information about ordering a
tether strap.
Some of the rear seats of your vehicle are equipped with built-in tether
strap anchors located behind the seats as described below.
In the third row center seating position, the tether anchor is a loop at
the bottom of the seatback.
The tether strap anchors in your vehicle are in the following positions
(shown from top view):
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•Second row bench seat
•Second row bucket seats
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.
Second row seating positions
1. Position the child safety seat on the seat cushion.
2. Locate the tether anchor at the bottom back of the seat.
•outboard seating positions
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•center seating position (if
equipped)
3. Route the child safety seat tether strap under the head restraint
(outboard seats) and over the back of the seat.
4. Grasp the tether strap and
position it to the seat frame.
5. Rotate the tether strap, and clip
the tether strap to the anchor on
the seat frame.
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6. Rotate the tether strap clip.
7. Tighten the child safety seat tether strap according to the
manufacturer’s instructions.
Third row seating position
1. Position the child safety seat on the center of the seat cushion.
2. Route the child safety seat tether strap over the back of the seat.
3. Locate the anchor webbing loop for the seating position.
•You may need to pull back the
top of the hinged panel along the
bottom of the seat back to access
the tether anchor.
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4. Clip the tether strap through the
anchor loop as shown.
If the tether strap is clipped
incorrectly, the child safety
seat may not be retained properly
in the event of a collision.
5. Refer to theInstalling child
safety seats in combination lap
and shoulder belt seating
positionssection of this chapter for
further instructions to secure the
child safety seat.
6. Tighten the child safety seat tether strap according to the
manufacturer’s instructions.
If the safety seat is not anchored properly, the risk of a child
being injured in a collision greatly increases.
Attaching safety seats with LATCH (Lower Anchors and Tethers for
Children) attachments for child seat anchors
Some child safety seats have two rigid or webbing mounted attachments
that connect to two anchors at certain seating positions in your vehicle.
This type of child seat eliminates the need to use seat belts to attach the
child seat. For forward-facing child seats, the tether strap must also be
attached to the proper tether anchor. SeeAttaching safety seats with
tether strapsin this chapter.
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Your vehicle has LATCH anchors for child seat installation at the seating
positions marked with the child seat symbol:
Never attach two LATCH child safety seats to the same anchor.
In a crash, one anchor may not be strong enough to hold two
child safety seat attachments and may break, causing serious injury or
death.
The lower anchors for child seat
installation are located at the rear
section of the second row seat
between the cushion and seat back.
The LATCH anchors are below the
locator symbols on the seat back.
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Follow the child seat manufacturer’s instructions to properly install a
child seat with LATCH attachments.
Attach LATCH lower attachments of the child seat only to the
anchors shown.
If you install a child seat with rigid LATCH attachments, do not tighten
the tether strap enough to lift the child seat 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 seat. Keeping the child seat just touching the
vehicle seat gives the best protection in a severe crash.
Each time you use the safety seat, check that the seat is properly
attached to the lower anchors and tether anchor. Try to move the child
seat from side to side. Also try to tug the seat forward. Check to see if
the anchors hold the seat in place.
If the safety seat is not anchored properly, the risk of a child
being injured in a crash greatly increases.
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