Seat Belt Pretensioner Repair - Final Update Must Read

darn darn darn

 

Yes Jay...Agree, Agree, Agree

 

it did not even self-retract without having to hand feed it back in?
my part# maybe different than yours so idk if thats the right one or not for your truck
i would verify with Amanda at Camelback on the phone

 

Man I was like a kid waking up on Christmas morning when the seat belts arrived. There was nothing in-between me and installing them but air and opportunity!
I got the drivers side installed first........sat in the seat like a pilot going over a pre-flight check list.......

• Correct seat belt installed on correct side..........check
• Seat Belts bolted in ........check
• ABS sensor reconnected......check
• Plastic clip removed from seat belt that the tech installed to keep them from retracting while installing.........check
• Put on seat belt......and hear the click.....check (at this point, I had permagrin)
• Pressed the release button by seat........check (at which point I went to 0% Inspiration and 100% Desperation)

Yeah Jay, the seat belt lay there like a dead animal on the side of the road....not even twitching.

 

could be the 02-04 have a sensor built in that costs more than the '97 ones?

 

Dang, hate they aren't any better. I need to take mine apart and clean them, see if that helps.

 

Yeah, it may be. I'm taking Jay's advice and calling Amanda this morning to confirm.

 

I've done that but it really made no difference. I will say that it's amazing how dirty they are.

 

ABS sensor perhaps?

 

mine are not dirty at all from what i can tell pulling the whole belt out when i had the driver seat out last year

 

I called Camelback and spoke to Mike in the parts department. For my Vin#, this is the correct part.


parts.camelbacktoyota.com

 

Thanks for sharing!

 

you saved $80 over retail list, i bet my local dealers parts dept would want $400 for a belt if i get it from them and their 'usury' markUp

 

Yep, i just ordered it!
It's just money...........they make it everyday!

 

Sorry to hear man.... What a bummer. I hope they'll try to make something right for ya. Sorry dude. Hopefully it's a mistake and not a scam deal

 

Before I installed my brand new seat belts I compared them to the old one taken from the truck. The old ones were not bad - no tears, not dirty, they were going back on its own if not restricted (like by twist). But when I put them side by side with the new one I noticed three major differences.
1. Spring in old one was much weaker than new. I guess over years the spring got "tired". I mean to pull the belt out of the mechanizm I needed less force than on the new one.
2. The old belt is swollen comparing to the new one. It is like comparing a paper towel to computer paper. Not dirty, not frayed just swollen.
3. Guides inside the mechanizm have signs of being shaved by the belt. Surfaces of these guides were not smooth and shiny like in the new one. These guides created some of the resistance.

That convinced me that there is no way "refurbish" or cleaning old seat belts will make them work like a new one, unless belts, spring and all guides are replaced - which basically is the whole seat belt.

 

Makes perfect sense!

 

You could try this:
http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/minutemods/seatbelt/
If you do, pay attention in step 6 where he says, “Do not let go or else it will completely unwind.” If you let go it will not only completely unwind but something inside comes apart. Then no matter how much you rewind it, it won’t ever tension back up.

 

I was going to use the belts out of a Lexus RX once but opted not to because I got rid of my old truck. I could'n't tell the difference in the mounting but it looked similar. There was an extra sensor on the bottom mount but looked like I could make it work. I think the Japanese belts work much better. My 85 has zero retracting issues.

 

New seat belt from CamelBack Toyota arrived this afternoon.
Once I get it installed I’ll update.