Interior and Upholstery Working Seat Belts

[Mustang5L5]

Something that has concerned me lately. My seatbelts don't seem to lock. If I grab and pull quickly, they lock maybe every 5-6 pulls. But for the most part a quick yank does nothing.

Anyone else's like this? I don't know any other way to test them other than the obvious.

Kinda concerns me as I want functioning belts for me and my passenger.


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[Davedacarpainter]

Aren't they centrifugally locked (I think that's what it's called, but I've been drinking)? Meaning when you hit the brakes (or a tree), they'll lock up? Those will pull out fairly easily even when you try to force the lock with a quick pull.

 

[Mustang5L5]

I thought so too, but every other car I own will lock with quick yank.

Just trying to confirm mine are ok


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[skyline247]

Mine do the same thing. After a while, they actually start dropping a little until I pull on them to tighten up again. It used to concern me a lot but I slammed on my brakes a few times at some point to test them and they locked each and every time. I'm still not sure if they are supposed to be like this but I feel a little bit more secure now. I do want to get a new set of seatbelts at some point to eliminate the slack I keep getting. I've always wondered if this problem is common or not so I'm interested in everyone's experience here.

Fwiw, I looked at both of my seatbelt retractors and aside from a little gunk in the passenger side one, I didn't see anything obvious that indicated it wasn't working properly. I didn't take the assembly apart though.

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[Mustang5L5]

Guess i'll have to wait on road testing them. In the meantime, hopped in my Taurus this AM and yanked on the belt a few time very lightly and it easily locked every time.

Now granted I don't have any other 30+ year old cars sitting around to go test out, but I think the newer belts do work differently.

Just trying to see if I should look into replacing/repairing them, or if they are ok. I found a few seatbelt repair shops, but none will do older than 1996 or so.

 

[jrichker]

The front seatbelt adjusters on my 89 lock when you hit the brakes hard. That is by design; there is a swinging gizmo that locks the motion of the reel on sudden changes in velocity. It's the same design as used in airplanes built before 1940; it's called an inertia lock.

 

[Mustang5L5]

Good enough. Guess i'll test it out while braking hard next chance I get.

 

[Davedacarpainter]

The front seatbelt adjusters on my 89 lock when you hit the brakes hard. That is by design; there is a swinging gizmo that locks the motion of the reel on sudden changes in velocity. It's the same design as used in airplanes built before 1940; it's called an inertia lock.

Inertia lock! That's the right words.

 

[GearHeadGuy]

My dog chewed the driver's side belt, so I believe I will also have to deal with the seat belt replacement. Anyways it was already old. I am looking at a universal seat belt and believe it is a good way out, anyways all the hardware is fine.

 

[Mustang5L5]

Forgot to update. After driving the car around, they do lock when I brake.