Ford F-150 Heritage (2004 year). Manual — part 24

9. 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 a
tether strap.

The passenger 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 may be straps on the seatback or an
anchor bracket on the rear edge of the seat cushion.

The rear seat of the SuperCab has three straps behind the top of the
seatback 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):

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.

• Regular cab

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• SuperCab

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

2. Route the child safety seat tether strap over the back of the seat.

3. Locate the correct anchor for the selected seating position.
• You may need to pull the seatback forward to access the tether

anchors. Make sure the seatback is locked in the upright position
before installing the child seat. Refer to the Folding Down The Rear
Seats section in this chapter for information on how to operate the
rear seats.

4. Clip the tether strap to the anchor as shown.
• Front seat

If the tether strap is clipped incorrectly, the child safety seat
may not be retained properly in the event of a collision.

5. Install the child safety seat tightly using the LATCH anchors or safety
belts. Follow the instructions in this chapter.

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.

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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 child
safety seat tether straps. For example, the center loop can be used as a
routing loop for a child safety seat in the center rear seat and as an
anchoring loop for child seats installed in the outboard rear seats.

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.

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3. Install the child safety seat tightly
using the safety belts. Follow the
instructions in this chapter.

4. Tighten the tether strap
according to the child seat
manufacturer’s instructions.

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.
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 be equipped with LATCH anchors for child seat installation
at the following seating positions:

• Regular cab

• SuperCab

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