Ford E-350 (2010 year). Manual — part 30

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 and back. 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. 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.

LATCH compatible child safety seats have two rigid or webbing mounted
attachments that 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 safety belts to attach the child seat,
however the safety belt can still be used to attach the child seat. For
forward-facing child seats, the top tether strap must also be attached to
the proper top tether anchor, if a top tether strap has been provided
with your child seat. Ford Motor Company recommends the use of a
child safety seat having a top tether strap. See Attaching child safety
seats with tether straps and Recommendations for attaching safety
restraints for children in this chapter for more information.

Seating and Safety Restraints

121

Your vehicle has LATCH lower anchors for child seat installation at the
following locations:

• Five passenger crew van

• Seven passenger wagon

• Eight passenger wagon

• Eleven passenger wagon

Seating and Safety Restraints

122

• Twelve passenger wagon

• Fifteen passenger wagon
The LATCH lower anchors are
located at the rear section of the
rear seat between the cushion and
seatback. Follow the child seat
manufacturer’s instructions to
properly install a child seat with
LATCH attachments.

Follow the instructions on attaching child safety seats with tether straps.
Refer to Attaching child safety seats with tether straps later in this
chapter.
Attach LATCH lower attachments of the child seat only to the anchors
shown.

WARNING: Never attach two 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.

Each time you use the safety seat, check that the seat is properly
attached to the lower anchors and tether anchor, if applicable. Tug the
child seat from side to side and forward and back where it is secured to
the vehicle. The seat should move less than one inch when you do this
for a proper installation.

Seating and Safety Restraints

123

If the safety seat is not anchored properly, the risk of a child being
injured in a crash greatly increases.

Combining safety belt and LATCH lower anchors for attaching
child safety seats

When used in combination, either the safety belt or the LATCH lower
anchors may be attached first, provided a proper installation is achieved.
Attach the tether strap afterward, if included with the child seat. Refer
to Recommendations for attaching child safety restraints for children
in this chapter.

Attaching child safety seats with tether straps

WARNING: When using forward-facing child safety seats in
vehicles with only two seating positions or the forward-facing

child safety seat cannot be placed in the rear of the vehicle, move the
passenger seat as far back from the instrument panel as possible.

WARNING: Because the last row of seats in the 12 passenger
and 15 passenger configuration is not equipped with LATCH

anchors and is spaced closer to the row of seats in front, Do not use
forward-facing or rear-facing child seats (other than belt-positioning
boosters) in the last row.

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 rear seats of your vehicle are equipped with built-in tether strap
anchors located behind the seats as described below.

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 either the safety belt,
the lower anchors of the LATCH system, or both, you can attach the top
tether strap.

Seating and Safety Restraints

124