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Thread: Seat Belt questions

  1. #21
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    Seat belts - Which other vehicles would work?

    I'd like to get some seat belts with a bit more snap left in them. Does anyone know what other junkyard cars would have ones that would work?

    It looks like the part # for our Vans was replaced by Tacoma seat belts at some point - anyone done that swap?

    Other 80's Toyotas maybe?

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    Re: Seat belts - Which other vehicles would work?

    not sure if it helps you: but i saw a youtube video that fixed my floppy seatbelts. you soak and squeeze them in almost boiling water + dishsoap you'll be stunned by the amount of brown / black stuff that comes out. then take 6" of PVC pipe and slit one side open lengthwise. feed the soapy belt into the slit, squeeze while sliding it down the seatbelt. again you'll be amazed at the amount of dirt that comes out. i did this 3 sets of hot soapy water. let them dry and sprayed a little bit of silicone on the belts and now they retract and snap back well enough.

  3. #23
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    Re: Seat belts - Which other vehicles would work?

    Quote Originally Posted by PNW vanwagon View Post
    not sure if it helps you: but i saw a youtube video that fixed my floppy seatbelts. you soak and squeeze them in almost boiling water + dishsoap you'll be stunned by the amount of brown / black stuff that comes out. then take 6" of PVC pipe and slit one side open lengthwise. feed the soapy belt into the slit, squeeze while sliding it down the seatbelt. again you'll be amazed at the amount of dirt that comes out. i did this 3 sets of hot soapy water. let them dry and sprayed a little bit of silicone on the belts and now they retract and snap back well enough.

    I watched a couple videos too, but my driver side belt doesn’t even retract, so I’m guessing this process won’t work in that situation? My passenger side still retracts so I’ll give that side a try. But as for the driver side, will this work?

    thank you

    JDM

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    Re: Seat belts - Which other vehicles would work?

    It did work for my driver side and it also did not retract at all just hung loose. The passenger side was about 50% ok before . I'd say the drivers side is about 75% good now - retracts with a little coaxing. The passenger sides about 100% good now. I like cheap easy fixes and this worked out well enough for me

  5. #25
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    Re: Seat belts - Which other vehicles would work?

    As long as they extend the proper length and attach to the vehicle in the same places, any should work well. I'd start with Toyotas.

    Obviously get all pieces.
    I've done this in other cars. Only ever tested one of them.

  6. #26
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    Re-tension seatbelt retractor?

    Wondering if there is any way to get some more tension in the (driver) seatbelt retractor.

    Mine works fine - not binding and looks clean inside, just doesn't retract all the way when you unsnap the belt without a nudge.

    Sometimes the buckle itself lays down low when it doesn't retract fully and then jams the door (or worse, breaks the little door light plastic).

    I didn't see any way to adjust the tension but thought I would ask.

  7. #27
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    Re: Re-tension seatbelt retractor?

    Quote Originally Posted by cpginkpt View Post
    Wondering if there is any way to get some more tension in the (driver) seatbelt retractor.
    I watched a simple seatbelt-rejuve technique documented in a YouTube video made by someone with a Tarago or Estima. (So probably AUS or NZ.) It's pretty easy; I don't know if it will work for your situation or not, but it's easy and I don't see why it wouldn't work on any similar seatbelt mechanism.
    https://youtu.be/Bz7Wvrf1ITs

  8. #28
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    Re: Seat Belt questions

    I am going to attempt installing a shoulder belt in the second row of my '87 Van. The car thieves dumped our really nice five-point car seat somewhere, which is a shame but the kid was aging out of it anyways. So I am pushed to post in this thread somewhat earlier than I really wanted to, but I planned to anyhow.

    I have pulled off the pillar panels and verified that I have the shoulder mount point bolt welded in on the driver's side second row, but not in the passenger's side second row. Makes no sense, but good thing for me I only have one teen in the front passenger seat and one grade-schooler in the second row captain's chair. However, I can't find the floor mount. Any of you second-row captain's chair shoulder-belt-sporting '89 van owners want to suggest to me where to look for the lower mount? Is it in the floor, or on the captain's chair?

    I expect that if it's not there at all I can drill a hole in the floor and install a mounting plate under the van (like this one from Wesco). I also could conceivably just track down a shoulder-belt-only and attach its retractor end to the pillar and the buckle to the same bolt that the lap belt's buckle is on... ()

    Also, this is less important but I'm still curious: There's no nut welded into the second row passengers' side pillar for the shoulder belt. There's no way that I can think of to get a mounting plate in there, either. (That mounting plate should be riveted inside the pillar.) I couldn't... slide in one from the side after removing the rear window? Remove exterior body panels to gain access? Any ideas?

  9. #29
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    Re: Seat Belt questions

    The lower mount for the Pass side middle row is just aft the sliding door, you have to pull the RR 1/4 panel interior trim to get to it but suspect you will find the same situation as my 88.
    There is a vertical support panel that runs right thru the middle of it.
    I didn't bother altering the bodyside as I have never found a donor belt for that position.

    As to the rear most positions, I too, had no nuts.
    The seatbelt hardware is special thread and diameters and difficult to locate in these parts
    I ended up finding some 1/2in nuts and fender washers, welded the nuts to the washers then used panel bonding adhesive to mount the washers to the body panel.
    The 1/2in bolts just fit thru the retractor mounting hole

    BB

  10. #30
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    Re: Seat Belt questions

    Thanks! That's really useful. Using the factory lower mount might be impossible, so maybe I will wind up doing my own floor mount. But I was surprised to read this:

    Quote Originally Posted by Burntboot View Post
    The seatbelt hardware is special thread and diameters and difficult to locate in these parts
    So: are Toyota Van seat belt anchor bolts not 7/16 #20 fine thread? I thought that this was pretty standard. Are you maybe talking about a TV sold on the Canadian market? Maybe they used an oddball metric size. (Lord, it's hard to be happy when you're not using the metric system.)

    Anyhow, I have plugged the part numbers from the EPC posts from the previous page at ToyotaPartsDeal and have found that the lower anchor bolt for the driver's side second-row captain's chair for the 1989 (and the bolt for the wall-mount lower anchor for the retractable bench seat belt) are in stock, and cost $0.17 apiece. Seems like throwing some spare change at an experiment might be worthwhile. I'll grab some SAE 7/16 #20s as well (at the ruinous price of $1.95 apiece, oh my) and do some side-by-side comparison.

  11. #31
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    Re: Seat Belt questions

    Canadian market is so small it doesn't justify anything "special"

    It was my impression that those seat belt retainer bolts were 11mm x 1.0 thread pitch. But that is probably close enough to 7/16in NF to work.

    Round these parts, 7/16in hardware is not particularly common either, but when you do find them, they are usually kept between the hand-hewn square nails and the manual butter churns.

  12. #32
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    Re: Seat Belt questions

    Hey all, did anyone have any luck finding those original ring bolts? (PN 90109-11009)? Or at least any luck replacing them with the 7/16 seat belt ring bolts? I'm trying to set up some rear seats in my Son's '85 cargo model. I already have the seats and the belts, just not the ring bolts. I was considering purchasing the 7/16 bolts on Amazon and just drilling out the original holes if necessary to pass them through and add the nut and washer under the floor.

  13. #33
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    Re: Seat Belt questions

    If the vehicle already has the welded-in nuts, the best thing would be the proper bolt

    Seatbelt bolts are different threads so as to not get mixed up with regular bolts, that being said, they are not "van specific", meaning you should be able to grab bolts from many cars, most Toyo's off that era and possibly other brands.
    Only important to match length, thread and shoulder if it has one.
    I would rather have the right thing in there rather than a construction grade SAE, though something is better than nothing.

    It is important to remember that if anything ever goes sideways, you will end up being held responsible.
    Its the very reason why many shops avoid "servicing" safety systems

    I used non-standard hardware as there was nothing in there to begin with.
    I went over size and overkill and weighed the associated risks and decided to accept them.
    YMMV

  14. #34
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    Re: Seat Belt questions

    Ideally I'd LOVE to use the OEM bolts, but they appear to be "unobtanium." I may try to get the proper nuts (I saw grade 8 mentioned somewhere) for the lap belt reel that mounts into the wall as I have those bolts, but the ring bolts are another story. What I found is these which I believe are made for seatbelts, but in imperial size, not metric.

    https://www.amazon.com/RaceQuip-7000...8513223&sr=8-8

    https://www.amazon.com/RaceQuip-7000...8513223&sr=8-7

    If I researched correctly, the originals were 11mm, fine thread, and these are just about the same size.

  15. #35
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    Re: Seat Belt questions

    My bad, forgot about those guys.
    You could probably make something work, but the factory ones are much more robust and I would hate to take a chance, given its purpose.

    A pick&pull would be your best bet, or perhaps there's a forum member on the right side of the border, that could spare a couple?

  16. #36
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    Re: Seat Belt questions

    And I hadn't checked your links, but they do look like a capable work around.

  17. #37
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    Re: Seat Belt malfunction

    Quote Originally Posted by llamavan View Post
    The OEM seat belts are NLA, although there are aftermarket seat belts. I've not tried aftermarket and can't comment on any aspect of them.

    Gwen

    Any advice on where to find aftermarket seatbelts for the front? I don't see anything on rockauto.

    thanks!

  18. #38
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    Re: Seat Belt questions

    Attempting to install a 3pt shoulder belt in 2nd row of my 87 van - it has the welded in nut. But the wesco belt supplied/typical 7/16x20 is too big and the M10 x 1.25 x 25mm I ordered from toyotapartsdeal is too small.
    Anyone have any idea what size I should be looking for?

    I had read that m11x1.25 should be the correct size but ver hard to find and so 7/16x20 was close enough….but seems like I shouldn’t just force it in there?!

  19. #39
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    Re: Seat Belt questions

    Since this is a safety restraint I can't recommend doing this, but in a similar situation I just got a 7/16-20 tap, put a little oil on it and forced it through the metric nut. Then the 7/16-20 bolt threaded in like a dream. YMMV..... Tim

  20. #40
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    Re: Seat Belt questions

    The other option is to hit a pick and pull and get some for another vehicle.

    All Toyota's from that era, should use the same bolts.

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