how to tighten down seatbelts?

[alex86]

Ive been trying to find a way to tighten up the seat belt, on my 88 camry, that slides near the window not the one that goes on yer lap. anyone got any ideas on how to make them tighter so they give you more restraint?

[anuthaCamry]

mine are still ok, but I got a 93. What you could do is look in the junkyard for a lemon, not a car that has been totalled, and remove the retracter unit from it - assuming it is in good condition. Better yet get a brand new replacement part. I don't recommend dissassembing the actual unit, because of the safety issue. Be sure to use threadlocker and a torque wrench when reinstalling it.

wait a second... upon re reading your post, do you have one of those seatbelts that have like a rail above the window that moves back and forth when you open the door?

[EKam]

Originally Posted by anuthaCamry

wait a second... upon re reading your post, do you have one of those seatbelts that have like a rail above the window that moves back and forth when you open the door?

Camrys don't have that.

[anuthaCamry]

those were a curious and puzzling device, glad they're gone.

[alex86]

ya its the one thats on the track above the windows. nd yes they do have that just the old models.

dont believe me ill take a pic and post later if u want

[captainzib]

alex86 is right. My dearly departed 87 camry le had that feature. I'm glad it's gone.

[drugal]

I'll just chime in for a small rant: Those auto seatbelts in the Gen2 are awful things. They're unsafe. My passengers and myself are always forgetting to buckle the lap belt. They're also just a big nuisance.

If you have the automatic seatbelt, you can't really tighten them. I find that the retractor is extremely loose. It's so loose, I worry that it won't work right when the time comes.

Has anyone ever crashed with these things? Do they work, or do you get a face-full of steering wheel before they tighten up?

[syang]

hehe... you guys are funny... i have a 90 with the automatic belts and mine works... under heavy braking the sholder restraint does lock up...

i vaguely remember reading the manual or something that if you don't put on your lap belt and get into a car accident you can suffer from internal injuries with just the automatic belt as ur restraint.

[amerikim]

Did they tighten?
Lol..I had them on my X Civic, then on old accord I bought later.
They were dumb. And you could not remove them or option them for conventional.

[alex86]

im just trying to find out if there is any way or possibly way to tighten them down such as taking the unit out and roll it apart then put it bak together a little more tighter. any idears?

[userlain]

Originally Posted by EKam

Camrys don't have that.

Yeah they do.

[userlain]

Originally Posted by drugal

I'll just chime in for a small rant: Those auto seatbelts in the Gen2 are awful things. They're unsafe. My passengers and myself are always forgetting to buckle the lap belt. They're also just a big nuisance.

If you have the automatic seatbelt, you can't really tighten them. I find that the retractor is extremely loose. It's so loose, I worry that it won't work right when the time comes.

Has anyone ever crashed with these things? Do they work, or do you get a face-full of steering wheel before they tighten up?

No, they don't actually lock. I tried to lock them up, both the passenger side and driver side by jerking with accessive force, and the pendulum(if there even is a pendulum) does not engage the spindle brake.

On the visor on the drivers side is a list of the proper way to sit in the car. It says to always drive with the lapbelt on.