Seat Belt Questions
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From: Pinellas County, FL
Seat Belt Questions
Between 87-96 I have seen many variations in color of the belt spindle end cap. For instance I forget what color my 88' is but these are out of a 90' (light blue) and 92' I have seen orange. I assume they all mechanically function the same?
Can they be extra wound to add more tension to the seat belt? Has anyone ever re-spooled it with new belt like of a different color? My black leather seats now are calling for more black contrast in my interior I have replaced almost all the blue interior with grey a more neutral color. So I figured I could hit up a junkyard possibly find the same BMW I took the seats from if not a nice Cattilac or something with black interior and black belts with a nice more modern fabric material. The Dakota male clip does not fit into the BMW seat female clip so I am having the BMW male clips sewed onto the Dakota spools, since I already have everything cut and apart though I would rather use black has anyone else taken these spools apart??
Can they be extra wound to add more tension to the seat belt? Has anyone ever re-spooled it with new belt like of a different color? My black leather seats now are calling for more black contrast in my interior I have replaced almost all the blue interior with grey a more neutral color. So I figured I could hit up a junkyard possibly find the same BMW I took the seats from if not a nice Cattilac or something with black interior and black belts with a nice more modern fabric material. The Dakota male clip does not fit into the BMW seat female clip so I am having the BMW male clips sewed onto the Dakota spools, since I already have everything cut and apart though I would rather use black has anyone else taken these spools apart??
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From: NM
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From: Pinellas County, FL
I spent a lot of time on these stupid custom seat belts and I think I fked them up!! I think I winded them backwards and now they do not have any spring tension what so ever, so I removed those caps on the side that say do not remove on them lol. The springs look like I screwed them up and bent them out of shape, I have no idea what they are suppose to look like but seeing how they are both different looking they must not be right.
Should I try bending them back into the shape they are suppose to be in or replace the spring caps? If I go to a junkyard and remove just these caps can I put them on my spools or are they screwed as soon as they are removed? I figured if I unwind the belt before I remove the caps the springs will stay in their original shape then I can put them on mine? This is really frustrating!
Should I try bending them back into the shape they are suppose to be in or replace the spring caps? If I go to a junkyard and remove just these caps can I put them on my spools or are they screwed as soon as they are removed? I figured if I unwind the belt before I remove the caps the springs will stay in their original shape then I can put them on mine? This is really frustrating!
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From: NM
I think your going to have to replace the entire seat belt assembly. Those springs are a mess to get back together.
To retention the spring you will need to wrap it tight against a body possibly with heat at the right temperature and heat rate and cooling rate ect. Unless you know the specs needed its not worth it.
To retention the spring you will need to wrap it tight against a body possibly with heat at the right temperature and heat rate and cooling rate ect. Unless you know the specs needed its not worth it.
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From: Pinellas County, FL
Well, no local regular cab Dakota's in junkyards I have already raped them all so I tried pulling some new spools from a crew cab. They are different with their mount against the wall and not the floor...but the recoil springs are the same!
To answer my own question and for anyone else in the future THIS is what a correct recoil spring should look like:
The orange cap/spring is from a 95' and the spool is from a 90' (they are both the same) and the spool on the right is my original 1988 spool. Appears the very first year or two used a different style than all the later years up through 1996. I was able to take the quad cab spools unwind them gently all the way, then unscrew the coil cap and remove it WITH the black plate under it and the spinny thing inside it already (remove all 3 pieces as a single assembly). The regular cabs use the same exact spool on both sides (one flipped/both wind same direction) and the quad cab has a different left and right side, I used the orange springs as for the red ones wind in the opposite direction (I used a front and rear spring from the same side of the cab). So that is a 1990 spool with a 1996 spring cap, with a black belt from a Mustang GT and a male buckle clip from a BMW 740i for my seats what a pain in the *** this setup was to create with all the trail and error lol Dakota's to my knowledge did not come with black belts:
I used the pins from the 90' spool which are plastic, after I winded them up I realized the 95' had metal pins (the stopper pin inside the spool) so there were seat belt changes: 88 had a whole different style, 90 was the new style with plastic pins and 95' was the new style with metal pins. I will be rewinding the metal pins soon maybe the plastic ones don't hold up/break during an accident:
I live above a seamstress she has nice sewing machines and knows her stuff so she was able to sew the Mustang belts onto the BMW seat mounts and with a stronger stitch then from the factory too, way stronger! This will hold even the fattest fluck from flying through my windshield:
To answer my own question and for anyone else in the future THIS is what a correct recoil spring should look like:
The orange cap/spring is from a 95' and the spool is from a 90' (they are both the same) and the spool on the right is my original 1988 spool. Appears the very first year or two used a different style than all the later years up through 1996. I was able to take the quad cab spools unwind them gently all the way, then unscrew the coil cap and remove it WITH the black plate under it and the spinny thing inside it already (remove all 3 pieces as a single assembly). The regular cabs use the same exact spool on both sides (one flipped/both wind same direction) and the quad cab has a different left and right side, I used the orange springs as for the red ones wind in the opposite direction (I used a front and rear spring from the same side of the cab). So that is a 1990 spool with a 1996 spring cap, with a black belt from a Mustang GT and a male buckle clip from a BMW 740i for my seats what a pain in the *** this setup was to create with all the trail and error lol Dakota's to my knowledge did not come with black belts:
I used the pins from the 90' spool which are plastic, after I winded them up I realized the 95' had metal pins (the stopper pin inside the spool) so there were seat belt changes: 88 had a whole different style, 90 was the new style with plastic pins and 95' was the new style with metal pins. I will be rewinding the metal pins soon maybe the plastic ones don't hold up/break during an accident:
I live above a seamstress she has nice sewing machines and knows her stuff so she was able to sew the Mustang belts onto the BMW seat mounts and with a stronger stitch then from the factory too, way stronger! This will hold even the fattest fluck from flying through my windshield: