rfg@hound.UUCP (R.GRANTGES) (02/23/86)
The retractor on the driver's shoulder belt in my 1975 Chrysler Newport has stopped working. The retractor on the lap belt still works fine. My dealer says it will cost $100 for the assembly (plus labor) to fix it. Do I have any alternatives? Can I get an assembly from a junk yard or ...? Is it something even an idiot (well, slow learner) can do? Or should I just keep driving around with a loose shoulder belt and rely on the iron mass up front to deal with all the hondas, etc I might run into? What if I hit a Mack truck? Thanks in advance. -- "It's the thought, if any, that counts!" Dick Grantges hound!rfg
kitten@hao.UUCP (03/03/86)
> The retractor on the driver's shoulder belt in my 1975 Chrysler > Newport has stopped working. The retractor on the lap belt still > works fine. > My dealer says it will cost $100 for the assembly (plus labor) to > fix it. Do I have any alternatives? Can I get an assembly from a > junk yard or ...? ** I had a simimlar problem when I got my car used. The passenger belt had a GM belt latch (on a FORD!). Belt latches are easy, those you can get at a junk yard. But the shoulder belt on the driver's belt is badly frayed, in a bad accident it would break. The FORD dealer said it would cost $200 to fix (back in 1980) because unlike the latches (which are bolted) the shoulder mechanism is *welded* to the car body. I don't know if this is the case in your car. The dealer told me that it's the only way to get it fixed, because of some DOT law about seat belt repairs. He may've been B.S.ing me, I don't know. So far I've been living with it. When I get my car replaced I'll be breathing easier. I suggest pricing around. Heck, your life is worth much more than $100. {ucbvax!hplabs | nbires | decvax!noao | mcvax!seismo | ihnp4!seismo} !hao!kitten CSNET: kitten@NCAR ARPA: kitten%ncar@CSNET-RELAY
chrise@ihlpl.UUCP (Chris Edmonds) (03/04/86)
> car body. I don't know if this is the case in your car. The dealer > told me that it's the only way to get it fixed, because of some DOT > law about seat belt repairs. He may've been B.S.ing me, I don't know. It ain't BS! I talked to a legal beagle at the Nat Highway Trans Safety Board a couple of years ago when my car was badly damaged. Read your owners manual! It says if it isn't working right or has been used in a serious accident to replace it. The NHTSA explained it quite simply....you see there is NO WAY OF NON-DESTRUTIVELY TESTING YOUR SEAT BELTS ABILITY TO HOLD YOU IN PLACE DURING AN ACCIDENT. So DOT certifies that the manufacturers can make good belts then tells you to replace it if damaged. I had to fight my insurance company to get them to cover it. Their approach is equally simple...it cheaper to pay for one or two accidents where the seat belts don't work than it is to put new belts in every badly wrecked and rebuilt car. Its your life...and its a free country... Chris Edmonds @ AT&T Something-or-Other, Naperville, IL ...!ihnp4!ihlpl!chrise