Seat belt tensioner weak? try this

[marzahld]

This happened in both my '03 and my '13. The seat belt tensioner ends up getting weak over time and eventually you will end up getting out of your truck only to have your seat belt buckle slam in the door when you are in a hurry.

I've seen a lot of people start taking things apart to fix it, but I also stumbled upon a youtube video where a guy extended his whole seat belt as far as possible and cleaned his seat belt in some dish soap and water, dried it, and it fixed it. I tried this, and low and behold, it worked... gross eh? you can't really see it, but dirt over time builds up on the strap which really does affect the operation of the tensioner! give it a try if you have this issue... you can google for the video.

 

[EXT4ME]

When I replaced all of my front seat leather on both of my trucks, I also took the opportunity to clean the years of grime and dirt off of my seat belts.

The method I used was to fully extend the seat belt to the OUTSIDE of the truck and toward the rear wheel.

Once fully extended, I secured the seat belt to the rear wheel of the truck using a bungee cord attached to the seat belt buckle and then I closed the truck door.

With the seat belt pulled toward the rear wheel, I then took my PRESSURE WASHER and worked my way from one end of the belt to the other to wash away the dirt and grime.

Closely concentrate the fan spray of water from the pressure washer onto the fabric of the seat belt and watch the dirt go away.

When I finished with one side of the belt, I flipped the belt over and cleaned the remaining side.

I took a towel and patted dry the belt and let the belt air dry for a bit before letting it retract back into place.

Using this method, my seat belts come out looking brand new without having to use any chemical cleaning products.

I suppose you could use this method at a self car wash (do not use the soap setting, only the rinse setting), but I chose to use my personal pressure washer since it has a more powerful pressure setting than a car wash.

Even using my personal pressure washer, I never felt I was in any danger of harming the truck's paint surface.

Just use good judgement.

 

[BainMan]

e a guy extended his whole seat belt as far as possible and cleaned his seat belt in some dish soap and water, dried it, and it fixed it. I tried this, and low and behold, it worked... gross eh?

I've done this in two vehicles and it works like a charm. I mixed a little laundry detergent and dish soap in hot water and let the seat belt soak, an hour later scrub it and rinse in a bucket of clean water. it's nasty how much comes off that belt!

 

[Z66Modder]

Good info! My 21 year seatbelt could really use this treatment. Thanks!!

 

[marzahld]

Most of the grime probably comes form oils on your hands over time, but I also drive to parks/greenways to ride bikes and jog, so I'm sure this adds more funk to the belt over time... I used dish soap, but I bet laundry detergent also works wonders..

 

[Tacocat]

Off topic but I've used my pressure washer to clean the carpet of some of my vehicles. Using tide and a broom them pressure washing it gets all the built up dirt out.
An hour or so of wet vacuuming it then allowing it to dry in the sun before replacing it and the results were always stellar. Plus you get that clean laundered smell.

 

[ARTC]

Great tip. Did it over the weekend
Also you can pull the trim piece off around the seat belt opening off and get to the roller. I cleaned it with alcohol and hit it with Dry Lube at either end of the roller.

 

[07AVSS]

Off topic but I've used my pressure washer to clean the carpet of some of my vehicles. Using tide and a broom them pressure washing it gets all the built up dirt out.
An hour or so of wet vacuuming it then allowing it to dry in the sun before replacing it and the results were always stellar. Plus you get that clean laundered smell.

You take it out of the vehicle I assume?? Seen folks pressure wash stuff in the vehicle and always thought that was not the best idea…