Dodge 2010 Dakota Owner's Manual page 66

66 THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE STARTING YOUR VEHICLE
Installing Child Restraints Using the Vehicle Seat
Belt
The passenger seat belts are equipped with either cinch-
ing latch plates or automatic locking retractors, which are
designed to keep the lap portion tight around the child
restraint, so that it should not be necessary to use a
locking clip. If the seat belt has a cinching latch plate,
pulling up on the shoulder portion of the lap/shoulder
belt will tighten the belt. The cinching latch plate will
keep the belt tight; however, any seat belt system will
loosen with time, so check the belt occasionally and pull
it tight if necessary. Pull the belt from the retractor until
there is enough to allow you to pass through the child
restraint and slide the latch plate into the buckle. Then,
pull the belt until it is fully extended from the retractor.
Allow the belt to return to the retractor, pulling on the
excess webbing to tighten the lap portion around the
child restraint. For automatic locking retractor seat belts,
refer to Automatic Locking Mode in this section. If you
have trouble tightening the lap/shoulder belt on the
child restraint because, the buckle or latch plate is too
close to the belt path opening on the restraint, follow
these steps. If the buckle is webbing-mounted, disconnect
the latch plate from the buckle and twist the short
buckle-end belt to shorten it. Insert the latch plate into the
buckle with the release button facing out. If the belt still
can't be tightened, the buckle is not webbing-mounted,
or if pulling and pushing on the restraint loosens the belt,
you may need to do something more. Disconnect the
latch plate from the buckle, turn the latch plate around,
and insert the latch plate into the buckle again. If you still
can't make the child restraint secure, try a different
seating position or use the locking clip provided with
your child restraint. To complete the child seat installa-
tion, refer to Child Restraint Tether Anchor in this
section.