Why is the drivers seat belt latch different than all the rest on my Magnum? Any ideas? Ben.

 

Anyone? Is mine the only one this way? BH

 

havent really noticed the difference. i'll try and look after work. my best guess is that it is because it is the only one that is sensored.

 

I would guess it's the only one not sensored. In a crash you would expect to always have a driver but not necessarily a passenger.

 

VIA500,
I'M TOTALLY CONFUSED...

 

Ben,

What do you mean by different? What model do you have?
Are you referring to color or design?

I checked all the belt latch's on my RT and they are all the same, front and rear.

Kind of reminds me of the old days when they built cars, here are a few examples:

My 63' Plymouth came with two different sized tires on it, the rights were one size bigger than the left side. 700x14 vs 750x14

Saw a 63' new Pontiac, one rear tail light was for a Catalina, the other was for a Bonneville.

I remember Hot Rod magazine doing an article on a Pontiac motor (new car), when they took off the heads, they found the motor had 7 domed pistons and 1 regular piston.


They don't build cars like they used to - thank goodness!

Bob

 

I have an RT. My drivers latch is physically different than the other latches. It's kind of rounded where the others have more exposed metal and some sort of plastic sliding piece on them. I'll bet it is due to a sensor too. Ben.

 

OH!

You mean the metal latch part that snaps into the seat belt lock.

Now I see, said the blind man...................................

I thought that you meant the receiver portion of the seat belt (female part)

You were talking about the male part, that plugs into the female part.

This all sounds so sexy...........

Just Kidding,

Bob

 

VIA500,
I'M TOTALLY CONFUSED...

Since we don't have seat belt buzzers anymore (just buzzers with a timer) the other reason to "sensor" a seatbelt latch is for the airbags. Don't know what DCX did (If I remember I'll check the 300Touring rental I have right now) but if a car is in a collision severe enough to set off the airbags don't you automaticallly assume there is a driver and set off that bag? But if the passenger is present but has their belt on I believe they can set off the bag at half force up to a certain speed. But if they are not wearing a belt then maybe full force at all times since that's the only thing to stop them from hitting the windshield. Who knows.
ANd then again maybe you got an early latch and the rest are changed for some reason?

 

Seat belt sensors are ther to determine how severe to deploy the bag and whether or not to deploy the seat belt tensioner (there is a charge in the seat belt retractor that will force it to cinch up in a wreck but only if you have it on). You wouldn't want the bag to deploy at full force if the occupant wasn't belted in---ouch in face. Both front seat belts have sensors on them.