Hi guys, got a Astra H estate with jammed seatbelt and so far hitting it and slaming seat hasnt dont anything, Any ideas what could be wrong? Anyway my idea is to coil up the belt hanging out and push behind seat out of the way, (belt all ready unbolted from under seat so i could get seat in its upright position) so after that, my idea is to install a lapbelt, the only reason for doing this is to get car through its mot as i never use middle seat and have no intention on selling car, Would this work? and is it legal? with the astras having 3 point in the back middle normally. Thanks.
middle seat belt.
- Thread starter rabu
- Start date
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Just get one off ebay.
as in get a lap belt from ebay? Would i need new clip? looking a them they seem standard and my clip works, just not the belt, was going to replace the entire belt, but its a job and half to get to in the back of the seat, and vauxhall just want to rip me of with a new one. so came to the conclusion of just wrap it up, throw out of the way and use the existing clip and install a lap belt just to pass MOT.
So is the plug bit stuck in the socket bit or is the belt jammed? Bit confused. What do you mean by clip?
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sorry. The belt clip (where the belt goes into with red button) is 100% fine and working and want to reuse this with new lap belt if i can. The belt retracting mechanisim is knacked inside the seat so i have about foot and half of belt hanging about (curently tied up and chucked behind seat) so just want to do away with it, install a lap belt and use existing clip with it, that way it will have 5 working belts to pass MOT.
Ahh of course, gotcha, maybe worth a search of the vauxhall forums though eg http://www.astraownersclub.com/vb/showthread.php?t=166147 I would imagine that to pass an MOT the belt must perform as well or better than the original so a lap belt would fail I would guess.
all ready tried that site didnt get 1 reply. I thought to pass it must just have all belts and clips working, retracting system is allowed to be "assisted" to push belt in. But thats what Haynes manual said about them, that the clip and locking system is checked. So in throry if all 5 belts work, and lock and clips work it should pass.
Must admit I don't know if it would be legal / meet MOT requirements to fit a lap belt where a three-point used to be fitted. It's obviously fine if the car had a lap belt originally, but that's not the situation in this case.
One word of caution, the belt buckles and tongues are NOT always interchangeable! SOME of them will work fine, some will appear to click-in but won't actually be properly secure, and some will simply not click at all.
One word of caution, the belt buckles and tongues are NOT always interchangeable! SOME of them will work fine, some will appear to click-in but won't actually be properly secure, and some will simply not click at all.
tried looking over internet, DVLA, Vosa... and cant find anything about 3 point to lap swap over. Annoying as i only need it to get though mot, never use back middle, only ever use 1 back seat, and wont be selling car, alwaysjust look after them and eventualy scrap/ break when they get to the end of the life. just dont fancy payin Vaxhalll £££ on something i only need to get a certificate and will never use.
Just to add to the thoughts already expressed here I agree that any alteration to the original spec in terms of seat belts is likely to result in a fail so I don't think you will get away with fitting a lap belt. But at the end of the day, it's your choice.
may try and contact VOSA since its there name on the mot certs, just the way i read it is says in the mot they dont look at the belt as such, just check for cuts in it, and make sure the clip holds and relieses belt when button pressed, and that the locking mechanisim works, doesnt say anything about the type of belt. Thanks for the replys and anymore are welcome.
If you fit a different belt than the locking mechanism was designed for the seatbelt would no longer meet 'Approvals Certification' plus if the vehicle was ever involved in an accident considerable complications could well be met with insurance claims even if the belt was not being used at the time of the accident.
Just ring an MOT garage.
The type approval requirements cease to apply once the vehicle is registered though. From that point it's governed by the Construction & Use Regulations. Can't remember what they have to say about seat belts though. One problem is that for seat belt ANCHORAGES, they say that those have to meet the requirements of the EC Directive on belt anchorages and the ones for a lap belt have to be proportionally a bit stronger than the ones for a 3-point belt (as there are only 2 of them), so by fitting a lap belt, the car wouldn't comply with C&U, and would therefore technically be illegal. Whether or not an MOT inspector could fail the OP for that is a different matter though!
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