Seatbelts Slow To Retract

My front two seats are the worst. I have siliconed and sanded with minor improvement. Next time I get the pressure washer out I’m going to try washing them. Not expecting much because my belts are really clean and the truck’s pretty minty inside; definitely not all fast food drool and scuzzed out like some of y’all’s pics.

Just tonight though I tested the back seat shoulder belts and holy moly. Those babies pop! I could easily see them cutting a child, the way God intended. If the driver belts are different then we may be chasing fairies here.

 

I think for most people this is such a minor annoyance, they're happy to get some improvement and move on. Mine needs a little more work. They retract, I just have to sometimes make sure they're lined up right, then they go on their own.

If someone were to be annoyed enough to truly look into this...there's probably a mod you could find that would allow a different mechanism to be installed in there, with more power. Probably some other vehicle retractor that is compatible and would fit with minimal fabrication. I'm sure it's out there. I think people just aren't fed up enough to search for it.

 

I'm always skeptical when people say that cleaning them doesn't work. I pressure washed my seatbelts in my AC 3 years ago. They looked terrible and retracted terribly and now 3 years later they are still the best retracting seatbelts of any vehicle I own, they work flawlessly. I'm not sure you're getting all the gunk out of it if you aren't pressure washing it.

 

That's interesting. Maybe I'll try it after all. When you say pressure washing...I'm ignorant on this. Is the car wash self-service bay as powerful as a pressure washer? I have easy access to those. Not sure if I know anyone with a pressure washer.

My truck is pretty clean inside. Not crusty. Seatbelts don't look dirty. All the same, I'm sure there's years of accumulated something on them. Can't hurt to try pressure washing. Curious if taking it to the local carwash will do it.

 

possibly. But I used purple power and let'em soak for like 5min and then power washed them.

 

I meant to link my post but I guess I didn't.
LINK

If you pull the seatbelt out to wash it then you're either wearing a wet seatbelt on the way back or not wearing one at all so that's one thing to consider with doing it at a car wash place. They may be high power enough to do it though.

You may be able to do it without unbolting anything if you pull it out of the door right but if you don't have a bunch of tension on it (see my post) it likes to flop around and be a pain, maybe bring someone with you to hold it out.

 

Car wash wands are typically 1000 psi but deliver a greater volume of water than home pressure washers that go up to 3000 psi.

Nowadays you even have to hunt for the high pressure wands as most wash places are cutting back on water with low pressure ones. Probably only a matter of time before they charge more to use the high pressure ones. Haven’t seen that yet though.

 

Great, thanks. Being winter, I'll probably hold off a while anyways. My seatbelts are tolerable. But if I can get them even better, I'll keep this in mind. Luckily the drive from the nearest car wash to my place is only about 5 minutes.

 

Or just get a $130 pressure washer off scAmazon like I did and do all sorts of shit with it. PIA to do the driveway, but it fucking works

 

That's definitely a good plan, and I'm almost always up for buying new tools. For 7 years I lived out of my camper in the summer, house sat in the winter. I've been in one place now for about a year and a half so I'm very slowly allowing myself to buy things that won't fit in the back of my truck. But old habits...

I'm still a little cautious about buying so many things that I can't move from one place to another without making multiple trips or renting a U-Haul. It was a huge step for me to finally buy a 3-ton floor jack, even though I've had plenty of uses for one over the years.

 

I'm just not buying the "dirty belt" theory.

I have a daily driven 2004 Tacoma that has never had the belts cleaned. It retracts just fine after almost 300k miles.

My '02 Tundra from the start had shitty belt retraction tension, like many have mentioned. Cleaning will help, but it won't cure the issue.

Just remove the belt assembly and send it out to be rebuilt.

Be aware, there is an explosive charge incorporated with the retractors. Disconnect the battery first for safety.

 

And then, only if you have french fries and oatmeal stuck in the belt guides.

 

how do you pull that out? are there screws to remove or maybe just the side step panels along the door?

 

Dude glad you posted this.
My seatbelts are absolute ass to work with. Every time I buckle up it gets jammed in the plastic "pulley" and retracts like molasses

Mine are definitely dirty - and I'll see what pressure washing does in warmer weather - but I noticed that my seatbelt retracts perfectly fine if I just stand outside my truck with the door open and pull around on the belt - it has plenty of tension in the system to retract quickly.

The issue for me really seems to be with the plastic pulley to hold it above your shoulder.
If it were a roller bearing, I'm confident it wouldn't be such a PITA.

I'll do p-washing first, but if that doesn't work then I'm thinking of just slicing off the little "T" (flange?) that's meant to keep the belt from twisting. This way it has TONS of space to twist around and can't possibly jam up there.
Hopefully that eases off friction on the system too.
If that doesn't work...maybe some aluminum foil tape across the bottom of the pulley to reduce friction?

I'll post back with updates once I get to it. It's 5º out rn and no garage

 

This is exactly why a lot of people sand that upper guide a little. Doesn't take much and the belt starts retracting on its own. Probably better than cutting, as you can take just a little off a time and see the results, before going crazy with a blade and taking off too much and potentially getting twist.

 

Yeah, adding that momentum of a tug speaks to resistance. Silicone and/or polishing the slide with ultra-fine paper will help reduce resistance, but built up gunk on the belting material will definitely help also.

I've got something annoying that happens on my truck that I've never seen anyone else with access cab truck mention. The plastic armature for the seat belt on the AC trucks ... If you've ever heard a dry (but clean) ball bearing ring that's got some space between the bearings, where, with slight pivots of the bearing, you literally hear the balls tap, making a "click" when they bump into each other... In some conditions, mine sounds almost like that. I hear a little tapping sound, and all it takes is me scooting forward or back the slightest bit.

I've tried dozens of times over the year to hear exactly where the sound is coming from, because I see zero ball bearings in the slide or other parts. It sounds almost like it's coming from the point where the plastic armature bolts to the cab, but I can't imagine that's using ball bearings?

I've been too lazy to tear mine apart and look at it, but I also haven't found an AC truck on the yard that still has the belts intact. It's one of those parts that goes quickly (seats, belts, engine, steering wheel, radio)

 

do they sand the top or bottom of the guide?

I feel like sanding the bottom would make the plastic rougher, thus more friction. But that's certainly something I'll try before cutting it.
I phrased my post a little weirdly; cutting the guide will be my final "f- you, work" solution after trying all else

`shifty, I think earplugs will solve your tapping problem

 

you don't use 300 grit.
Use 2000.

sanding goes hand in hand with polishing.

friction (in this case) is caused by the oil/dirt/skin cells making the slot sticky.

 

Yeah, this is ultimately why I said, "polishing the slide with ultra-fine paper", sometimes just saying "sand it", I can see someone grabbing a square of 80 grit or 120 grit and going to town

Weird part is, natural resting position of the armature is between 5pm-6pm. If i pitch it up closer to 3pm-4pm, the sound reduces by about 90%.

I really just need to dig into it someday and see what the hell is in there. I'm sure it's something stupid.

 

Top. It's what I did, and it got my belts to retract. Like I've said I'm not quite happy with them yet, but they're at least tolerable now.

 

haha! can you imagine some idiot doing that!




*ahem*

....definitely wasn't what I had in mind...