warning FORD SUPER DUTY 2009 2.G Manual Online

SAFETY RESTRAINTS FOR CHILDREN
See the following sections for directions on how to properly use safety
restraints for children. Also seeAirbag supplemental restraint system
(SRS)in this chapter for special instructions about using airbags.
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 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. 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 attaching child safety restraints for children
Note:This vehicle is not equipped with LATCH lower anchors.
Restraint
TypeChild
WeightUse any attachment method as indicated
below by “X”
LATCH
(lower
anchors
and
top
tether
anchor)LATCH
(lower
anchors
only)Safety
belt
and
top
tether
anchorSafety
belt and
LATCH
(lower
anchors
and top
tether
anchor)Safety
belt
only
Rear
facing
child seatUp to
48 lb
(21 kg)XX
Forward
facing
child seatUp to
48 lb
(21 kg)XXX
Forward
facing
child seatOver
48 lb
(21 kg)XX
WARNING:Air bags can kill or injure a child in a child seat.
NEVER place 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 vehicle seat all the way back. When possible, all children age 12
and under should be properly restrained in a rear seating position. If
all children cannot be seated and restrained properly in a rear seating
position, properly restrain the largest child in the front seat.
WARNING:Always carefully follow the instructions and
warnings provided by the manufacturer of any child restraint to
determine if the restraint device is appropriate for your child’s size,
height, weight, or age. Follow the child restraint manufacturer’s
instructions and warnings provided for installation and use in
conjunction with the instructions and warnings provided by the vehicle
manufacturer. A safety seat that is improperly installed or utilized, is
inappropriate for your child’s height, age, or weight or does not
properly fit the child may increase the risk of serious injury or death.
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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 collision, which may result in serious injury or
death.
WARNING:Never use pillows, books, or towels to boost a child.
They can slide around and increase the likelihood of injury or
death in a collision.
WARNING:Always restrain an unoccupied child seat or booster
seat. These objects may become projectiles in a collision or
sudden stop, which may increase the risk of serious injury.
WARNING:Never place, or allow a child to place, the shoulder
belt under a child’s arm or behind the back because it reduces
the protection for the upper part of the body and may increase the risk
of injury or death in a collision.
WARNING:Do not leave children, unreliable adults, or pets
unattended in your vehicle.
Transporting children
Always make sure your child is secured properly in a device that is
appropriate for their age, height and weight. All children are shaped
differently. The child height, age and weight thresholds provided are
recommendations or the minimum requirements of law. The National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) provides education and
training to ensure that all children ages 0 to 16 are properly restrained in
the correct restraint system. Ford recommends checking with a NHTSA
Certified Child Passenger Safety Technician (CPST) and your
pediatrician to make sure your seat is appropriate for your child and
properly installed in the vehicle. To locate a child seat fitting station and
CPST contact the NHTSA toll free at1-888-327-4236or on the internet
at http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov.
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
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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 prevent accidental unbuckling.
•Place vehicle seat back in upright position.
•Put the safety belt in the automatic locking mode. Refer to step 5
below.
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.
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.
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, SeePassenger airbag on/off
switch.
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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.
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.
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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. There should be no
more than one 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 positions (Regular Cab 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.
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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.
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.
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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 one 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.
Installing child safety seats in the front row lap belt seating
positions (Super Cab and Crew Cab)
WARNING:Installing a child safety seat in the front row lap
seating position should be avoided if at all possible.
WARNING:Never place a rear-facing child seat in the front
center seating position of a vehicle with rear seating positions.
WARNING:Front seating positions only: If seating two adults
and a child, Ford recommends properly restraining the child in
the center front seating position, but only if doing so will not interfere
with driving the vehicle. This arrangement provides lap and shoulder
belt and airbag protection for adult occupants and an attachment
method for a child restraint. If the child seat interferes with driving the
vehicle and the child restraint is forward-facing, the child may be
restrained in the passenger seat. Move the seat as far rearward as
possible to minimize the likelihood of interaction with the front
passenger airbag. Never place a rear-facing child seat in front of an
active airbag. All occupants of the vehicle should always properly wear
their safety belts. Ensure the child is properly restrained in an
appropriate child seat or with the use of a booster.
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.
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The importance of shoulder belts
Using a booster without a shoulder belt increases the risk of a child’s
head hitting a hard surface in a collision. For this reason, you should
never use a booster seat with a lap belt only. It is generally best to use a
booster seat with lap/shoulder belts in the back seat.
Move a child to a different seating location if the shoulder belt does not
stay positioned on the shoulder during use.
Follow all instructions provided by the manufacturer of the booster seat.
WARNING:Never place, or allow a child to place, the shoulder
belt under a child’s arm or behind the back because it reduces
the protection for the upper part of the body and may increase the risk
of injury or death in a collision.
Child restraint and safety belt maintenance
Inspect the vehicle safety belts and child safety seat systems periodically
to make sure they work properly and are not damaged. Inspect the
vehicle and child seat safety belts to make sure there are no nicks, tears
or cuts. Replace if necessary. All vehicle safety belt assemblies, including
retractors, buckles, front safety belt buckle assemblies, buckle support
assemblies (slide bar-if equipped), shoulder belt height adjusters (if
equipped), shoulder belt guide on seatback (if equipped), child safety
seat LATCH and tether anchors, and attaching hardware, should be
inspected after a collision. Refer to the child restraint manufacturer’s
instructions for additional inspection and maintenance information
specific to the child restraint. Ford Motor Company recommends that all
safety belt assemblies in use in vehicles involved in a collision be
replaced. However, if the collision was minor and an authorized dealer
finds that the belts do not show damage and continue to operate
properly, they do not need to be replaced. Safety belt assemblies not in
use during a collision should also be inspected and replaced if either
damage or improper operation is noted.
For proper care of soiled safety belts, refer toInteriorin theCleaning
chapter.
WARNING:Failure to inspect and if necessary replace the
safety belt assembly or child restraint system under the above
conditions could result in severe personal injuries in the event of a
collision.
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NOTICE TO UTILITY VEHICLE AND TRUCK OWNERS
Utility vehicles and trucks handle
differently than passenger cars in
the various driving conditions that
are encountered on streets,
highways and off-road. Utility
vehicles and trucks are not designed
for cornering at speeds as high as
passenger cars any more than
low-slung sports cars are designed
to perform satisfactorily under
off-road conditions.
WARNING:Utility vehicles have a significantly higher rollover
rate than other types of vehicles. To reduce the risk of serious
injury or death from a rollover or other crash you must:
•Avoid sharp turns and abrupt maneuvers;
•Drive at safe speeds for the conditions;
•Keep tires properly inflated;
•Never overload or improperly load your vehicle; and
•Make sure every passenger is properly restrained.
WARNING:In a rollover crash, an unbelted person is
significantly more likely to die than a person wearing a seat belt.
All occupants must wear seat belts and children/infants must use
appropriate restraints to minimize the risk of injury or ejection.
Study yourOwner’s Guideand any supplements for specific information
about equipment features, instructions for safe driving and additional
precautions to reduce the risk of an accident or serious injury.
VEHICLE CHARACTERISTICS
4WD and AWD Systems (if equipped)
A vehicle equipped with AWD or 4WD (when selected) has the ability to
use all four wheels to power itself. This increases traction which may
enable you to safely drive over terrain and road conditions that a
conventional two-wheel drive vehicle cannot.
Power is supplied to all four wheels through a transfer case or power
transfer unit. 4WD vehicles allow you to select different drive modes as
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