Seat belts

Archives of Posts to the NZ MX5 List back in 2004
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EricW
See my 5 and raise you.
See my 5 and raise you.
Posts: 95
Joined: Wed May 24, 2006 7:07 pm
Location: Whangaparaoa

Seat belts

Post by EricW » Fri Dec 03, 2004 8:59 am

I did post this to the list yesterday from work, but forgot I am not
subscribed there so it might not get on, apologies in advance if it turns up
again.

As I promised Fletch, I had a yarn with Stephen Cropp at Seatbelts and
Services in Industry Rd Penrose.

The story is that, if a webbing grabber can be fitted, it must be fitted when
replacing existing belts. However Steve was very frank that he finds any
excuse that he can get away with to avoid fitting them.

His reasons for this opinion are:

The movement allowed by the stretch in a conventional belt reduces the "G
loading" in an impact, a grabber simply stops you dead (literally)

He feels that they are dangerous when used with pyrotechnic pre-tensioners as
these are designed to absorb stretch at a controlled rate and there is no
stretch with a grabber, (the tensioner usually operates on the socket part of
the belt buckle, firing it downwards as the tensioner goes off. With a
grabber, this simply puts more load on a rigid belt).

They cannot be dismantled, so cannot be repaired, requiring replacement even
for the most minor damage

You cannot buy a belt with a buckle sensor, so if you retro-fit a grabber,
your seat belt warning lights stop working. Apparently the current practice is
to swap the existing sensor probe back onto the new belt, unless it has been
in an accident, but since you can't dismantle a grabber belt, this is no
longer an option.

Grabbers apparently have a top attachment point which inhibits the action of
the vertical adjusters found on many cars.

In point of fact, this is probably not relevant to the MX5, as his
recollection is that the grabber is too tall to fit in the available space.
The cost to replace MX5 belts with non-grabber types is $190.00 Plus GST per
side.

I have no expertise at all in this field, so if anyone disagrees with the
reported comments above, please don't shoot the messenger!

Regards

Eric

MX5PWR
Need, more, 5-ing, time....
Need, more, 5-ing, time....
Posts: 127
Joined: Mon May 08, 2006 6:32 pm
Location: Auckland

Seat belts

Post by MX5PWR » Fri Dec 03, 2004 9:46 am

Don from Autoway services in Hamilton (club member and sponsor) has advised
that the webbing grabber belts will not fit the MX5. Replacement belts are
around $135 each and can be fitted yourself.

Nigel

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it's a clattery noise emanating from under the hood, kinda diesel-ish
... imagine a 100hp hamster running in his hamster wheel with little
teaspoons attached to his feet :D


On Fri, 3 Dec 2004 08:40:27 +1300, dscotland@repco.co.nz
<dscotland@repco.co.nz> wrote:
[...]

Ian Chapman

Seat belts

Post by Ian Chapman » Fri Dec 03, 2004 10:02 am

I live in fear at WOF time of getting our seat belts failed as they
don't retract 'neatly' and fully - they rub a little and the last bit
always go in all the way. I had one inspector "ohhhh" and play a little
and said he would let it go but I should look at getting them fixed
(replaced).

I took the trim panel off and determined there is too much belt on the
pulley due to the low height of the 'b' pillar mount compared to a
sedan. That is: the short distance from the mechanism mount (low behind
seat) up to the top 'pulley' then down to the catch (and the catch sits
higher due to low floor - seat height) is a lot shorter on an MX than
most cars that run up the 'b' pillar to head height.

Ours is a Jap import so has NZ generic replacement belts fitted - not
sure if NZ new cars had a shorter length belt specifically for small
cars that means this isn't an issue.

Anyone been failed because their belt didn't fully retract?

Ian

Michael & Kate Cooper

Seat belts

Post by Michael & Kate Cooper » Fri Dec 03, 2004 1:10 pm

The belts on our MX5 (mainly the driver's) have not retracted fully for a
few years now. Have had it pass a WOF at three different places with no
problems. Surely it's not a safety factor if it doesn't wind up all the
way - it's how it works when it's round your middle that counts. Only
problem seems to be when you slam it in the door all the time due to it
hanging down - the webbing is more likely to get damaged.

Kate Cooper

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