They all ratchet, otherwise what would be the point if they don't catch and hold you back. Something is wrong with your belts

 

Every crew cab rear belts I've touched don't ratchet. You pull the belt out all the way, let it retract, and until you unlatch the belt, the point on the shoulder the rests at, it can't pull out further.

Any Ford crew cab pre-99' that I've seen doesn't have that feature. I've heard that 96 and 97 models are different (haven't messed with the belts yet), but that's probably due to NHTSA standards changing.

 

I'm not sure what people mean by "ratchet". To me that means like back in the '70s when every time you went over a bump your seatbelt pulled another notch tighter until you either couldn't breathe or you just gave up on wearing the stupid thing. I haven't seen any seatbelt like that in decades.


The rear seatbelt / shoulder harnesses in my '97 crew cab work the same as the front, which is the same as the seatbelts in my '95 F-150 SuperCab worked, the same as the front and rear seatbelts in my wife's '05 Escape work. You pull them out as far as you want, as you let go they pull back in, if you pull out again they pull out. The only time they lock is when the inertia reel locks up in an accident.


There's nothing unusual about how they work, so you ought to be able to use them with a car seat the same as you would a newer truck. But they don't "lock" or "ratchet".