Ford Explorer Sport (2003 year). Manual — part 22

8. Allow the safety belt to retract to
remove any slack in the belt.

9. Before placing the child in the
seat, forcibly tilt 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 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.

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 them.
The rear seats of your vehicle are equipped with built-in tether strap
anchors located behind the seats as described below. The tether anchors
in your vehicle are the cargo tie-down loops closest to the back of the
rear seat. They are in the following positions (shown from top view):

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.

1. Position the child safety seat on the rear seat cushion.

2. 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, otherwise route
the tether strap over the top of the seatback.

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3. Locate the correct anchor for the selected rear seating position.

4. Clip the tether strap to the
anchor.

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 the Installing child

safety seats in combination lap and shoulder belt seating positions
section 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.

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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. See Attaching safety seats with
tether straps in this chapter.
Your vehicle has LATCH anchors for child seat installation at the
following locations:

The center of the rear seat is NOT
designed as a seating position. The
LATCH anchors on both sides of the
center of the rear seats are provided
only for child seats installed at the
outboard seats. These anchors are
much closer together than the pairs
of lower anchors for child seat
installation at other seats. DO NOT
install a child seat with LATCH attachments (rigid or mounted on belt
webbing) to the lower anchors on both sides of the center of the rear
seat. Putting a child seat in the center would block access to the seat
belt buckles.

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 rear seat between the
cushion and seat back.

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.

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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 tilt 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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93