OK so my mate cainy's pass. seatbelt was FUBAR, it would unwind, but would not retract half the time. So we fetched it off, and once removed, it wound all the way in and would not wind out again.

 

Anyway we discovered that if you remove the green (iirc) cover there is a strange device with a large ball bearing in it. When this thing is removed, the belt works absolutely spot on, wind in and out freely and locks up perfectly when tugged.

 

So, what the heck is this stupid thing for? My belts are both slow to retract, I'm thinking of removing this thing from mine too. Does it have any actual functoin other than fooking it up?

OK so my mate cainy's pass. seatbelt was FUBAR, it would unwind, but would not retract half the time. So we fetched it off, and once removed, it wound all the way in and would not wind out again.

 

Anyway we discovered that if you remove the green (iirc) cover there is a strange device with a large ball bearing in it. When this thing is removed, the belt works absolutely spot on, wind in and out freely and locks up perfectly when tugged.

 

So, what the heck is this stupid thing for? My belts are both slow to retract, I'm thinking of removing this thing from mine too. Does it have any actual functoin other than fooking it up?

 

My passenger s/belt was playin up so I took it to bits, turned out to be one of the plastic cogs broken, theres one on each side so dispensed wiv the naff one, still seems to work although I hav'nt crash tested it :) but you're right,if the ball does'nt sit exactly in the cup the belt jams, fantastic piece of engineering, I suppose in an impact the ball would shoot out of it's seat instantly lockin the belt ?

There called inertia belts mate!-ball moves under inertia,locks the belt. :)

Yeah there was a plastic cog smashed to pieces too so we binned it. Like I say though, it still locks up fine, we tested it numerous times.

Is it really dangerous to run without one? :eek:

Yeah there was a plastic cog smashed to pieces too so we binned it. Like I say though, it still locks up fine, we tested it numerous times.

Is it really dangerous to run without one? :eek:

suppose the only time you,d find out would be as your doing a forward roll out the front wind screen with a head like john merrick (aka the elephant man) :(

hmm, interesting, probably see about a new one then.

 

Seems to just like a normal belt out of any other car though, easy to pull out, winds back in quick, and locks up if you just lean forward too quickly.

Every other zed belt i've worn has been stuff to pull out, slow to wind back in, and gets slacker whilst driving until you pull it out a bit more and let go then it tightens again. In fact, in mine, the belts tighten up when you turn the ignition off. Door mounted belts can't be too safe anyway.

 

I'll rip the inertia reel out of the old mitsubishi tomorrow, see if they have any crazy balls in them.

hmm, interesting, probably see about a new one then.

 

Seems to just like a normal belt out of any other car though, easy to pull out, winds back in quick, and locks up if you just lean forward too quickly.

Every other zed belt i've worn has been stuff to pull out, slow to wind back in, and gets slacker whilst driving until you pull it out a bit more and let go then it tightens again. In fact, in mine, the belts tighten up when you turn the ignition off. Door mounted belts can't be too safe anyway.

 

I'll rip the inertia reel out of the old mitsubishi tomorrow, see if they have any crazy balls in them.

my nissan cabstar had the same system with a single ball,it was sticking untill i sprayed wd40 on it now its fine so they must all have em as manta says

As far as I remember, the ball is in a small plastic holder. When the ball is shifted, like in an accident, the holder tilts and stops the large cog from turning, jamming the whole mechanism. Maybe it's a failsafe in the case of an accident?

 

I wouldn't take it out of mine, that's for sure! :eek:

Well, I just had a look at seatbelts on howstuffworks. You guys are quite right, that thing must be the inertia part. Seemingly there are 2 system on the seatbelt reel, one that locks up if you unravel it too fast, and another that will instantly lock the belt under very rapid deceleration, this must be what we removed. I guess we'll have to have a go at WD40'ing it then.