Seat belt disassembly/cleaning

[camino70]

Hi all,
Another questions stemming from a '98 LX. The interior is on the dirty side (this is sarcasm).

inside step

• camino70
• Jan 3, 2016

The drivers belt is exceptionally dirty and barely retracts. I pulled the side panel and the retractor, but I can't seem to figure out how to remove the belt from the retractor. I pulled the pin, but can't get the belt out of the cylinder. Before I destroyed something too bad, I stopped. Can it be removed? Easily?

belt retractor

• camino70
• Jan 3, 2016

How can I remove the shoulder anchor?

This is my current attempt at cleaning it while still attached, hot water with laundry detergent, propped up on a bucket as to soak as much of the belt as possible.

belt cleaning

• camino70
• Jan 3, 2016

PS, I don't understand the velcro cleaning solution.

Thanks again,
Ron

 

[camino70]

I have lots of room for growth in the search department...

I found how to remove the top pivot point.

Top pivot point

• camino70
• Jan 3, 2016

Now, hopefully I'll find how to remove the belt.

 

[camino70]

I gave up on removing the belt. I bagged the retractor and pressure washed the belt. Three out of six done so far. They look great.

How long should I allow them to dry before reinstalling/allowing to retract?

Clean belt

• camino70
• Jan 3, 2016

 

[Keowee]

Looks good. I've been meaning to do mine. Overnight indoors stretched out on a towel should be dry enough.

 

[camino70]

I put front belts back in today. Night and day difference in the belt feel and retraction. If you don't want to pull it all the way out, unbolt the bottom anchor and extend the belt outside the truck and close the door. Clean/pressure wash from there will make a remarkable difference too. That's how I wound up doing the second row and how I'll do the third row.

 

[Greenbean]

I put front belts back in today. Night and day difference in the belt feel and retraction. If you don't want to pull it all the way out, unbolt the bottom anchor and extend the belt outside the truck and close the door. Clean/pressure wash from there will make a remarkable difference too. That's how I wound up doing the second row and how I'll do the third row.

I'm going to try this thanks.

I do know to check the pivot and contact point where the belt loops through at the shoulder, I remember years ago Honda tought us that those locations get really dirty and end up rather sticky in a way. Sometimes you can use an alcohol swab and clean it up real good and that helps a lot.

However my drivers belt it dirty and stiff. Pressure wash here we come.

 

[Odyseuss]

I recently cleaned mine with excellent results. Details are in the 12th page of my build tread (link in the Signature). I removed the seat belt assembly but not the belt itself.

 

[labcab]

I also gave up removing the belt from the retractor. I suppose you could just cut it and sew another loop for the pin, but I went the direction you did. I added a little degreaser to the soap bucket, soaked for a few hours, rinsed with the pressure washer and then let dry in the sun for another few hours.

They came out looking brand new, retracting better and felt much softer. I wish refurbing everything else on my truck was this easy.

 

[abuck99]

There is only a small section that gets dirty so removing them is probably not necessary. I took the easy route by extending mine out as far as they would go, closing the door and pressure washing them.

Couldn't believe the amount of grime that washed off. They now retract like new, and look like new.

 

[bjarnep]

Unbolted mine at shoulder and flor-point. Extracted as much of the belt as possible, used a paper fold back clip to keep it extracted. Put the belt into a bucket of soap water inside the car for the night. Next day rinsed several times and dried with a towel. Now they work like new again.

 

[ITRJ]

My advice is do not disassemble the retractor or modify your belt in any way. It's not meant to be taken apart and that part of the belt will always be hidden anyways.use mild detergent if any, and replace the belt if there is any visible damage/fraying.

 

[SmoothLC]

^ this. @Odyseuss has a few good photos too. When I did the belts in mine a few years ago I used vice grips to hold them while cleaning, then hung them up in the garage to dry out. Probably time to do a few of them again.

 

[JayM]

I'm worried I might be a touch obsessive, this seems like a great idea. Thanks for the post!

 

[YardPig]

Agree, only a small portion at the floor that you can stand on the running board or slider and pressure wash with the door open, the rest is easy with the door closed and a helper holding the belt and buckle and flipping it around against the body.
I Castrol Super cleaned the belts on both sides of the webbing and let them sit while I warmed up the pressure washer.

These pictures should tell all. Amazing, you just don't realize how grungy this stuff gets after 15+ years...

 

[BamaHeel]

IIRC @bamachem removed his and soaked them in some woolite mixture in one of his build threads