fletch
01-21-2020, 12:39 AM
I won't admit to having solved this problem completely because I've only test fit these in my car with my seats, etc. But I figured I'd share in case anybody else can benefit. For background, I'm using OEM seats hardmounted to the FFR brackets. I've also got a front gas tank so I could move my seats rearward into the factory gas tank location. After spending weeks on getting the seats into a comfortable position, I discovered that the location of the wagon seatbelts was going to interfere.
From others, I learned there are two challenges with using the sedan install location:
1) The housings have tilt/lateral g sensors that prevent extension when not installed vertically.
2) The belts are not long enough to allow sufficient retraction to enable reset of the "retract only" operation.
I followed this post for overcoming the first challenge: https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?16273-Sedan-seat-belt-hack-tilt-sensor-delete
You may not prefer to do this since it eliminates a safety feature. I was comfortable with it.
For issue #2, I discovered the front seatbelts in the wagon are more than a foot longer than the rears. So I swapped the front belts into the rear housings. To do so, I consulted this website particularly for guidance on how to deal with the explosive pretensioners. http://www.airbagsystems.com
In my work life, I have some experience dealing with electrically initiated devices so I was comfortable dealing with this issue. You may not feel comfortable with it. If that's the case, don't do this.
Once the pretensioners were gone, it was just a matter of dealing with the mechanisms while removing the belts without scarring them. It really wasn't too hard. I didn't take many pictures, but would be happy to talk folks through it if there's interest.
There will need to be some small mods to the frame at the mounting locations. I'm saving that for later.
Completed seatbelts:
121019
All the leftover bits:
121020
From others, I learned there are two challenges with using the sedan install location:
1) The housings have tilt/lateral g sensors that prevent extension when not installed vertically.
2) The belts are not long enough to allow sufficient retraction to enable reset of the "retract only" operation.
I followed this post for overcoming the first challenge: https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?16273-Sedan-seat-belt-hack-tilt-sensor-delete
You may not prefer to do this since it eliminates a safety feature. I was comfortable with it.
For issue #2, I discovered the front seatbelts in the wagon are more than a foot longer than the rears. So I swapped the front belts into the rear housings. To do so, I consulted this website particularly for guidance on how to deal with the explosive pretensioners. http://www.airbagsystems.com
In my work life, I have some experience dealing with electrically initiated devices so I was comfortable dealing with this issue. You may not feel comfortable with it. If that's the case, don't do this.
Once the pretensioners were gone, it was just a matter of dealing with the mechanisms while removing the belts without scarring them. It really wasn't too hard. I didn't take many pictures, but would be happy to talk folks through it if there's interest.
There will need to be some small mods to the frame at the mounting locations. I'm saving that for later.
Completed seatbelts:
121019
All the leftover bits:
121020