NJTman

Hey fellas, and you lurker lady first genners

Have a question for the crew which can't wait till I meet up with Ollie on Saturday..... if my master allows me to go, that is.


Can you (anyone in 1st gen territory) tell me if your seat belt has an inertia stop ?

What's an inertia stop.... someone out there is wondering ?


It's when you are strapped in your ride, and you go to move forwards rather abruptly (such as in a front end crash, or if you drop your coffee in your lap and start jerking all over the place as your privates burn) and as you're moving forwards, the seat belt LOCKS in place, preventing further forward motion, as the device in the seat belt mechanism is stopping you from smashing your face on your steering wheel. Imagine as if you were coming to a stop, too fast, to stop yourself from face-planting your steeringwheel.

I swear, up and down, left and right that my dodge has an inertia stop built into the seat belt. I remember time and time again, reaching down to grab something off the floor, or open the small air vent behind the emergency brake actuator by my left foot, that I was UNABLE to move forwards due to the inertia brake. After I heard a "snap" about a month ago, it no longer is there. I sent my belt assembly to Seatbeltplanet.com in OKlahoma, and they tell me that the belt works as it should, and there's nothing wrong with it, cleaning it, inspecting it, and mailing it back to me at no charge other than the shipping to get it back here.

So.... I put the belt back in today, and yes I do not have an inertia stop anymore...Long winded post asks in essence......

DO YOU have the inertia stop in your dodge's seatbelt ? Inquiring minds want to know.

Thanks !

mknittle

Mine has them.

wyododges

My '93 Cummins has it, as well as 86, 91, and 92 gassers, and 77 m880s that I've driven. All of them seem to work only when they want to however. I have no idea how to fix your failed stop.

Hillbilly66

Yes my truck does. They are extremely sensitive and lock up constantly. I'd rather have your problem and not have inertia stops.

NJTman

I don't want to eat my windshield, should I ever come across a bad situation. I have to have mine fixed.

Thanks fellas

Hillbilly66

i understand that, I'm just tired of mine locking up when I hit a rough spot in the road.

NJTman

Agreed..

NJTman

Hi guys.

Sent the seat belt back to the Seatbelt planet guys again, and they are telling me that these seatbelts do not, and should not lock upon manually pulling them out fast, or moving forwards in your seat fast.


Anyone else here experiencing this ? Not experiencing this ? Other 1st gen owners that haven't responded yet ?


Appreciate any feedback....

Thanks


T.

MAC702

Hmmm, would a safety device this critical be repaired at a dealer for free?

NJTman

My wife had an 84 corvette that was under recall for defective seat belt. Remember the drummer from DefLeppard had his arm ripped off? Yup, same year car. 20 years later, they fixed it for free.

Our trucks didn't have a belt recall, as far as I know, so I would think they're not responsible for repairing dinosaur vehicle safety systems not recognized under any recall.

Otherwise, our rear wheel abs modulators would be replaced for free too..

thrashingcows

I don't how these seatbelt guys can claim the belts you sent in do not have the inertia locks, or some variation of them.....think that was mandatory in North American built vehicles from 1975-ish on up.

Just checked Wiki and it confirms this....at least from my brief read on seat belts.

I know I have had belts mechanisms apart and they always have a little "drum" on one side that has the locking mechanism in it. You can usually look into the mechanism and see on one side or the other a set of latches that rotate with the webbing spool, this is what the locking mechanism latches into in case of a sudden decel.

NJTman

Just to clarify...

It's not that he said they don't have them, it's that there are different versions of them, which actuate under different circumstances.

Here's a brief description from the email I got. Don't bother clicking on the youtube links, as they don't work.




We got the seat belt in and I made a couple of videos to explain how this particular retractor works. Check it out and then we can talk when you have a minute.

This first video shows how your seat belt retractor does and does not lock. Yours is a little unique in that it does not lock based on how quickly the webbing is pulled out.

You Tube

The second video shows something that is also quite unique and that is how the OE tag tends to catch on the dust cover. I can’t say that I’ve seen it before. We put the OE tag back in the original location so it’s not really surprising that this could have been happening off and on, intermittently, over time.

You Tube

First, your seat belt really is working like it’s supposed to. There are no missing locking mechanisms or features. The pendulum swings freely and engages just as designed.

Second, we could replace this retractor (vehicle-sensitive only) with a brand new one that is dual-sensitive. In other words, it will lock two ways – based on how quickly the webbing extends (centrifugal clutch) from the retractor as well as the acceleration/deceleration of the vehicle like the one you have now.

I’m ready to talk when you are, sir!

NJTman

Before I sent it back to them for a "re look", I did a test myself. When I removed my belt mechanism, I noticed that depending on it's orientation, the mechanism actually functioned.

In the vertical position (the retractor), which is how it's mounted in the truck, it doesn't work anymore. It used to "lock" when pulled fast, as explained in the post above. The reason I sent it there was because it stopped this function, one day when I leaned forwards to open up the air vent at the kick panel in the truck. I heard a snap after it locked, and it's never worked since.

In the horizontal position, such as if my truck was lying on it's side in a ditch, the mechanism works as it used to. I asked my wife to video this difference, and I sent it to them..


I'm still willing to give them the benefit of the doubt about this whole thing. They did a fantastic job, some 4 years ago, re webbing this belt for me, as to why, again, I sent it back to them. The issue I have is that they're telling me, over and over again, that this seat belt in our trucks NEVER had the ability to "centrifugal clutch", or lock when manually (with your hand) lock when pulled fast out of the unit. I keep telling them that I've driven the truck for nearly a decade, and it's always worked that way, as, again and again, it used to irritate me when it locked up when I leaned forwards..

So.... Neither one of us is actually listening to the other, hence the reason I asked here, again, how your own 1st gen dodge seat belt works.

Thanks for the replies.

NJTman

Just to be completely upfront with them, I also told them about this thread.

after their explanation yesterday, I was really crabby, and I replied that I had a bad day, and spent a good portion of it fighting off horse flies that were attacking me while I worked on this ladies house. Those things really sting, just as if I was being stung by wasps. Darn nature !

I wasn't exactly nice, but I wasn't exactly feeling great last night either. Luckily, I wasn't drinking heavily, either.....

BTW,

Please understand this reply in simple, and in a non-condescending tone towards you, as you have been extremely willing to help, and I don't want you to get the idea that I'm being unreasonable, or ill willed towards you in any way, as I am not.....

Essentially, by you saying it's "vehicle sensitive only", you are insinuating that I, and the people I associate with either completely mistaken, a bunch of morons, or we have no understanding of the vehicles we've driven over the last decade, and how they function.

When this situation occurred, as I've told you in the past, my seat belt functioned by "fast moving it forwards", because it irritated me for years that I couldn't reach for something on the floor of my truck, or open the air vent without disconnecting the thumb latch to get fresh air at the foot kickplate. I understand you are trying to tell me that it works as designed, but then the issue is that it worked as the "centrifugal clutch" way for years, until I had the incident when I heard something snap in there.

To prove to myself that I'm not crazy, and that I'm not bull-lonely-ing you, I went onto the truck club forum I am on nearly every day, and asked the question as to how the other guys trucks (which are the exact same as mine) seat belts functioned... whether it is as you say it's supposed to, or how I know it used to, by centrifugal clutch (style) by pulling fast on it.

Read here the responses: https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...estion-328458/

I could continue the thread again, and ask more guys the same question, but I'm sure I'd get the same responses.

So where do we go from here ? I say tomato, and you say blueberries. They're both fruit, but taste completely different.
Let me know when I can see the videos....

been up since 4am, worked all day (till 6pm) in 84* F hot humid disgusting summer-like weather, being bitten by horse flies from time to time, so I'm a little cranky. If I sound irritated,..... well, it's been a long day, and this email wasn't exactly how I envisioned my day ending...

Thanks...

thrashingcows

From what I read, and their response seems to confirm this, that there are two main types of locking mechanisms....centrifugal, and pendulum. It seems that our is pendulum and will /should not lock up unless the vehicle is in a collision and the force exerted on the mechanism causes the pendulum to move beyond set tolerances and therefore lock up the belt.