FORD F550 2012 Owners Manual

Installing the child safety seat
Perform the following steps when installing the child seat in the
outboard 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.
WARNING: An airbag can kill or injure a child in a child seat.
Child seats should NEVER be placed in the front seats, unless
the passenger airbag switch is turned off, See Passenger airbag on/off
switch .
WARNING: Rear facing child seats should NEVER be placed in
the front seats unless the passenger airbag switch is turned off.
2. Pull down on the shoulder belt
and then grasp the shoulder belt
and lap belt together. Seating and Safety Restraints
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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 and feel the latch engage.
Make sure the tongue is latched
securely by pulling on it.
5. Put the safety belt in the
automatic locking mode. To do so,
grasp the shoulder portion of the
belt and pull downward until all of
the belt is pulled out.
6. Allow the belt to retract to remove slack. The belt will click as it
retracts to indicate it is in the automatic locking mode.
7. 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, repeat Steps 5 and 6.Seating and Safety Restraints
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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 straps later 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. 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. In Canada, check with your local St. John Ambulance office for
referral to a CPST. Seating and Safety Restraints
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Installing child safety seats in cinch tongue combination lap and
shoulder belt seating positions (All front center and Super/Crew
cab rear center positions)
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
Regular Cab center seating position if applicable.
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
the center seat.
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.
2. Slide the tongue up the webbing.Seating and Safety Restraints
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3. While holding both shoulder and
lap portions next to the tongue,
route the tongue and webbing
through the child seat according to
the child seat manufacturer’s
instructions. Be sure that the belt
webbing is not twisted.
4. Insert the belt tongue into the
proper buckle for that seating
positions until you hear a snap and
feel it latch. Make sure the tongue is
securely latched to the buckle by
pulling on the tongue.
5. 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. Seating and Safety Restraints
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6. Attach the tether strap (if the child seat is equipped). Refer to
Attaching child safety seats with tether straps later in this chapter.
7. 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 1 inch (2.5 cm) of
movement for proper installation.
8. 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.
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. Your vehicle is not equipped with the lower anchor
points in the seat bight. For this vehicle use the vehicle safety belt and
upper tether to secure a child seat. See Attaching child safety seats
with tether straps and Recommendations for attaching safety
restraints for children in this chapter for more information.
Attaching child safety seats with tether straps
Many forward-facing child safety seats include a tether strap which
extends from the back of the child safety seat and hooks to an anchoring
point called the top tether anchor. 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, or to obtain a
longer tether strap if the tether strap on your safety seat does not reach
the appropriate top tether anchor in the vehicle.
The passenger seats of your vehicle may be equipped with built-in tether
strap anchors located behind the seats as described below.
The tether anchors in your vehicle may be straps on the seatback or an
anchor bracket mounted to the body shell on the back panel.Seating and Safety Restraints
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The SuperCab rear seat has three straps behind the top of the seat back
that function as both routing loops for the tether straps and anchor loops.
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 Seating and Safety Restraints
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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.
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, other wise route
the tether strap over the top of the seatback. 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 seatback forward to access the tether
anchors. Make sure the seat is locked in the upright position before
installing the child seat. Refer to the Rear folding seat system with load
floor section in this chapter for information on how to operate the rear
seats.
4. Remove tether cover.Seating and Safety Restraints
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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 collision.
6. Refer to the Installing child safety seats with automatic locking
mode combination lap and shoulder belts and Installing child safety
seats in cinch tongue combination lap and shoulder belt seating
positions sections of this chapter for further instructions to secure the
child safety seat.
7. 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.
If your child restraint system is equipped with a tether strap, and the
child restraint manufacturer recommends its use, Ford also recommends
its use. Seating and Safety Restraints
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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.Seating and Safety Restraints
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