Seatbelts shredding

[Huffer]

Does anyone else have issues with their seatbelts shredding themselves?

On both my sedan and the wagon, the most used seatbelt (drivers) is shredding - seemingly because of the plastic trim on the B-pillar, or because of something lower in the inner panel.

My seatbelt is starting to look like Donald Trump's comb over...
:evil:

[ivwarrior]

Not having the problem myself. I was looking on the Subaru website for something else earlier, and noticed that at least some Subaru vehicles have lifetime coverage on the seatbelts. I checked all the years listed, and they only mention the seat belts for the 06 and 07 model years. I don't know if it only applies to them, or if it's just because they list more detail for those two years than the older models. Worth checking with your local dealer or SOA before spending any money, though.


Seat Belt Lifetime Limited Warranty
SEAT BELT COVERAGE lasts for the useful life of the vehicle and includes seat belts and related components which fail to function properly during normal use. This warranty does not apply to cosmetic appearance, such as color fading, when the seat belts function properly. Coverage also excludes any electrical related components or body anchor points.

[tekkitan]

not having the problem myself, yet. *keeps fingers crossed*

[Cajual]

Does anyone else have issues with their seatbelts shredding themselves?

On both my sedan and the wagon, the most used seatbelt (drivers) is shredding - seemingly because of the plastic trim on the B-pillar, or because of something lower in the inner panel.

My seatbelt is starting to look like Donald Trump's comb over...
:evil:

Yeap, same problem here.

[Huffer]

Ok so today the fabric jammed up the internal roller mechanism at the bottom of the door frame... and I spent 10mins pulling slowly on the belt trying to coax it up without activating the locking mechanism.

I'm going to try swapping the belt with the passenger side if possible, otherwise I'm gonna have to chunk down and get a new belt and figure out why it's shredding itself.

[rougeben83]

Check your dealership. IIRC safety and emissions equipment have a separate warranty good for 10 years. (federally mandated)

[Huffer]

Ok, so I checked out why the belts are shredding.

The angle of the belt exiting the interior trim panel creates a groove (over time) from the edge of the belt fabric. Over time, the belt will occasionally catch on the sharp edge of the groove, nicking the flat surface of the belt.

This will result in the belt eventually shredding and continuing to catch on the plastic.

Last night I removed the interior plastic trim, and use a rough sander to smooth the groove out (basically cut out the groove) and buff the sharp plastic edge.

Hopefully that will extend the life of the new belts I'm getting from legacysti95. :)