Hi all, I was searching around for seatbelt retractor info and found some stuff from Camaro69 a few years back where he said he was able to tighten up his spring a little bit. Has anyone else done this? I tried to PM him but no luck. I looked at mine and it appears as though the spring cover is plastic welded in place. If I was to shave off those spots so the cover was loose and then be able to wind the spring a bit tighter I'm not sure how I would re-attach the cover. Otherwise, where is best place to get replacements?
Thanks!
Jeff

 

Never got a PM, so don't know what's up with that. Retractors I have tightened up either had the cover snapping in place, or held on with steel tabs that you un-bend or twist. With the case being metal, I'm not following how the plastic cover is "welded in place". A close up picture of yours would probably help. Have you tried prying the cover up just a little to see if it will come off? Hang on to that spring cover though, you're not trying to totally remove it, unless you enjoy the "snakes in a can" trick.

 

Not sure why I can't PM but maybe you can have the webmaster enlighten me as to checking a box or something.
The "welded" refers to plastic posts through the metal base that are then heated and mushroomed so they hold the plastic panel in place, however when I looked at it more closely I see it is a split pin anchor with a pin in the middle that spreads apart the two halves of the pin. So, if I can get all four of those anchors open with out losing it and hold it close with one hand, which way do I turn it to tighten it up? It's the drivers side belt I'm working on and as the belt is pulled out the reel unwinds in a clockwise direction when viewing it from the side that I would be cracking open.

 

Gently lock the retractor in a vice, or with a c-clamp while working on the keepers, that way it won't get away from you. With the reel turning clockwise to unwind, you should be turning the cover counter-clockwise to tighten. You'll feel the resistance in the cover though.
Sent you a test PM, but there aren't any special boxes you need to check.

 

Thanks! I'll try it soon and let you know if it worked.

 

OK I got the retractor out of the car but both sides say "do not remove" on them and look pretty much the same. How can I tell which side to open up? I will attempt pictures but am not sure if I can figure that out. Last time I tried that my pics were denied because they were too big I think.

 

Well, I rotated one side, put it back together and now it won't retract at all. Should I rotate the other side too to make it equal?

 

Well, taking off the other side didn't help except that it did somehow make it start retracting again, not sure how. But one complete rotation on the first side was not enough so I did it again and it is better. Now that I know how to do it I will probably give it one more rotation and that should do it. Then it's over to the passenger side.
Thanks!

 

Well it sure felt like it was stronger but once all was done it just doesn't snap all the way back like I wanted. All I wanted was the belt to retract enough so it doesn't get caught in the door when it closes. Guess i will just have to get used to flipping the belt back onto the seat before I close the door or maybe I will try a few more revolutions.

 

The ones I have reworked (older) had only one side covered for the spring. Without having one of yours in my hand, I can't say for sure why there's one on each side, other than perhaps there's a spring on both sides. If so, you would rotate them in opposite directions to tighten up the spring. With the cover pried away slightly, you should be able to peek inside and see the spring.