2011 Ford Explorer Owner Guide 4th Printing - Page 223

Seating and Safety Restraints 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. 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. Perform the following steps to attach a child safety seat to the tether anchor: 1. Route the tether strap: • Second row outboard seat positions: route the child safety seat tether strap over the seatback, under the head restraint and between the head restraint posts. If needed the head restraint can be removed to improve the fit of the child safety seat or tether strap. • Second row center seat positions: lift the head restraint to the full up position. Route the child safety seat tether strap over the seatback, under the head restraint and between the head restraint posts. If needed the head restraint can be removed to improve the fit of the child safety seat or tether strap. See Rear seats in this chapter for head restraint information. • Third row seat position: route the child safety seat tether strap over the seatback, under the head restraint and between the head restraint posts. If needed, the head restraint may be folded down to improve the fit of the child safety seat or tether strap. See Rear seats in this chapter for head restraint information. 223 2011 Explorer (exp) Owners Guide, 4th Printing USA (fus)