well after a weekend of wheeling with the doors off and the top down my passenger belt would not come out. when you pull on it, it would lock after a inch or so of movement. I took the whole seatbelt assembly out but i suggest you DONT NOT DO THIS. You can do this while everything is still in the jeep and you don't mess with the spring in there.

step 1. take off the cover that hides the lower section of the seatbelt


step 2. now looking at the right side of the lower assembly (the side facing the back of the jeep). take a small flat head screw driver and pop off the plastic piece

step 3. remove this small ball (in the squareish box) from the rest and this should be the problem. this ball kept the seatbelt locked because there was so much mud caked in there. i just sprayed it out with a compressor. try not to use wd40 or a lubricant because mud will get attracted to it.


step 4. once the ball is cleaned put everything back together and you should be good to go.

most of my picture will not upload. i have about 3 or 4 if you need me to send them to you just private message me.

 

The retractor was stuck. It's the piece that engages under heavy load that doesn't allow the belt to pay out, i.e. in the event of a collision, it keeps the belt tight before the tensioners fire. I've had one of these hang up in a regular passenger car. Short of taking the whole pillar apart to access the seatbelt assembly, what I did was literally, hang on the belt in a downward direction to get it to retract just a few more millimeters into the spool assembly, and success! That last click released it and the belt would pay out again by pulling on it.

Good writeup in case it does get perma-stuck. Sometimes banging on the assembly will get it to release, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend that with the nice plastic trim that covers these assemblies.

 

My passenger sides stuck too, but I've never taken it off road, just need to find time to get it in to the dealer. But this write up will help if the dealer "can't replicate the problem"

 

Good write up. This is good to know, thanks for the info.

 

This just happened to me today, as soon as I'm off work Ill try it! The dealer wants 700 to replace seatbelts. Ripoff.

 

Worked perfectly!

 

I checked with the dealer and it's $500 for parts alone to replace the seatbelt retractor. I followed your instructions, and fixed it myself! The only thing I'd add is to be careful of the little spring that comes loose. As long as you are mindful when taking the plastic off, it's no problem.
For me the problem wasn't mud buildup, but the "hat" on the ball just got stuck in place.

Thanks for saving me beaucoup bucks!!

Great write-up!

 

This is my first time signing up for forums but I wanted to thank you for your posting. Even years later it’s helping people! I saved $1200 that the dealership wanted to charge me to replace my rear seatbelts just by following your instructions. I searched and searched for solutions even on YouTube and couldn’t find any help so thank you!

 

VecenteM Welcome to JKF.. Thanks for posting up your success!

 

Good info, my passanger side sticks too, makes my bride a little upset, which makes a trip not so good, I’ve not taken it apart yet, but is on my list before she takes a ride again