You probably put on your seat belt every time you step into your vehicle. But have you ever stopped and looked at the individual parts of the belt? Do you know what each of the parts is called and what their function is? Let me help you with one of the most important parts of the seat belt: the pretensioner.
The pretensioner—otherwise known as the buckle—is the female portion of a belt where the seat belt latches buckle into.
It operates by using an explosive charge to drive a concealed piston when the sensors perceive the distinctive abrupt deceleration of an accident. As a result, the piston very quickly drives the spool around which the fabric material of a seat belt is wrapped. The rapid retraction of the seat belt webbing removes the slack from the seat belt immediately. This additional seat belt “pre-” tension—right before the actual full force of collision—pulls occupants firmly against their seats. This allows them to receive the maximum protection benefit from the airbags located at the front of the car.
Usually, it is pretty easy to tell if the seat belt pretensioner is bad. You can scan your car with an OBD airbag scanning tool and check if any codes pop up. Even though this is the proper way, you can also visually inspect your seat belt buckle to see if anything is wrong with it. It will have a compressed, or “squished in” look if it is broken.
Now that you know where the seat belt pretensioner is and what its main function is, you should probably learn of a place where you can get it repaired if anything were to happen to it. Without a properly functioning seat belt pretensioner, the entire seat belt will not be able to operate properly! The company Safety Restore can help you with that. Not only does Safety Restore fix seat belt retractors; repair single-stage, dual-stage, and even triple-stage seat belts; but also it has a seat belt pretensioner repair service. The company performs quality repairs for an affordable price. Visit safetyrestore.com and see for yourself!
