Okay so I have a 1999 100 and everytime my wife leans forward in the passenger seat the seat belt locks so she can't sit forward until she takes the belt off puts it all the way back in then put the seat belt on again. Child safety aside is there a seat belt from another year 100 that doesn't have that "feature" I want to change this out?
Change a passenger seat belt locking
- Thread starter jay3253
- Start date
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hoser
SILVER Star
Does she happen to be pregnant or a larger than average person?
hoser
SILVER Star
Is there any chance that part of the seatbelt is caught under the seat or in knots? When they lean forward, is it followed by a ratcheting sound as she leans back?
That initially strikes me as a tired seat belt safety system. How much would it cost to replace the ratcheting component/seat belt re-tractor in the B pillar? I am sure that some google searching would find a way to clean and oil the ratcheting system in the belt itself as well.
- Thread starter
- #7
No knots and not caught in anything just the ratcheting that I want to get rid of.
YardPig
SILVER Star
Mine used to do the exact same thing, strangling whoever was on that side, getting tighter and tighter. Pulled the belt out as far as it would go and 'Super Clean' degreaser pressure washed it outside the truck on both sides. Never had a problem since. Belts also look brand new now.
Could be coincidence, or maybe the extending completely out helped, I know the ratchet mechanism is on the outside, separate from the belt reel. My belts were pretty gross from previous owner, literally went from brown to light tan, yuck.
Could be coincidence, or maybe the extending completely out helped, I know the ratchet mechanism is on the outside, separate from the belt reel. My belts were pretty gross from previous owner, literally went from brown to light tan, yuck.
atnolan94
I'm Your Huckleberry
Actually super curious about this, mine are bad. So you just undid the top and bottom mount and pulled it as far as it would go, shut the door, and hit it with a pressure washer? I'm absolutely doing this if that's the case.
Also to OP, if you prevent the belt from ratcheting, it won't be able to do its job in a collision situation. I think it would be worse for the seatbelt not to work at all, you might as well just not use it. I would try a good cleaning first then explore other avenues later.
- Thread starter
- #10
I'm not looking to make the seat belt not work just buy a seat belt from a different year that doesn't have the child safety ratcheting mechanism. The belts are clean and I don't think have anything to do with the child safety stuff. There shouldn't be children that need that mechanism in the front seat anyway.
YardPig
SILVER Star
The ratchet mechanism is so the belt locks at all positions when the inertia triggers it (applying the brakes quickly, roll overs, impacts, etc). You can not bypass that feature, it is designed into all seat belts.
The pre-tensioner is part of the airbag system and will lock and tighten the belts with an explosive charge instantly, rendering the belts inoperable unless replaced or rebuilt.
The pre-tensioner is part of the airbag system and will lock and tighten the belts with an explosive charge instantly, rendering the belts inoperable unless replaced or rebuilt.
YardPig
SILVER Star
You can 'test' your ratchet mechanism by grabbing your seat belt and tugging on it quickly, it will lock on the ratchet. If it does not then it's not functioning as designed. Relying on just the pretensioner in a collision with no ratchet would be extremely dangerous as without SRS activation of the pretensioners the occupants seatbelt would just free wheel and eject the occupant.
hoser
SILVER Star
@YardPig The ratchet feature if for securing car seats.
@jay3253 The seatbelt is not supposed to ratchet until it is pulled out to the max. Test it.
1) while unbuckled, pull the seatbelt out in a smooth motion to determine max extension.
2) return seatbelt to fully retracted position, and then again pull it a foot, let it retract a bit, pull it further... repeat until the very end is reached.
If it locks up prior to reaching the fully extended position, then it is broken. A new seatbelt of the same year will fix the problem. If the seatbelt is indeed working properly and reaching the limits before ratcheting, you can a) pick up a seat belt extender (free from Toyota) b) just adjust the seat rearward in it's track so there is more seatbelt to lean forward.
Note: The driver's seat does not have the ratchet feature. You can try installing it on the passenger side. Or using the DS seatbelt from a RHD vehicle.
@jay3253 The seatbelt is not supposed to ratchet until it is pulled out to the max. Test it.
1) while unbuckled, pull the seatbelt out in a smooth motion to determine max extension.
2) return seatbelt to fully retracted position, and then again pull it a foot, let it retract a bit, pull it further... repeat until the very end is reached.
If it locks up prior to reaching the fully extended position, then it is broken. A new seatbelt of the same year will fix the problem. If the seatbelt is indeed working properly and reaching the limits before ratcheting, you can a) pick up a seat belt extender (free from Toyota) b) just adjust the seat rearward in it's track so there is more seatbelt to lean forward.
Note: The driver's seat does not have the ratchet feature. You can try installing it on the passenger side. Or using the DS seatbelt from a RHD vehicle.
YardPig
SILVER Star
Maybe your misunderstanding what I'm saying. The seatbelt ratchet is on a cog wheel, it is designed to lock if you are to move the belt quickly, that is the only way a seat belt can restrain an occupant. It's a simple device, without a ratcheting cog and pawl in the retractor the occupant would just fly out of the seat as the belt freewheeled out to the end.
The retractor of seat belts havnt changed since their inception, that's how they function...
The retractor of seat belts havnt changed since their inception, that's how they function...
hoser
SILVER Star
You are describing the "Inertia-Reel" which could be the problem but the OP is describing a lock that keeps ratcheting tighter and tighter until the seatbelt returns to it's fully retracted position. This feature was not standard till maybe the mid 90's. Do the test I describe on both the PS and DS and you'll see what I mean.
Not to derail, but anyone know where I can get a good price on OEM 100 series rear passenger belts? Puppy has now chewed both sides.. I tried my local dealer, can't get the Tan color seat belts any longer from Toyota....
Last edited:
YardPig
SILVER Star
Most of the tan ones have been discontinued, subbed to grey/black. I tried ordering new on several and although they were shown as a good number they came back as obsolete.
- Thread starter
- #18
You are exactly right, but is this standard on all 100's or is there a year that I can get that fits and doesn't have this?
OK, yes the passenger seatbelt retractor latching can be disabled. I've just successfully done it on my '97 80 series; and the procedure is fully reversable if needed.
Disclaimer first - The seatbelt retractor is a major safety feature of your Land Cruiser and you could damage the retractor in the process rendering it unsafe; so the safest thing to do is not mess with it. The sole purpose of this mod is to disable the ratcheting mechanism that is intended for securing an infant car seat to the front passenger seat (not that anyone should ever carry an infant in a car seat the front seat of a car that has no mechanism for disabling its airbag). So don't do this mod and if you do I am not responsible for anyone who might attempt it or any damage or injury that might occur should you choose to do so.
OK, on to the details -
1) Remove the front passenger seatbelt retractor as per normal; all of this can be done from the back seat of the truck.
2) Once removed study the colorful side of the retactor mechanism as you pull the belt out of the retractor watching the gears and lever as you pull. See photo below...
The magic of this clever mechanism is in the orange and gray gear and the gray lever. If you slowly pull the seatbelt out of the retractor you will see the orange gear turn counterclockwise and eventually trip the gray lever triggering the ratchet mode just before the end of the seatbelt is reached.
The fix therefore is to simply rotate the orange gear CLOCKWISE a little such that the cam that flips the gray lever never reaches its destination before running out of seatbelt. It doesn't take much to do this, only about 1/4 turn clockwise will do it; so be careful to not overdo it or it may trigger the ratchet too soon!
3) Getting into the cover is a little tricky too, but it is doable without damaging or altering the cover. For this I pulled the seatbelt out as far as it would go and clamped it there with a large paper clasp. You will see three plastic nubs that secure the cover to the metal retractor frame, these nubs each have a 2mm plastic pin in them that can be pushed thru from the metal side of the retractor toward the plastic cover. I used a small screwdriver with a 1.5mm torx bit on it. You need to push them pretty hard to get them to budge. Once pushed through you can grab them with some needle nose pliers and save them for reassembly.
4) Once the pins are out, you need to carefully and gently pry the plastic cover off of the metal frame, I used my Swiss Army knife can-opener blade for this in order to reduce the chance of cutting myself in the process. NOTE WELL - This cover serves as the gear hub for the small gray gear to note where it is for reassembly. Likewise, the cover is the hub for the gray lever... Be careful, there are a few little parts and a spring or two in there that you do not want to have flying out. Doing it wrong or reassembling this incorrectly may result in the seatbelt not responding correctly in the event of an accident. Go slow. take more pictures as you go, be careful.
5) Once the cover is off, be careful to not mess with the gravity ball or its purple plastic parts.
6) Carefully rotate the orange gear clockwise about 1/4 turn; then gently and carefully reassemble the cover to onto the frame, making sure to get the small gray gear and gray lever indexed into their associated holes. The cover will click back onto the frame with its original retainers.
7) Before reinserting the 2mm plastic pins, allow the seatbelt to fully retract back into the retractor, then slowly pull out the belt and watch the orange gear to note that it does not go around far enough to trip the gray lever. Assuming you got it right on the first try, congratulate yourself and re-install the 2mm plastic pins (these are a little hard to push back in but they'll go).
8) If for some reason the gray lever still manages to trip and put the retractor into ratchet mode, no worries, just let the belt retract back in, got back to step 4 and pry the cover back off and adjust the orange wheel as necessary again, reassemble and retry.
Good luck with this simple little mod for such an annoying problem, and remember never put a baby car seat in the front for any reason.
Lastly, if at some point you want to reverse this modification, simply re-open the retractor and rotate the the orange gear counter-clockwise back to where it was and reassemble.
Disclaimer first - The seatbelt retractor is a major safety feature of your Land Cruiser and you could damage the retractor in the process rendering it unsafe; so the safest thing to do is not mess with it. The sole purpose of this mod is to disable the ratcheting mechanism that is intended for securing an infant car seat to the front passenger seat (not that anyone should ever carry an infant in a car seat the front seat of a car that has no mechanism for disabling its airbag). So don't do this mod and if you do I am not responsible for anyone who might attempt it or any damage or injury that might occur should you choose to do so.
OK, on to the details -
1) Remove the front passenger seatbelt retractor as per normal; all of this can be done from the back seat of the truck.
2) Once removed study the colorful side of the retactor mechanism as you pull the belt out of the retractor watching the gears and lever as you pull. See photo below...
The magic of this clever mechanism is in the orange and gray gear and the gray lever. If you slowly pull the seatbelt out of the retractor you will see the orange gear turn counterclockwise and eventually trip the gray lever triggering the ratchet mode just before the end of the seatbelt is reached.
The fix therefore is to simply rotate the orange gear CLOCKWISE a little such that the cam that flips the gray lever never reaches its destination before running out of seatbelt. It doesn't take much to do this, only about 1/4 turn clockwise will do it; so be careful to not overdo it or it may trigger the ratchet too soon!
3) Getting into the cover is a little tricky too, but it is doable without damaging or altering the cover. For this I pulled the seatbelt out as far as it would go and clamped it there with a large paper clasp. You will see three plastic nubs that secure the cover to the metal retractor frame, these nubs each have a 2mm plastic pin in them that can be pushed thru from the metal side of the retractor toward the plastic cover. I used a small screwdriver with a 1.5mm torx bit on it. You need to push them pretty hard to get them to budge. Once pushed through you can grab them with some needle nose pliers and save them for reassembly.
4) Once the pins are out, you need to carefully and gently pry the plastic cover off of the metal frame, I used my Swiss Army knife can-opener blade for this in order to reduce the chance of cutting myself in the process. NOTE WELL - This cover serves as the gear hub for the small gray gear to note where it is for reassembly. Likewise, the cover is the hub for the gray lever... Be careful, there are a few little parts and a spring or two in there that you do not want to have flying out. Doing it wrong or reassembling this incorrectly may result in the seatbelt not responding correctly in the event of an accident. Go slow. take more pictures as you go, be careful.
5) Once the cover is off, be careful to not mess with the gravity ball or its purple plastic parts.
6) Carefully rotate the orange gear clockwise about 1/4 turn; then gently and carefully reassemble the cover to onto the frame, making sure to get the small gray gear and gray lever indexed into their associated holes. The cover will click back onto the frame with its original retainers.
7) Before reinserting the 2mm plastic pins, allow the seatbelt to fully retract back into the retractor, then slowly pull out the belt and watch the orange gear to note that it does not go around far enough to trip the gray lever. Assuming you got it right on the first try, congratulate yourself and re-install the 2mm plastic pins (these are a little hard to push back in but they'll go).
8) If for some reason the gray lever still manages to trip and put the retractor into ratchet mode, no worries, just let the belt retract back in, got back to step 4 and pry the cover back off and adjust the orange wheel as necessary again, reassemble and retry.
Good luck with this simple little mod for such an annoying problem, and remember never put a baby car seat in the front for any reason.
Lastly, if at some point you want to reverse this modification, simply re-open the retractor and rotate the the orange gear counter-clockwise back to where it was and reassemble.
