Here's the rub,

My wife has steadily begun to hate riding in our truck. It's not the truck, it's the damn passenger seatbelt that drives her InSaNe!

The seatbelt will lock on her ALL the time. She'll put the seat belt on, and it will immediately lock. She tries gentle tugs, she tries hard tugs, she tugs on it like she's having a seizure, the dang thing won't unlock and she'll resort to unbuckling the belt, re-buckling, and starting the process all over again.

Keep in mind these are the x-cab belts, integrated into the seats, not on the b-pillars.

We've tried reclining the seat a few clicks back with no change. We tried going forward a few clicks; no change. We tried sliding the seat forward, and backward with....you guessed it....no change.

However, I'll sit in the passenger seat while she drives, and it never locks up on me, period. I can move and jump around in the seat, and until she slams on the brakes (mostly from seat belt envy), it won't lock up.

It's pretty much done this since the truck was new, and 99.99999% of the time when I have a passenger, it's her. The pass. seatbelt does show signs of wear though; it won't fully self retract without a helping hand. In addition to this oddity, the drivers seat belt, which gets a helluva lot more use, is tip top like new.

So, is there any way I can adjust the pendulum without risking my wifes safety?

 

If you are like me and are a lot bigger around than your wife, it could be how far the seat belt is pulled out that makes a difference. The farther out the tighter the return spring is wound. If it doesn't pull out very far to buckle her up, it may be a safety design say for small children.

 

My wife has found that when she pulls the belt out, then across her body to click it in place, it locks on her often. If she pulls it across her body and fastens it without first pulling it forward it doesn't lock on her as much.

When you sit behind the steering wheel, you don't pull the belt out first.....the steering wheel is in the way.

 

If this is the problem I think it is, I find it irritating too, but here's the solution I've been using - use two hands. Say you are seated and the belt is retracted to your right. (1) Reach for it across your body with the left hand and pull the buckle out a foot or two. (2) Then make a fresh grab with the right hand onto the strap and pull it out as much further as you like, and (3) with the extra foot or so of slop on the end of the belt it is easy to attach the buckle using the left hand without the belt locking up.

If the belt locks up on you during a trip (like my wife's Escape), I find I can pull the strap as it crosses the body, which on that car frees up the vertical strap without having to unbuckle. Its still irritating though..........

 

I have that problem on my drivers side. Locks up on me when I hit a bump in road, turn a corner ETC, and this is happening at normal speeds, not driving like a mad man. Now the passenger side doesn't lock up on the wife, while she's sitting there, I have no idea if drivers side would lock up on the wife or not, because she will not drive the truck. She say's, " If I scratch it i will never hear the end of it ". She always says, she's coming back in her next life as one of my vehicles. LOL


2005 F350 CC. DRW.PSD.FX4. King Ranch. Oxford white / Arizona beige
It went off road once. took it on a gravel parking lot.

 

May just be some manufacturing variance with the belt. No way to adjust it. Might be worth replacing if it is indeed worn. Pretty easy to do.

 

Or maybe just lube it.

Or, get a whole new mechanism and replace it.

 

The passenger belt is designed to lock fully when pulled all the way out. It's intended for child seats.

Read the manual. If you pull the belt all the way out, it will click and you will hear a clicking sound as you let the belt back in. It will stay locked until the belt is fully retracted.

IF your wife is pulling the belt all the way out when she puts it on then this is the problem. If not, well...