Question on rear seat latches

I just bought a new 2012 truck, and it doesn't have the latches in the rear seat for the child seat in the back. If I'm reading fmvss 213 correctly, these are required. This is a ford f250. Why would it not have these? Thanks.

Hello, welcome to car-seat.org and congrats on your new vehicle. While LATCH has been required factory equipment in at least two vehicle seating positions for most new passenger vehicles in the U.S. market since roughly the 2003 model year, there are some exemptions. Vehicles weighing 8500 lbs. or more are LATCH exempt and the large F250/350/450/550/etc. series of Ford pickups are LATCH exempt as a result due to their sizable curb weights. This exemption probably stems from an assumption, and a mistaken one at that IMHO, by federal regulators and auto makers' input on LATCH requirements who likely assumed such larger vehicles would only be used for commercial/business/agricultural purposes rather than as family vehicles. All that said, not having lower LATCH anchors doesn't preclude you from installing carseats because there are seatbelts for installing carseats, and a LATCH install isn't considered safer than a seatbelt installation nor vice versa provided that a proper installation is done with less than 1" of movement at the carseat's belt path. Also, even if it doesn't have lower LATCH anchors, your F250 likely does have top tether anchors factory equipped voluntarily by Ford despite being LATCH exempt. You'll need to use the vehicle seatbelt to install carseats, and use the top tether anchor for any forward facing harnessed carseat installation as it plays an important role in reducing head excursion, the amount the child's head moves forward/beyond the carseat's protective shell during a crash.

Jeanum said:

Hello, welcome to car-seat.org and congrats on your new vehicle. While LATCH has been required factory equipment in at least two vehicle seating positions for most new passenger vehicles in the U.S. market since roughly the 2003 model year, there are some exemptions. Vehicles weighing 8500 lbs. or more are LATCH exempt and the large F250/350/450/550/etc. series of Ford pickups are LATCH exempt as a result due to their sizable curb weights. This exemption probably stems from an assumption, and a mistaken one at that IMHO, by federal regulators and auto makers' input on LATCH requirements who likely assumed such larger vehicles would only be used for commercial/business/agricultural purposes rather than as family vehicles. All that said, not having lower LATCH anchors doesn't preclude you from installing carseats because there are seatbelts for installing carseats, and a LATCH install isn't considered safer than a seatbelt installation nor vice versa provided that a proper installation is done with less than 1" of movement at the carseat's belt path. Also, even if it doesn't have lower LATCH anchors, your F250 likely does have top tether anchors factory equipped voluntarily by Ford despite being LATCH exempt. You'll need to use the vehicle seatbelt to install carseats, and use the top tether anchor for any forward facing harnessed carseat installation as it plays an important role in reducing head excursion, the amount the child's head moves forward/beyond the carseat's protective shell during a crash.

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That's where I'm confused, because this truck only weighs 7000lbs. I prefer the latches to using a seatbelt because I can get the child seat tighter with the latches.

Hmm, I don't see any recent F250 models listed in the 2011 LATCH manual that have anything other than top tether anchors and they're all noted as LATCH exempt due to their weight. The most current 2011 edition of the LATCH manual doesn't list 2012 models (it's published every other year and the next edition won't be out until sometime in 2013) to completely double check on your specific 2012 model year's info. Maybe Ford managed to substantially reduce the weight of the 2012 F250 model for fuel economy savings but still didn't include factory equipped lower LATCH anchors because they weren't required in its prior model years? Aha, here's the exact wording from the LATCH manual for F250 models for the 2001/2002-2011 model year which offers us a better explanation of the exemption than I originally realized: "Exceeds gross maximum vehicle weight rating (GVWR) whereby FMVSS 225/ CMVSS 210 requires LATCH (8,500 lb / 3,856 kg)." Based on that wording, it's the gross maximum vehicle weight rating (GVWR), rather than the pickup's curb weight alone, that's really the basis for the 8500 lb. LATCH exemption. If you look at the specs for the 2012 F250 Super Duty listed at http://buyersguide.caranddriver.com/ford/f-250-super-duty/2012/ford-f-250-super-duty/specs/ it lists a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 lbs. GVWR must be some calculated combo based on the truck's curb weight plus cargo/payload capacity. You could also contact Ford at 800-392-3673 and see what clarification they can offer you, with the caveat that it could take some time and persistence to get through layers of Ford's customer relations personnel for an answer.:twocents:

If you're having difficulty achieving a seatbelt installation with less than 1 inch of movement at the carseat's belt path, please feel free to start a new thread here in the Installation section of the forum with details about the vehicle's model year and body style, your carseat manufacturer(s) and model name(s), whether you're installing the carseat rear facing or forward facing, and also your child(ren)'s age, height, and weight stats, and we'll happily give you any seatbelt installation pointers we can. I believe several regular members here have F-series models and/or experience installing in them.

We have a 2011 F150 super crew. The lower LATCH anchors are horizontal black bars, about 1" long, at are actually a bit forward of the seat bight. the top anchor is a fabric loop up by the headrest. There are 3 top anchors and two sets of outboard lower anchors.

I've not worked in a 250 but thought that the interiors were very similar.

ETA. This truck is by far the easiest vehicle to install seats into that I've worked in. It is very easy to install via belts so even if ou don't have LATCH, you'll still get a good,install

ETA. I just looked at the online version of your manual and it does reference LATCH and gives detailed instructions on both LATCh and belt installs. See p 197 and onwards of your manual.

eTA 3: OK. Found it. P209. Your vehicle does NOT have the lower anchors but does have the top tether anchors. So you just do the belt install http://www.motorcraftservice.com/pubs/content/~WOCF23/~MUS~LEN/36/12f23og3e.pdf

What seat do you have? We can help you with the install. also where are you located, we can help you find a tech