jw11432

I'm the kind of guy to dive in and be confident I can figure anything out. Given enough time, probably so with this but I'd rather not wait.

I disassembled the drivers side unit because instead of recoloring the webbing I decided to replace it. Well, something doesn't seem quite right because I'm having trouble getting the unit to work right when I put the clear plastic cap back on, it seems to be pinching something on the plastic thingy. See pic below, red arrow:



Where the arrow points is what is pressing down, against the blue plastic gearing beneath it causing the belt to not retract. The black plastic gear that sits in that hole does not appear to be the issue either, as it sits in the curved slot designed for it:



One theory I have is that in the clear plastic cap interior, there is a shallow circular recess that I think might be designed to press down against the plastic piece that is binding, maybe like a spring, but I see nothing, so maybe I lost a piece and didn't realize it as I was disassembling?



Hoping someone has been down this road. If not I'll need to go to junkyard tomorrow and grab a working unit and use it as a study piece. Either way I'll post findings for others, but hopefully someone knows what I'm missing here. Thanks!

Energized

Just looking at it and thinking it looks to me like the white piece has a portion protruding outward, a catch or something... that should be inside the cavity on the pink piece ? Also it's hard for me to tell but is there a guide on the clear piece that aligns with the small square hole in the white plastic ? Hard to tell without having the piece and seeing the movements and how it works... Sorry bro, just have to try a few different things i'm imagining.

Chris_1

iTrader: (1)

So...this seatbelt is just for show, right ? Not going to actually depend on it to save your life are you ?
Hadda say it.

jw11432

I got a replacement seat belt from a junkyard from an unwrecked truck, so I'll either use that to swap my new webbing into or use it to figure out what's wrong with mine. Probably end up being the former rather than the latter for simplicity's sake lol

Chris, why would it just be for show? lol The seatbelt material I'm using to replace the old original material is actually stronger than regular seatbelt material, it's military spec resin-treated nylon rated for 4000 lbs.

Chris_1

iTrader: (1)

Oh, well...it's great if you can mess around and get it all to retract and such, but it has to lock in an accident situation and if it doesn't because something isn't placed exactly or the webbing is a millimeter off or something else that we couldn't possibly think of....
End result is that whoever is wearing it is going for a ride.
I admire your can-do attitude and all, but personally I wouldn't mess around with a seatbelt especially if I wasn't 100% sure of exactly what I was doing in there - but that's just me.

Energized

It's a simple enough design, momentum based with the ball bearing, i've seen videos where all they needed was for the actual ball bearing portion cleaned due to being soiled with grime preventing the ball from moving freely.

It either works or it doesn't.

jw11432

That's pretty much all I'm after with opening is cleaning ball bearing and seat. The one I opened up was much dirtier than I would've thought. My junkyard seatbelt I just got moves very freely, and admittedly, am hesitant about opening it up to clean it lol

However, after doing a comparison, I do see one thing off, so with any luck that's the only thing I need to worry about. Will update once I figure it out.

Chris, I can certainly appreciate the gravity of the principle of knowing this is the one thing that is most likely to save my life, but as I've had this thing apart, I can attest that it really is a very simple design. I'm sure credibility is compromised stating this as I'm having trouble getting it to work 100% as before but I do see the problem now I think, it's all about the weird plastic doohickey on top. The 'catching' of the belt is the ball bearing moving forward on account of inertia, causing the top part of the pink plastic arm to lift up and catch along those teeth (second pic). The belt is quite long (142.75") and at the end, it has a loop sewn in it with a plastic rod that prevents it from slipping through (first pic, it slides through that tan-colored 'bobbin' looking thing).

Chris_1

iTrader: (1)

Pay no mind to me. That's just me being over cautious about seatbelts.

jw11432

No worries, completely understandable my friend, I can't fault a man for a concern regarding safety!