disconnecting middle seatbelt on bench seat

Has anyone figured out how to disconnect the middle seat belt on the standard cab, bench seat Tacoma? Sometimes when I try to flip the seat forward, The seat belt locks up and keeps the seat from folding forward. Also, I'll probably never use it, and its just kinda in the way.
Thanks, JB

 

I was afraid of that! I was hoping there was some way to undo it at the pivot point for the shoulder harness. That way I could just have it under the seat in case I ever need it. Toyota sure doesn't make it easy to alter safety features do they . . .

 

no you dont have to do that all you have to do is grab a really small flat head screw driver and push the little gray button in then the seat belt disconnects and you can tuck it behind the seat, its where the belt connects to the seat

 

Yeah, I have a little grey "dimple" where the button used to be. I went by Toyota today. The Mechanic was all ready with his little screw driver, then saw there was no button.
Probably a cost saving measure. Or maybe the button was removed because of some law suit.
Pisses me off . Now to get the thing out of the way, I have to eliminate the middle seat belt, rather than just temporarily disconnecting it.

 

thats weird i work at a dealership ill go out to an 08 and look cuz mines an 07 and i have that little dimple

 

SPOWERS, Do tell if you find something out about disconnecting the middle seat belt! Thanks, JB

 

You can seperate the two halves of the seat belt to "unbuckle" it but it's a pain in the rear. To save everybody else the trouble simply drill a small hole as shown in the picture below. Once done insert a straightened paperclip into the hole and voila, you have unbuckled the center seatbelt and can do so at anytime without having to pry the two halves apart.

http://picasaweb.google.com/notnert/SeatBelt


Trenton

 

Thanks Dudes!

I ended up cutting a rectangular notch just big enough for my key to fit into. Took pics for any one interested (they came out blurry though). Now if I ever need to use the middle seat belt, it's still under the seat.

 

That was my first mod. Did it after two friends thought I'd drive them both home at the same time. Made the belt disappear and now I have an excuse. Mine's an 08.

 

I have a 2009 Tacoma Regular Cab and I had the same problem with the second child safe buckle for the middle seat belt. There is a way to properly release the buckle by pushing and twisting but I couldn't figure it out. There is a dimple on the top of the buckle in front of the seat belt slot where I drilled a small whole no bigger than the dimple itself. Then I stuck a jewelers screw driver in the hole and wiggled a bit side to side and out popped the seat belt. When you want to use the buckle again just release the seat belt by using the screw driver in the same manor. When drilling you just want to make an access hole in the top of the plastic housing so be careful not to drill too far. Good Luck.

 

On my '06 (traded in ... I can't go see) it seems I remember that the key fit in a slot and the shoulder belt came out. I then unclipped it at the top of the seat and had it secured on the back wall of the cab.

 

This topic was helpful. Just bought a 2010 and mine has 2 little buttons that you push down on the latch with something that is close to the diameter of the holes to separate the plastic cover. I wanted to put a bench seat cover on. The drill hole method is good too.

 

Bump! I just needed to do this and Cusker's photos showed me what I needed to do! Thanks.

 

Thanks for the help guys, I drilled a small hole with just the bit and my fingers, got the plastic thin enough and pushed in an awl to disconnect the seat belt! Thanks for the photos Cusker!

2009 Reg Cab

Taccat

 

Beautiful! Love this site!

My '09 came apart as I was drilling the small hole - the tip of the drill bit was enough to pop it apart.

I stuck the two ends through the seat back and re-connected them behind the seat so they wouldn't rattle.

Thank You!!

 

Thanks! This is just the information I needed.

Mike

 

I needed to unbuckle the middle seat belt to install my Coverking cover - poked a hole in the dimple with a tiny screwdriver and wiggled a bit to get it to unlatch - thanks guys!

 

I just disconnected the center belt in my 2012 with a bench seat. The dimples don't appear to do anything. Pry the plastic cover off. Inside is a slide bar. Slide it to the left and the belt will release from the seat.