Body System (01.00)

Body System (01.00)

Restraining Devices (01.20)

Seat Belts

This vehicle is installed with four inertia reel safety belts. The inertia belt reels automatically tension the belts to provide security with comfort. In the event of a collision or during severe braking, the belt reels will lock.

The driver and front passenger safety belt buckles are installed with a switch, which is connected to a warning indicator housed within the DIM. When the ignition is first turned on the warning indicator will illuminate only if the seat belt is not fastened. If the safety belt is fastened before the ignition is turned on the circuit is broken and the indicator will remain off.

Pre-tensioner and Load Limiting Systems

The driver and front passenger seat belts are equipped with pre-tensioner and load limiting systems.

When required, the front airbag and pre-tensioner systems will deploy simultaneously.

In some moderate frontal or near frontal accidents, only the pre-tensioner system will deploy.

The pre-tensioners take up slack in the front seat belts as the airbags are expanding. The load limiting system releases belt webbing in a controlled manner to reduce belt force on the occupant’s chest.

The Restraints Control Module (RCM) receives information on the status of the safety belt buckles from a switch contained in the buckle. Only fastened safety belts will activate.

The safety belt retractors, which are mounted within the base of the B pillars, incorporate a torsion bar load limiting device. This device consists of a retractor reel which is mounted onto a spindle (torsion bar) which once the sensor has locked the retractor reel and a predetermined load is applied, twists and allows additional webbing into the system. The deceleration force required to initiate this sequence is approximately the same as that required to initiate airbag deployment. The torsion bar load limiting device will only react if the safety belt is in use at the time of the impact.

Caution
It should be considered that during any event that utilizes the full capability of the safety belts, the webbing may have been elongated and the torsion bar may have twisted. For this reason, if a vehicle is involved in an accident which results in the deployment of the airbag(s), all the safety belts that were in use at the time of the accident MUST be renewed.