Seat belt tensioner on '99 Dodge Ram?

F

Fred

Middle of the road
The passenger seat belt on my farm truck didn't work when I bought the truck. It was all the way out, and wouldn't go back in. As part of the purchase deal, I had them repair it. I don't know if they replaced the tensioner, or if there was some way to set it, but now I'm at the opposite end of the spectrum.

The seat belt worked for 2-3 months after the adjustment (or whatever they did), but it was always very touchy and would grab any time I hit a bump or decelerated. It got worse and worse until now the seat belt is all the way in and won't come out more than an inch or so...unless I work with it for 15 or more minutes. Then it comes out enough for my wife to get in and buckle up, but it locks up the next time she needs to use it.

Is there something in there I can adjust myself? Are these things hard to replace? I don't see any screws or anything holding it in when I look, and I'm not the most mechanical person ever born. My Haynes manual for the truck doesn't have any information about the seat belt mechanism at all, beyond "check to make sure it works every 6000 miles and repair or replace as necessary."

Any ideas from those of you who know more than me?

Thanks in advance.
 
P

Publius

TB Fanatic
There a lot of stuff I have played around with over the years but thats one part I have never fooled with and I don't think many here have either.:shr:
Take a chance and open it up it can't be to complicated.
 
O

Old Retailer

Member
Fred, I've had a couple of Rams and the belts always seemed to "stick" a little but never as bad as you describe. 2 things are at work, first is the retraction mechanism. It's a sort of ratchet affair, similar to a tape measure. It should work all the time. The 2nd is a weighted pendulum that when you brake should lock the seat belt and not let it extend. As far as I know there isn't an adjustment. It could be dirty or poorly made with rough edges, etc.
Most of the interior body panels snap on. As you wiggle them you can figure out where the fastener is and use the special tool or a thin screwdriver to help you pop them off. Then you can clean and lube the mechanism or hit a junk yard for a replacement.
Hope this helps. Also, you should find a Dodge discussion forum, I'm sure this problem has been covered, and if not someone there can give you better advice.
Good luck!
o.r.
 
F

Fred

Middle of the road
Thanks, guys. Old Retailer, I did what you suggested and looked for Dodge forums (oddly enough, there's one at dodgeforum.com ;) ) and searched there. I'd been searching with Google and not had any luck, but on the forum I was able to get right to a whole section on my truck's generation.

Lots of people have had the problem, and the common culprit is a rollover detection system under the seat. If it comes loose and flips over, the truck thinks it's flipped and locks the seat belts. Generally, when only one belt is doing this, it's just the connection to that rollover box. I'm at my office right now and can't go look, but I'm hoping it's that.

Thanks again for the suggestions!
 
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