2023 FORD F-550 Seat Belts

The 2023 Ford F-550 cares about safety, and its modern and complete seat belt system shows this. With a strong focus on the safety of the driver and passengers, the 2023 F-550 goes beyond traditional seat belts. Seat belts are an important part of a vehicle’s safety suite because they are designed to offer the best protection in a variety of driving situations. The innovative design, materials, and features of the seat belts in the 2023 Ford F-550 give passengers a feeling of security and encourage safe and responsible driving on every trip. The seat belt system is a steady defender that shows how committed Ford is to the safety of its passengers, whether they are driving on city streets or rough terrain.

SEATBELT PRECAUTIONS

WARNING

• Always drive and ride with your seatback upright and the lap belt snug and low across the hips.
• Children must always be properly restrained.
• Do not allow a passenger to hold a child on their lap when your vehicle is moving. Failure to follow this instruction could result in personal injury or death in the event of a sudden stop or crash.
• All occupants of your vehicle, including the driver, should always properly wear their seatbelts, even when an airbag supplemental restraint system is provided. Failure to properly wear your seatbelt could seriously increase the risk of injury or death.
• It is extremely dangerous to ride in a cargo area, inside or outside of a vehicle. In a crash, people riding in these areas are more likely to be seriously injured or killed. Do not allow people to ride in any area of your vehicle that is not equipped with seats and seatbelts. Make sure everyone in your vehicle is in a seat and properly using a seatbelt. Failure to follow this warning could result in serious personal injury or death.
• In a rollover crash, an unbelted person is significantly more likely to die than a person wearing a seatbelt.
• Each seating position in your vehicle has a specific seatbelt assembly made up of one buckle and one tongue designed to be used as a pair. Use the shoulder belt on the outside shoulder only. Never wear the shoulder belt under the arm. Never use a single seatbelt for more than one person.
• Even with advanced restraints systems, properly restrain children 12 and under in a rear seating position. Failure to follow this could seriously increase the risk of injury or death.
• Seatbelts and seats may be hot in a vehicle that is in the sunshine. The hot seatbelts or seats may burn a small child. Check seat covers and buckles before you place a child anywhere near them.
• If your vehicle is involved in a crash, have the seatbelts and associated components inspected as soon as possible. Failure to follow this instruction could result in personal injury or death.

All seating positions in this vehicle have seatbelts. All occupants of the vehicle should properly wear their seatbelts, even when an airbag supplemental restraint system is provided.

The seatbelt system consists of:

• Lap and shoulder seatbelts.
• A shoulder seatbelt with automatic locking mode, except driver seatbelt.
• Height adjusters at the front outermost seating positions.
• Seatbelt pretensioners at the front outermost and rear outermost seating positions.
• A seatbelt warning light and chime.
• Crash sensors and monitoring system with readiness indicator.

The seatbelt pretensioners are designed to tighten the seatbelts when activated. In frontal and near-frontal crashes, the seatbelt pretensioners may be activated alone or, if the crash is of sufficient severity, together with the front airbags. In side crashes and rollovers, the pretensioners will be activated when the Safety Canopy is activated.

FASTENING AND UNFASTENING THE SEATBELTS

WARNING: Always drive and ride with your seatback upright and the lap belt snug and low across the hips.

All seatbelts in your vehicle are a three-point combination lap and shoulder seatbelt.

• A Seatbelt tongue.
• B Seatbelt buckle.

1. Pull the seatbelt out steadily.
   • Note: It may lock if you pull it sharply or if the vehicle is on a slope.
2. Insert the tongue into the buckle.
3. Pull the seatbelt tight to remove any slack.

Unfastening the Seatbelts

1. Press the red button on the buckle to release the seatbelt.
2. Hold the seatbelt tongue and let it retract completely and smoothly to its stowed position.

Using the Seatbelt With Cinch Tongue

This applies to the front center seating position of Super Cab and Crew Cab.

The cinch tongue slides up and down the seatbelt webbing when you stow the seatbelt or when you put the seatbelts on. When you buckle the seatbelt, the cinch tongue allows you to shorten the lap portion, but pinches the webbing to keep the lap portion from getting longer. The cinch tongue is designed to slip during a crash, so wear the shoulder belt properly and do not allow any slack in either the lap or shoulder portions.

While you are fastened in the seatbelt, the seatbelt with a cinch tongue adjusts to your movement. However, if you brake hard, turn hard, or if your vehicle receives an impact of 5 mph (8 km/h) or more, the seatbelt locks and helps reduce your forward movement.

LOCKING MODE

SENSITIVE LOCKING MODE

WHAT IS SENSITIVE LOCKING MODE

Sensitive locking mode is a seatbelt retractor feature that allows shoulder belt length adjustment according to your movements and locking in response to vehicle movement.

HOW DOES SENSITIVE LOCKING MODE WORK

If the driver suddenly brakes, turns a corner sharply, or the vehicle receives an impact of about 5 mph (8 km/h) or more, the seatbelts lock to help reduce forward movement of the driver and passengers. In addition, the seatbelt retractor locks if you pull the seatbelt webbing out too quickly. If the retractor locks, slowly lower the height adjuster to allow the seatbelt to retract. If the retractor does not unlock, pull the seatbelt out slowly then feed a small length of webbing back toward the stowed position.

AUTOMATIC LOCKING MODE

WHAT IS AUTOMATIC LOCKING MODE

• This feature keeps the seatbelts pre-locked. The belt still retracts to remove any slack in the shoulder belt.

WHEN TO USE AUTOMATIC LOCKING MODE

Use this mode any time you install a child restraint in a front or rear seating position. Properly restrain children 12 years old and under in a rear seat whenever possible. See Child Safety.

Note

• Automatic locking mode is not available on the driver seatbelt.
• Vehicles with optional front seat center may not have this function.

ENGAGING AUTOMATIC LOCKING MODE

1. Fasten the combination lap and shoulder belt.
2. Grasp the shoulder portion and pull downward until you pull the entire belt out.
3. Allow the belt to retract. As the belt retracts, you will hear a clicking sound. This indicates the seatbelt is now in the automatic locking mode.

DISENGAGING AUTOMATIC LOCKING MODE

• Unbuckle the combination lap and shoulder belt and allow it to retract completely to disengage the automatic locking mode and activate the vehicle sensitive locking mode.

ADJUSTING THE SEATBELTS

ADJUSTING THE SEATBELTS DURING PREGNANCY

WARNING: Always ride and drive with your seatback upright and properly fasten your seatbelt. Fit the lap portion of the seatbelt snugly and low across the hips. Position the shoulder portion of the seatbelt across your chest. Pregnant women must follow this practice. See the following figure.

Pregnant women should always wear their seatbelt. Position the lap belt portion of a combination lap and shoulder belt low across the hips below the belly and worn as tight as comfort allows. Position the shoulder belt to cross the middle of the shoulder and the center of the chest.

ADJUSTING THE SEATBELT HEIGHT

WARNING: Position the seatbelt height adjuster so that the seatbelt rests across the middle of your shoulder. Failure to adjust the seatbelt correctly could reduce its effectiveness and increase the risk of injury in a crash.

1. Pull the button and slide the height adjuster up or down.
2. Release the button and pull down on the height adjuster to make sure it is locked in place.

ADJUSTING THE SEATBELT LENGTH

1. Pull some seatbelt webbing out of the shoulder belt retractor.
2. While holding the webbing below the tongue, grasp the metal tip of the tongue so that it is parallel to the webbing and slide the tongue up.
3. Provide enough lap belt length so that the tongue can reach the buckle.

SEATBELT REMINDER

HOW DOES THE SEATBELT REMINDER WORK

This feature supplements the seatbelt warning function. It provides additional reminders by sounding a tone and illuminating the seatbelt warning light when you are in the driver seat and an occupant unfastens their seatbelt.

If	Then
You switch your vehicle on and do not fasten one of the front occupant seatbelts…	The seatbelt reminder activates.
You do not fasten your seatbelt before your vehicle reaches at least 6 mph (9 km/h) …	The seatbelt reminder activates, the seat- belt warning light illuminates and a warning tone sounds until you fasten your seatbelt.
Rear seats becomes occupied…	The seatbelt reminder becomes active when a rear seat passenger fastens a seatbelt.

This feature also informs the driver that an occupant unfastened their seatbelt.

• When the ignition is on, a warning informs the driver about the status of each seat, following each seat buckle or unbuckle. You can acknowledge this, or the system will time out after 60 seconds.
• If a seatbelt is unfastened, a second warning informs the driver about which seatbelt was unfastened. A warning remains until all occupied seatbelts are fastened.

SEATBELT REMINDER INDICATORS

A warning lamp illuminates if the ignition is on, a front seat is occupied and the seatbelt has not been fastened.

The warning lamp illuminates until you fasten your seatbelt.

SEATBELT REMINDER AUDIBLE WARNINGS

• A warning tone sounds and the warning lamp illuminates if you are not wearing your seatbelt when your vehicle exceeds a relatively low speed.
• The warning tone sounds for a short period of time or until you fasten your seatbelt.

SWITCHING THE SEATBELT REMINDER ON AND OFF

WARNING: While the system allows you to deactivate it, this system is designed to improve your chances of being safely belted and surviving an accident. We recommend you leave the system activated for yourself and others who may use the vehicle.

Note: The driver and front passenger warnings switch off independently. When you perform this procedure for one seating position, do not buckle the other position as this cancels the process.

Read Steps 1 – 4 before proceeding with the programming procedure.

Make sure that:

• You set the parking brake.
• The transmission is in park (P).
• The ignition is off.
• You close all vehicle doors.
• You unfasten the driver and front passenger seatbelts.

1. Switch the ignition on. Do not start the engine.
2. Wait about one minute until the seatbelt warning light switches off. After Step 2, wait an additional five seconds before proceeding with Step 3. Once you start Step 3, you must complete the procedure within 30 seconds.
3. For the seating position you are switching off, fasten then unfasten the seatbelt three times at a moderate speed, ending in the unfastened state. After Step 3, the seatbelt warning light switches on.
4. When the seatbelt warning light is on, fasten then unfasten the seatbelt. After Step 4, the seatbelt warning light flashes for confirmation.

This switches the feature off for that seating position if it is currently on.
This switches the feature on for that seating position if it is currently off.

CHECKING THE SEATBELTS

Check the seatbelts and child restraints periodically to make sure they work properly and are not damaged. Make sure there are no nicks, tears or cuts. Replace if necessary. Check the following seatbelt assemblies after a crash.

• Retractors.
• Buckles.
• Front seatbelt buckle assemblies.
• Shoulder belt height adjusters.
• Shoulder belt guide on seat backrest.
• Child restraint LATCH and tether anchors.
• Attaching hardware.

Read the child restraint manufacturer’s instructions for additional inspection and maintenance information specific to the child restraint.

We recommend that all seatbelt assemblies in use in vehicles involved in a crash be replaced. However, if the crash was minor and an authorized dealer finds that the belts do not show damage and continue to operate properly, they do not need to be replaced. Seatbelt assemblies not in use during a crash should also be checked and replaced if either damage or improper operation is noted. Properly care for seatbelts. See Cleaning Seatbelts.

SEATBELT EXTENSIONS

WARNING

• Persons who fit into the vehicle’s seatbelt should not use an extension. Unnecessary use could result in serious personal injury in the event of a crash.
• Only use extensions provided free of charge by our dealers. The dealer will provide an extension designed specifically for this vehicle, model year and seating position. The use of an extension intended for another vehicle, model year or seating position may not offer you the full protection of your vehicle’s seatbelt restraint system.
• Never use seatbelt extensions to install child restraints.
• Do not use extensions to change the way the seatbelt fits across the torso, over the lap or to make the seatbelt buckle easier to reach.

If, because of body size or driving position, it is not possible to properly fasten the seatbelt over your lap and shoulder, an extension that is compatible with the seatbelts is available free of charge from our dealers. Only use our seatbelt extensions made by the original equipment seatbelt manufacturer with our seatbelts. Ask your authorized dealer if your extension is compatible with your vehicle restraint system.

FAQ