My seat belt buckles are black. I have noticed in the wrecking yard that some of the seat belts have a chrome buckle. I don't seem to see any rhyme or reason. Is there a reason why some are black and others are chrome?

What color are your seat belt buckles?

 

In my 85 F-350 XLT, my tan seatbelts have the silver buckle. I don't know if it is a 'XLT' specific thing or not. I too have noticed they are either silver or black but never really paid attention to the trim level.

 

All my trucks have chrome buckles... 80 F-350 Ranger Lariat (red interior), 81 F-150 Ranger XLT (forget the name off-hand, but the pumpkin colored interior), 84 F-150 XLT (blue interior), 85 Bronco XLT (tan interior), and 86 F-350 XL (red interior).

 

My 1986 F150 XL with red interior has black belts and black buckles.

 

See what I mean?

dohc_chump has chrome buckles on all five of his vehicles, four of these have the upscale XLT trim and the last has the entry level XL trim.

Then 1986F150six comes along with his XL model and his has black buckles...

Maybe all black seat belts got a black buckle?

 

It's the manufacturer of the seat belts.

American Safety, TRW, etc... are a few off the top of my head.

It's the Color of the webbing material that mattered with trim levels, not the buckle.

Black was standard seatbelt webing. Color coordinated seat belts were optional, standard on higher optional trim levels.

XL was the second trim level above the baseline model.

 

My 1981 XLT has blue belts which match the interior color and chrome buckles.

 

My 1981 Custom has optional for custom, Nutmeg Belts (which match the interior), with chrome buckles.

Mine were manufactured by American Safety.

The manufacture of the seat belt is on the back of the buckle, or on the tag on the shoulder belt, Retract the belt all the way to read the tag.