Seat belt help

[Dumont]

OK, so my 79 had a pretty stiff and crusty webbing on the drivers side. I decided to send it in to Seatbeltplanet for rewebbing. They did a fine job (though not perfect but I'll keep that to myself), added a bit of length because my six pack is is now a twelve. The new webbing is nicer.

Unfortunately I have a worse problem, that I had hoped new webbing would fix but hasn't. The dang belt is like a vise on my shoulder. It's not locked up, moves freely and has plenty of extra length but the return spring feels like it's constantly trying to crush my shoulder. Our 2015 Kia feels like air on the shoulder. My brother's 83 911 is likewise nothing like this.

My question is what can be done. I don't want to use any of the seat belt "fixes" like extra buckles or a stop clip, I've tried them and they stink.

I talked to Seatbeltplanet and they said they've never heard of this problem and that no one has ever approached them with such a complaint. I find it hard to believe I'm the only person this has happened to.

All I know is it's painful to use.

[jjeffries]

I think new cars can use a softer - and thus more comfortable - return spring because the modern seat belt system (emphasis on "system") also has pyrotechnic pre-tensioners to cinch up the belt when the doody hits the fan and the car knows you need to be pulled back into your seat. That wasn't in the cards when your car was built, so a stiff spring was required to make the belt do what was needed without other assistance. I may or may not be correct in this belief.

I too find the 911 seat belts a bit tight, but I tend to lay the seatback to a more reclined position, for other reasons, and that ameliorates the issue.

Best of luck, John in CT

[echecsqueen]

Can you share what you were unhappy about with the rewebbing?
re "they did a fine job, though not perfect"

[Dumont]

It's really not worth mentioning. I'm sure they do fine work almost all the time. The webbing turned out fine they simply neglected one of the finer points we discussed. It didn't have any bearing on the functionality.

I will say that their customer support is middling in my experience.

[echecsqueen]

Thank you