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3 total messages Started by R.GRANTGES Sun, 23 Feb 1986 05:46
Shoulder Belt Retractor Failure - How Do I Fix It?
#722
Author: R.GRANTGES
Date: Sun, 23 Feb 1986 05:46
13 lines
1173 bytes
The retractor on the driver's shoulder belt in my 1975 Chrysler
Newport has stopped working.  The retractor on the lap belt still
works fine.
My dealer says it will cost $100 for the assembly (plus labor) to
fix it.  Do I have any alternatives? Can I get an assembly from a 
junk yard or ...? Is it something even an idiot (well, slow learner)
can do?  Or should I just keep driving around with a loose shoulder
belt and rely on the iron mass up front to deal with all the hondas,
etc I might run into?  What if I hit a Mack truck?
Thanks in advance.
-- 

"It's the thought, if any, that counts!"  Dick Grantges  hound!rfg
Re: Shoulder Belt Retractor Failure - How Do I Fix It?
#748
Author: kitten
Date: Sun, 02 Mar 1986 23:18
24 lines
1842 bytes
> The retractor on the driver's shoulder belt in my 1975 Chrysler
> Newport has stopped working.  The retractor on the lap belt still
> works fine.
> My dealer says it will cost $100 for the assembly (plus labor) to
> fix it.  Do I have any alternatives? Can I get an assembly from a 
> junk yard or ...?
**
I had a simimlar problem when I got my car used.  The passenger belt
had a GM belt latch (on a FORD!).  Belt latches are easy, those you
can get at a junk yard.  But the shoulder belt on the driver's belt
is badly frayed, in a bad accident it would break.  The FORD dealer
said it would cost $200 to fix (back in 1980) because unlike the
latches (which are bolted) the shoulder mechanism is *welded* to the
car body.  I don't know if this is the case in your car.  The dealer
told me that it's the only way to get it fixed, because of some DOT
law about seat belt repairs.  He may've been B.S.ing me, I don't know.
So far I've been living with it.  When I get my car replaced I'll be
breathing easier.  I suggest pricing around.  Heck, your life is worth
much more than $100.

{ucbvax!hplabs | nbires | decvax!noao | mcvax!seismo | ihnp4!seismo}
       		               !hao!kitten

CSNET: kitten@NCAR  ARPA: kitten%ncar@CSNET-RELAY
Re: Shoulder Belt Retractor Failure - How Do I Fix It?
#752
Author: Chris Edmonds
Date: Tue, 04 Mar 1986 18:07
18 lines
1683 bytes
> car body.  I don't know if this is the case in your car.  The dealer
> told me that it's the only way to get it fixed, because of some DOT
> law about seat belt repairs.  He may've been B.S.ing me, I don't know.

It ain't BS!  I talked to a legal beagle at the Nat Highway Trans Safety
Board a couple of years ago when my car was badly damaged.   Read your owners
manual!  It says if it isn't working right or has been used in a serious
accident to replace it.   The NHTSA explained it quite simply....you
see there is NO WAY OF NON-DESTRUTIVELY TESTING YOUR SEAT BELTS ABILITY
TO HOLD YOU IN PLACE DURING AN ACCIDENT.   So DOT certifies that the 
manufacturers can make good belts then tells you to replace it if damaged.

I had to fight my insurance company to get them to cover it.  Their 
approach is equally simple...it cheaper to pay for one or two accidents
where the seat belts don't work than it is to put new belts in every
badly wrecked and rebuilt car.   Its your life...and its a free country...

Chris Edmonds @ AT&T Something-or-Other, Naperville, IL ...!ihnp4!ihlpl!chrise
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