Ford E-150 (2012 year). Manual — part 30

Installing child safety seats with combination lap and shoulder
belts

Check to make sure the child seat is properly secured before each use.
Children 12 and under should be properly restrained in a rear seating
position whenever possible. If all children cannot be seated and
restrained properly in a rear seating position, properly restrain the
largest child in the front seat.

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. This vehicle does not require the use of a locking clip.

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.

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1. Position the child safety seat in a
seat with a combination lap and
shoulder belt.

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.

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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.

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.

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, unbuckle the belt and repeat Steps 5 and 6.

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.

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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 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.

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.

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