Seat Belt Receiver Removal

[Electrohacker]

I just bought the cheap stanley torx set from walmart and replaced the part fro $5 at the scrapyard... happened to me in... 06? I was on my way home and it wouldnt buckle

I sat on the belt buckle as to not get a ticket

 

[Baileybc]

Thanks alot to all of you!! I replaced my seatbelt receiver with (sumwhat) of an ease! DR and Tanks are right.. you don't need to remove the drivers seat or center console Again thanks alot for the help!

This is an excellent thread on the buckle replacement, which needed for my 1997 XLT. I will also have a look for the dime and hope for the best. Apparently aftermarket belts may not interface with the air bag. Is the G-switch in the bag or in the buckle assembly?

 

[Baileybc]

97 XLT Driver Side Seat Removal with T-50 Torx

this is the way to go fellas. on my 97, just take the 10mm bolt that mounts the seat belt bracket to the seat, then move up the seat all the way to the front. there's plenty of wiggle in the rail so you can take out the T-50 bolt.

thanks for all the help here!

Ford dealer in Bend sells the 97 XLT driver side seat belt buckle for $75 and discounted to $68. You can purchase used on eBay for around $25 including shipping, but how much service time is on the used part is problematic, so decided to suck up the extra cost for new for the part that failed at 13 yrs, about 18,000 service cycles. The 4 10 mm bolts can be removed in 5 minutes, using the electric seat control to offer the best removal position. Removed the T-50 bolt on the belt slide rail. With the 4 10 mm and Torx removed, the seat can be slid sideways to allow easy access the the T-50 bolt securing the buckle end to the slide rail. Vacuumed around the seat floor to remove the Border Collie hairs and general dirt/dog biscuits. Without any cleaning, the disassembly/reassembly should take 15 minutes or less. Sears sells the T-50 socket for $6.80 or Western Tools for $4.99.

The seat removal is so easy, removed the passenger seat to clean under the seat. Will post a picture of the operation.

The old belt ID was TC752, new belt TD783. A temporary "fix" for the broken buckle is to reload the broken locking tab with a small screwdriver, using the latter to push the broken tab back into place. Works...sort of....but the replacement process is very easy.

 

[NCRYPTD]

I had a bad dealer experience with my '95's driver seatbelt. I described as best I could that the belt would come unbuckled, and the latch button didn't really pop back up fully. I thought surely they would test it to see what I was talking about. At the time, I presumed you had to buy the whole seat belt, not realizing you could buy the two parts separately. I waited at the dealership for the repair to be done, and they never came out and asked me anymore questions about it.

When I went to leave, the seatbelt came unbuckled right off, so I went back in, and told them they didn't fix it. Well they had replaced the whole belt part, but not the short stub with the latch on it. This is when I learned you could buy the parts separately. So they took it back in and replaced the latch end part, but would not refund. and reinstall my old belt. So it ended up costing me close to $300 I think it was.

That was the first time my dealer had really screwed me over, but it really pissed me off!

 

[margaretia]

having to replace the seat belt buckle. pulled the console off and such. but i can't get the T50 bolt that holds the seat belt buckle undone for anything!!! is it spot welded or something??

 

[Joe Dirt]

Nope, the threads are rusted. Try some PB Blaster under the truck.

You may have to get a breaker bar, 1/2 of the trucks I pull them off I have to use my 24" breaker bar to pop them loose.

 

[cray06]

Report Problem

why doesnt everyone just report the problem with the seat belt and get explorer to do a recall?

seems legit... nhtsa.gov

 

[Vallan]

Just replaced mine this evening. Rear bolt on seat closest to drivers door would not come off. This bolt goes all the way through (you can see light through the hole after you get it out). I soaked it w/ PB Blaster from top. Would have tried some from underside had I known. Finally loosed it with breaker bar.

After getting bolts out of seat and power connector, I used the T-50 bit to turn the round plastic cap on the rear rail plastic cover on floor. It helps if you use a small flat blade to pry the round cap slightly as you unscrew it with t-50 bit and cap will pop off. Then you can get to the metal t-50 torx screw. Remove it, then remove the power connector to the seat belt buckle receiver (connector will be in the carpet slit). Now seat is loose. Pull it 6 in toward the drivers side door. From back seat drivers door you can kneel on floor with the weight of the seat and your left hand pushing the support rail down against the floor you can use your right hand with some leverage to remove the final torx screw attaching the buckle assembly to the seat belt rail. My local dealership linked to ford parts online and wanted $73. I checked Tousley Ford (click link at bottom of the ford parts online page and change dealers. Use 55110 to find Tousley. You can try other dealerships this way and it will re-price your entire shopping cart with new dealers prices) thanks to a tip on this forum and they had it for $53.48

BELT & BKLE ASY FRT ST
Part #: F57Z7861203D

Which my local dealership matched. Also got a replacement inside rear door handle price matched.

 

[kb5rra]

I purchased the reciever end of the seat belt at a junk yard for 20 bux, I removed the seat, mostly because I wanted to see all the crap accumulated under the seat and clean under there. It was a T-50 torx socket for the seat and rail. Taking my time, the whole process took me an hour to remove and reinstall everything. This is the first time I have ever took a seat out or replaced a Seat belt. And yes, a Total Rookie Can do it, if you have the right tools. I had to borrow the T-50 Socket but had the 10 mm socket.

 

[nona]

seat belt!

Thanks guys!!! Half hour and two dollars later and this girl has a seat belt again. your tips were great, what a relief! Now I don't need to wrap paper around the male end to make it stay in there.

 

[monzaguy]

Ford Explorer seat belt sourse

These are hard to find however I was able to get a nice used OEM buckle from a place called seat belts usa.

they had several colors to choose from and it came fairly quick like 3 days or so.

here is a link if anyone is interested
http://www.seatbeltsusa.net/servlet/the-151/1995-dsh-1997-Ford-explorer-RF/Detail

 

[alii06]

Great instructions, swapped out driver side receiver within an hour. Thank you to all that contributed to this thread.

 

[steambird]

this is the way to go fellas. on my 97, just take the 10mm bolt that mounts the seat belt bracket to the seat, then move up the seat all the way to the front. there's plenty of wiggle in the rail so you can take out the T-50 bolt.

thanks for all the help here!

Tanks has it right. Unless you really want to clean under the seat, there is no reason to remove it or the center console. I removed the 10mm holding the seat belt bracket to the seat with a box end ratchet, then the T-50 at the back of the seat that is holding the seat belt rail to the floor. Next, move the seat all the way forward and then you can move the rail a good 3" away from the center console. That is enough to get to the T-50 holding the buckle. Mine came loose pretty easy.

 

[1992fordgreen]

This is an old thread FYI...

When I removed my seat belt receiver, it was a 2 day process, (isn't everything?) The dumb bolt was caked in Locktite tape. Nasty stuff. Always keep a can of PB blaster close by.