Securing a Child Restraint Designed for the LATCH System Models with an Air Bag Off Switch
Regular Cab Models and Extended Cab Models without Rear Seats
Your vehicle has air bags. Regular cab models and extended cab models without rear seats have an air bag off switch on the instrument panel 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.
Unless the right front passenger's frontal air bag has been turned off, never put a rear-facing child restraint in this vehicle. 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 .
- 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 . Never use a rear-facing child restraint in this seat unless the air bag is off.
- Find the LATCH anchorages in the passenger seat. See Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children (LATCH) .
- Put the child restraint on the seat.
- Attach and tighten the LATCH attachments on the child restraint to the LATCH anchorages in the vehicle. The child restraint instructions will show you how.
- If the child restraint is forward-facing, attach and tighten the top tether to the top tether anchorage if your vehicle has one. The child restraint instructions will show you how. Also see Top Strap .
- Push and pull the child restraint in different directions to be sure it is secure.
To remove the child restraint, simply unhook the top tether from the top tether anchorage and then disconnect the LATCH anchorages.
Turn on the right front passenger's frontal air bag when you remove the 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 Designed for the LATCH System Crew Cab
- Find the LATCH anchorages for the seating position you want to use. See Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children (LATCH) .
- Put the child restraint on the seat.
- If the child restraint is forward-facing and it has a top tether, install the top tether according to the instructions in Top Strap Anchor Location and also refer to your child restraint instructions to learn about the proper use of your top tether.
- Attach the LATCH attachments on the child restraint to the LATCH anchorages in the vehicle. The child restraint instructions will show you how.
- Tighten the LATCH attachments and the top tether. The child restraint instructions will show you how.
- Push and pull the child restraint in different directions to be sure it is secure.
To remove the child restraint, disconnect the latch attachments, pull the seatback forward and unhook the top tether from the top tether anchorage. Be sure to return the seatback to its fully upright position. See Rear Seat Operation (Crew Cab) in the Index.
