seatbelts on backwards!

Hoping someone can help...
I recently bought a used tacoma access cab, and failed to notice while purchasing that the seatbelts seem to be on backwards!?
The clips are facing the wall, so you need to 180 the strap to clip it in, which results in a twisted strap while in use. It is like this in the front seats only, both sides.
I was looking at some pics in the audio section that had the access doors off, and it looks pretty complicated to play around with the seatbelt assembly. I am guessing that the former owner may have upgraded the speakers,(but I'm not sure), and put the stock speakers back in before the sale, and maybe the belts went back on wrong? or they were wrong from day one? the belts seem to work fine, but I don't think you should have to twist them to fasten...I wonder how that got missed in the safety check as well...do all your belt clips face outward?
I cannot just spin the clip around on the strap, as the slot is way too narrow. I'm hoping to fix this myself...any suggestions?
Thanks in advance.

 

He's right-you can flip the strap within that slat of the buckle it's in.Try it-it's tight but doable.

 

My passenger side was this way when I bought it new. I reversed it this way:

1) Pull the belt out of the roller so you have a lot of slack.
2) Take a pair of ViceGrips and lock the belt at the roller where the belt comes out to keep the slack in the belt.
3) Fold a small portion of the belt length wise and bring the clip down to the fold and work it into the fold and start pulling down working the fold into the clip
4) Slowly work the fold down the belt while reversing the fold. You will start to have one side of the fold larger then the other. Keep pulling doen on the belt working making the larger side of the fold smaller and the smaller side larger. Eventially the belt will turn over. Make sure you are turning it the correct direction.
It may seem complicated but its really not. You are just working the clip down the belt and slowly turning it over on the belt. It should only take a few minutes. I hope this clear and it helps. Don

 

My truck is a couple of months old and this happened on the driver's side. How in the world does the strap rotate around the buckle? There isn't that much space in the buckle opening. I was starting to wonder if it was twisting somewhere inside the door panel.

 

hmmmmmmmm...OK then! I never really really tried that hard. i just looked and said to myself that there is no way I could flip the clip around on the belt strap. But I will try it tomorrow. Like the previous poster, I thought maybe somehow it was munged up inside the door. I still wonder how it ended up like that though...
Thank you very much for the replies!
I actually emailed the seller about the belts...he probably thinks I'm nuts!

 

I might actually try doing that now, all of mine were like that when I bought it, I just figured it was something Toyota did.

 

You know how DonL instructs you to start a fold in the strap then work it-well when you grab the buckle and pull the strap over yourself it can tend to do that on its own, thus flipping the strap.

 

I just had to do this yesterday. Start by folding over a small corner at an angle and them move the buckle part down or up (depending on direction of the fold) to force the belt to reverse itself. You may have to try a couple times but it will work. And I always wonder how it gets that way in the first place too.

 

Been there - Done that, All I can say is darn nice explination - Well Said !

 

this.

fold it over on itself and move the buckle over the fold..done. damn, i have seen it all..

but seriously. the fix is how it happens in the first place. it is twisted on your body and you move the buckle from one side of the twist to the other..happens quite easily, actually. in my antique car, the belts are softer, and this happens almost monthly.

 

He just repeated what DonL already said earlier.

 

Thanks for the information. I had it fixed in less than a minute. I started with a fold- left over right side- at the buckle and pulled up slowly. I found by pulling up you used the anchor point of the seatbelt for leverage.
Great fix and no gouges in the plastic by forcing it with a screwdriver.