GM Service Manual Online
For 1990-2009 cars only

Securing a Child Restraint in the Right Front Seat Position Models with an Air Bag Off Switch

Regular Cab Models and Extended Cab Models without Rear Seats

Your vehicle has a right front passenger's frontal air bag. Regular cab models and extended cab models without rear seats have a switch on the instrument panel that you can use to turn off the right front passenger's frontal air bag. See Airbag Off Switch for more on this, including important safety information.


Object Number: 1347000  Size: B2

Unless the right front passenger's frontal air bag has been turned off, never put a rear facing child restraint in the right front passenger's seat. Here is why:

Caution: A child in a rear-facing child restraint can be seriously injured or killed if the right front passenger's frontal airbag inflates. This is because the back of the rear-facing child restraint would be very close to the inflating airbag. Do not use a rear-facing child restraint in this vehicle unless the airbag has been turned off.

Even though the airbag off switch is designed to turn off the right front passenger's frontal airbag, no system is fail-safe, and no one can guarantee that an airbag will not deploy under some unusual circumstance, even though it is turned off. We recommend that rear-facing child restraints be transported in vehicles with a rear seat that will accommodate a rear-facing child restraint, whenever possible.

Caution: If the airbag readiness light ever comes on when you have turned off the airbag, it means that something may be wrong with the airbag system. The right front passenger's frontal airbag could inflate even though the switch is off. If this ever happens, do not let anyone whom the national government has identified as a member of a passenger airbag risk group sit in the right front passenger's position (for example, do not secure a rear-facing child restraint in your vehicle) until you have your vehicle serviced. See Airbag Off Switch .

If your child restraint is equipped with the LATCH system, see Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children (LATCH) . See Top Strap if the child restraint has one.

If your child restraint does not have the LATCH system, you will be using the lap-shoulder belt to secure the child restraint in this position. Be sure to follow the instructions that came with the child restraint. Secure the child in the child restraint when and as the instructions say.

  1. Your vehicle has a right front passenger's frontal air bag. See Airbag Off Switch . If your child restraint is forward-facing, always move the seat as far back as it will go before securing it in this seat. See Manual Seats or Power Seats .
  2. Put the child restraint on the seat.
  3. Pick up the latch plate, and run the lap and shoulder portions of the vehicle's safety belt through or around the restraint. The child restraint instructions will show you how.

  4. Object Number: 809125  Size: B4
  5. Buckle the belt. Make sure the release button is positioned so you would be able to unbuckle the safety belt quickly if you ever had to.

  6. Object Number: 1347237  Size: B4
  7. Pull the rest of the shoulder belt all the way out of the retractor to set the lock.

  8. Object Number: 808606  Size: B4
  9. To tighten the belt, push down on the child restraint, pull the shoulder portion of the belt to tighten the lap portion of the belt and feed the shoulder belt back into the retractor. If you are using a forward-facing child restraint, you may find it helpful to use your knee to push down on the child restraint as you tighten the belt.
  10. Push and pull the child restraint in different directions to be sure it is secure.

To remove the child restraint, just unbuckle the vehicle's safety belt and let it go back all the way. The safety belt will move freely again and be ready to work for an adult or larger child passenger.

If you were using a rear-facing child restraint, turn on the right front passenger's frontal air bag when you remove the rear-facing child restraint from the vehicle unless the person who will be sitting there is a member of a passenger air bag risk group. See Airbag Off Switch .

Caution: If the right front passenger's frontal airbag is turned off for a person who is not in a risk group identified by the national government, that person will not have the extra protection of an airbag. In a crash, the airbag would not be able to inflate and help protect the person sitting there. Do not turn off the right front passenger's frontal airbag unless the person sitting there is in a risk group. See Airbag Off Switch for more on this, including important safety information.

Securing a Child Restraint in the Right Front Seat Position Models without an Airbag Off Switch

Crew Cab Models and Extended Cab Models with Rear Seats

If your child restraint is equipped with the LATCH system, see Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children (LATCH) . See Top Strap if the child restraint has one.

There is no top strap anchor in the right front passenger's position. Do not secure a child seat in this position if a national or local law requires that the top strap be anchored, or if the instructions that come with the child restraint say that the top strap must be anchored. See Top Strap if the child restraint has one.

Your vehicle has a right front passenger airbag. Never put a rear-facing child restraint in the right front passenger's seat. Here is why:

Caution: A child in a rear-facing child restraint can be seriously injured or killed if the right front passenger's airbag inflates. This is because the back of the rear-facing child restraint would be very close to the inflating airbag. Always secure a rear-facing child restraint in a rear seat.

A rear seat is a safer place to secure a forward-facing child restraint. If you need to secure a forward-facing child restraint in the right front seat position, see Where to Put the Restraint .

If your child restraint does not have the LATCH system, you will be using the lap-shoulder belt to secure the child restraint in this position. Be sure to follow the instructions that came with the child restraint. Secure the child in the child restraint when and as the instructions say.

  1. Because your vehicle has a right front passenger's frontal airbag, always move the seat as far back as it will go before securing a forward-facing child restraint. See Manual Seats or Power Seats .
  2. Put the child restraint on the seat.
  3. Pick up the latch plate, and run the lap and shoulder portions of the vehicle's safety belt through or around the restraint. The child restraint instructions will show you how.

  4. Object Number: 1379321  Size: B3
  5. Buckle the belt. Make sure the release button is positioned so you would be able to unbuckle the safety belt quickly if you ever had to.

  6. Object Number: 1379324  Size: B3
  7. Pull the rest of the shoulder belt all the way out of the retractor to set the lock.

  8. Object Number: 1379355  Size: B3
  9. To tighten the belt, push down on the child restraint, pull the shoulder portion of the belt to tighten the lap portion of the belt and feed the shoulder belt back into the retractor. If you are using a forward-facing child restraint, you may find it helpful to use your knee to push down on the child restraint as you tighten the belt.
  10. Push and pull the child restraint in different directions to be sure it is secure.

To remove the child restraint, just unbuckle the vehicle's safety belt and let it go back all the way. The safety belt will move freely again and be ready to work for an adult or larger child passenger.