Seat belt issues

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I got my new seatbelts from Wesco Performance. I'm not 100% happy with them but I think they're the best I'm going to get. The retractors are a different design than the ones from Julianos, and are larger. I think they'll be fine though. I sent a note on the order that if the end release buckle and the sheath didn't match the rest of the plastic, they needed to call me to discuss it. I never heard a word from them.

The issue is that they claim all the plastic matches in color, for their standard colors which include charcoal. The buckle end release is black, not charcoal, as is the sheath for it. It's going to be kinda hidden so maybe it won't be so obvious, but it's frustrating anyhow since they claimed everything matched. The rest of the parts are all "charcoal", but different shades. The bolt covers I got from Julianos are the lightest and match the webbing pretty good. The shoulder bolt cover is darkest and doesn't quite match the latch. These are supposed to be industry standard colors. The retractor color is irrelevant because they're hidden.

Anyhow, the latch is REALLY hard to move up and down the webbing. This is such a shitty design. I need to find some sliding latches and get rid of these stupid things. I sure wish these belt manufacturers would catch up with the 21st century.

Now I'm hoping these belt retractors are as easy to take apart as the Julianos ones are. I may have to have Larry do some sewing on them.

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[chevynut]

I looked at the seat belts a little more today and it looks like I have about 36" of belt hanging out of the retractor, which is about perfect so they will retract all the way. The belt comes out of the retractor about the same way as the Julianos belts, but instead of a steel pin it's plastic. I also found out that my Silverado sliding latch tongue is too wide to fit into the end release buckle, but my 2019 Sierra sliding latch fits. I always wonder why they have to change this stuff year after year.

Here's some pics of the retractor with the cover removed....

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Here's one thing I don't like about these belts. If you use their standard latch, it's so thick that it makes it hard to unlatch the belt. In fact, I think it's harder than a side release button. What are these people thinking? I have to find a pair of sliding latches somewhere. I think everything else is fine.

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[chevynut]

I think I finally solved the sliding latch problem. I found out that there are two widths of latches, 22mm and 25mm. Not sure why, but that's the way it is. Turns out the seatbelt latches in my 2003 Silverado don't work with the new end release buckles because they're 25mm wide. But the ones in my 2019 Sierra work perfectly and are the right color for my charcoal belts. I was looking for some latches for that model of truck, and they are "unobtainable" separately, and the belts are ~$150 each. Nobody sells just the latches as far as I can tell.

So in searching for the right color and vintage seatbelts, I ran across some 2017 Camaro REAR seatbelts in Dark Ash Gray, which is the same color as my truck interior. The best part is they're essentially NEW (8000 miles on car), and were only $8.99 per PAIR ($18 shipping). So I bought them. I hope they work.

[Belair-o]

Good sluething! Not sure how you found that needle in the haystack, but good job!

[chevynut]

Good sluething! Not sure how you found that needle in the haystack, but good job!

Thanks, and I hope that's the end of my seatbelt saga. I thought for sure my 2003 Silverado belt latch would work but I had no idea there were two widths for them. When my 2019 Sierra latch worked, I did some searching for Chevy "Dark Ash Gray" belts and found out that color was used in 2017-2019 Volts and a few other cars, and almost bought a new set for the rear seat of a Volt at what I thought was a low price of $20 each.

I then got the actual part number off of the latch in my Sierra and googled it, and somehow ran across the 2017 ZL-1 Camaro belts on eBay. I was shocked at the low price and with only 8000 miles on the car they may not have ever been used. I googled 2017 Camaro interior colors and found they used Jet Black and "Medium Ash Gray" belts in those years of Camaros, so I contacted the seller and he said they were gray. I hope they're the right width, but the seller never answered my question about that. I guess for $8.99 a pair it wasn't worth it for him to check...LOL! I thought about going to a car lot and trying them but it was too much bother and I've been busy with family over the past week. We'll see if they work......

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Got the setbelts done. I cut the Camaro belts to remove the latches because the belt end loops wouldn't slide through them. I don't think these latches had ever been used. Then I had to cut the new belt loops off to install the latches and we sewed new loops on them. Here they are re-assembled. They only hang out about 38" which should be about perfect. Now I need to install them in the car.

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[55 Rescue Dog]

Wow, nice job.

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The belts turned out just about perfect. There's a fine line on the length of the belt because the spool can only hold so much webbing. The retracted length can't be longer than the distance from the lower anchor, through the shoulder loop, and to the retractor. Then when extended it has to be long enough to go around you and latch. My 120" belt is about 38" retracted and the stowed length is about 47-48". So the belt is only extended 10" or so from the full spool condition. When latched around me, I have 12" or so of belt left, enough for 3-4 turns of webbing on the spool. That should be enough to keep it from pulling out in an accident. The 133" belts, while only 13" longer, won't stow properly on the b-pillar unless the mounting points are carefully thought out to take up the 57" of slack (what mine had). That much slack left me around 10" of loose belt on the floor.

Here's the belts installed. The sliding latch is laying near the floor since the stop button isn't installed yet. You can see the anchor plate for the retractor with the 7/16" grade 8 bolt holding it in place in the quarter panel area. I also welded an anchor plate at the bottom of the b-pillar, inside the quarter panel. I put the shoulder loop a little lower than I initially wanted to, so that the belt was parallel to the door jamb instead of hanging over the opening. It works good.

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Here's a pic showing how good the access is to the release button with the sliding latch.

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Now I have to figure out how to make a sleeve to hide the belt behind the headliner and protect it from wear.

[55 Rescue Dog]

Are you going to install a seatbelt warning light? All the new cars have them.