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It's a plunger with a wire cable running to the retractable belt.. There is no power to it it just acuuates something in the retractor ... The chime is on the other side of belts... It
Is it the annoying sensor that tells your seatbelt to lock up and hold fast? So when you try to reach the radio and hit a bump and suddenly the seat belt holds you from moving....just a thought....
I swapped out the seat belts years ago but never got a chance to finish up on the installation and my truck sat for 8 years... I noticed on the truck at the wreckers that the plunger (that's what I'm calling it) comes through the door pillar. My pillars have no hole in the pillar like the one at the wreckers (also in the pictures) If I push it in on my truck I get a ratcheting sound on one side and nothing on the other side... Neither of my seat belts stop when pulled quickly... I may have broken seat belts... I'm going back to the wreckers to try to figure this out... But I definitely have the wrong seat belts I guess...
Anyone know if you pull quickly on the seat belt does it stop? I know on some vehicles it will stop if the car is slowing down...
My truck's belts lockup if jerked quickly. Newer vehicles will take up the slack during panic stops, and lockup when jerked. They also have an explosive charge to pull any slack in a collision.
Well the belts in my truck don't lock up... If I take them out and hold on an angle they lock... Pressing the plunger doesn't seem to make a difference other than the ratcheting sound... Wreckers want 30 bucks for the belts... If they have them and if there in the right color... Mmmm...
Thinking about these :
8milelake 2pcs Universal Adjustable Retractable 3 Point Auto Car Safety Seat Black Lap Belt with Buckle (2 PCS)
Just make sure they meet whatever requirements there are for seat belts in Canada. You'll also have to do something about the seat belt chime, and dash light if you have those.
They say they have replacements @125 bucks each...
I'm going to try the universal for now (45 bucks both sides with not bad ratings on Amazon) ... I'm already thousands into getting this thing on the road lol...
FYI the belts I gave a link to did not work on my truck without modification... The female ends are too short and the retractor just barely is long enough... Anyone with a larger roof on there tool shed won't be able to buckle up
That cable and plunger is to disable the "window shade" device on the retractor. This is the thing that made the belt lock and not retract fully against your chest. It would try to leave a little slack in the line. When you opened the door, and the plunger released, the slack was taken up. I personally did not like the way the "window shade" worked and disabled them on my vehicles that had them in the 80s. They don't use those anymore, anyway. It was an attempt to eliminate complaints of the integral shoulder belts that were new to the car buying public at the time.
If you just leave the plunger unattached and tucked away, your seat belt will work just like newer belts that do not have the window shade device.
It's very strange... If I remove the belts and hold them slightly off vertical they seem to work fine... But when bolted to the truck or perfectly vertical they will not lock... I've tried blowing compressed air through them... Shaking them... But I'm not confident they are working correctly....
They're not supposed to lock when vertical. That's how they accomodate driver movement under normal circumstances. Pulling the seat belt out quickly does not lock it. It's deceleration that locks the belt. There's a pendulum in the retractor that swings forward on decel and locks it. That's why it locked when you held the retractor a few degrees off vertical.
In short, they sound like they're working perfectly. To confirm, reinstall, climb in, fasten, and drive to a place where you can safely panic stop. See if that locks the belt.
They're not supposed to lock when vertical. That's how they accomodate driver movement under normal circumstances. Pulling the seat belt out quickly does not lock it. It's deceleration that locks the belt. There's a pendulum in the retractor that swings forward on decel and locks it. That's why it locked when you held the retractor a few degrees off vertical.
In short, they sound like they're working perfectly. To confirm, reinstall, climb in, fasten, and drive to a place where you can safely panic stop. See if that locks the belt.
Well that's what I thought... I can actually see the pendulum... But I also thought they should lock up when pulled quickly... So the belts don't lock up when pulled quickly? Wonder if some do and some don't depending on year...
10-12-2017, 07:55 PM
