An issue with my seatbelt

karlatta · Sep 12, 2010

Something is wrong with the seatbelt on one of my captain's chairs.

I have a 2006 Toyota Sienna. The seat belt on the passenger side captain's chair seems to be twisted. It lays flat across the lap, but at the shoulder, it makes one half twist when it's buckled. You can see a sort of crease in the seat belt where it looks like it used to be twisted the other (correct) way. The seatbelt attaches directly to the removable seat in my vehicle.

I'm assuming this isn't safe, but I don't know what to do about it. Right now, that seatbelt isn't in use. (The seat is normally not even in the car, and when it is, it gets a LATCHed car seat.) We will eventually need to use this seating position with a seatbelt. Either a boostered child or a child exceeding LATCH weight limits.

If I need to take it in, any idea how much this will cost? I think it's been this way since we owned the car (since we've never actually used the seatbelt), but we bought the car used more than a year ago.

QuassEE · Sep 12, 2010

There's three possible ways those seatbelts twist. Can you snap a photo of the twist, and the belt to the retractor?

-Nicole.

karlatta · Sep 13, 2010

Here's the seatbelt unbuckled.

And I put a toy into the seat to show that the lapbelt lays across the lap flat, but twists up near the retractor when buckled.

Pixels · Sep 13, 2010

Try pulling all of the belt out of the retractor. The other half of that twist might be in the retractor.

You can safely install a harnessed seat with a twisted seatbelt.

karlatta · Sep 13, 2010

Pixels said:
Try pulling all of the belt out of the retractor. The other half of that twist might be in the retractor.

You can safely install a harnessed seat with a twisted seatbelt.

I've pulled to no avail.

So a harnessed seat is okay. What about a booster or adult passenger? An adult passenger is probably the most likely scenario right now.

karlatta · Sep 13, 2010

Okay, I went out and messed around with the belt a bit more. I was able to feed the twist back in to the retractor and it straightened itself out. The belt now pulls in and out much more easily, so it looks like it was twisted in the retractor. Thanks!

Pixels · Sep 13, 2010

Not ideal, especially if the passenger is large. If the twist is not contacting the body, and the passenger is not very heavy, I think it's acceptable but not great.

You don't want the twist being on the body, because that creates an area where all the pressure is concentrated instead of spread out. Also, twisting the belt weakens it, which is why the lighter the passenger, the better.

If you can avoid putting an adult there, avoid it.

carmaven · Sep 13, 2010

Pixels said:
Not ideal, especially if the passenger is large. If the twist is not contacting the body, and the passenger is not very heavy, I think it's acceptable but not great.

You don't want the twist being on the body, because that creates an area where all the pressure is concentrated instead of spread out. Also, twisting the belt weakens it, which is why the lighter the passenger, the better.

If you can avoid putting an adult there, avoid it.

I did not know that twisting weakens the belt! I just thought it was annoying

. Some of my seat belts in the back of the minivan have been twisted over the years -- I will make sure to get these checked the next time I have a tune up to avoid any accidents. Thanks for the information!

An issue with my seatbelt

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