The driver's side seat belt has really bothered me for some time now. It locks up all the time and the old webbing is pretty worn. Not frayed, but plainly past its prime. A fellow Mud member was kind enough to sell me a spare driver's side retractor in good shape so I thought this would be a good opportunity to try to see if I could replace the webbing myself.
Before you mention it, I know there are lots of services out there that will replace the webbing for a fee of 70 or 80 bucks. It kind of annoys me to pay that much for a few dollars of material and some what appears to be modest labor, and having done some leather work now I have some confidence in my ability to sew, so I'm going to try it myself. We will see together whether that was a good idea or a bad idea...
First thing is to get the metal and plastic parts off the old belt. Here's what the donor looks like now:
I cut the end of the replacement webbing (from Amazon for about 12 bucks), and then sealed it with a torch lighter.
Before you mention it, I know there are lots of services out there that will replace the webbing for a fee of 70 or 80 bucks. It kind of annoys me to pay that much for a few dollars of material and some what appears to be modest labor, and having done some leather work now I have some confidence in my ability to sew, so I'm going to try it myself. We will see together whether that was a good idea or a bad idea...
First thing is to get the metal and plastic parts off the old belt. Here's what the donor looks like now:
I cut the end of the replacement webbing (from Amazon for about 12 bucks), and then sealed it with a torch lighter.