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Are rear seat belts supposed to retract automatically?
I've seen other '70-'72 GM A bodies rear seat belts fully extended and laid out on the rear seat (see image below). When I extend the rear seat belts on my '72 Supreme and let go of them, they just retract back. Is there something that makes them stay?
Dave - There are snap-in holsters mounted to the front and sides of the rear seat. The end piece of the seat belt snaps into the holster to keep the seat belt extended. I'm not certain what years & model vehicles came w/ holsters. Something tells me they were only available w/ Deluxe seat belts.
EDIT: I should mention most people removed them because frankly they were a PITA.
The belts that lay flat on the rear seat (as seen in the pics above) do not have retractors. They simply have seat belt material sewn to a mount that bolts to the floor. Your 72 supreme probably has deluxe seat belt retractors. Before 72, the retractors used in the front seat were only there to "store" the belt. They had to be fully extended for proper use, which is why there was a length adjustment on the female end. Starting in 72 (I believe January of 72, but maybe earlier) the retractors provided the length adjustment and the female buckles were sewn to the belts. The difference is that the retractors in 72 work like modern retractors where a quick force pulling on the belt (like tha force of an accident) locks the retractor so it cannot extend further. The retractors in your supreme should look like the ones in the pic below. Notice the center belt still has a "pull to adjust" length adjustment, but it is on the male end.
Here is a shot of what the above belts look like in a car. At this point, they did not have covers on the female ends.
Last edited by Loaded68W34; March 3rd, 2024 at 04:36 PM.
The belts that lay flat on the rear seat (as seen in the pics above) do not have retractors. They simply have seat belt material sewn to a mount that bolts to the floor. Your 72 supreme probably has deluxe seat belt retractors. Before 72, the retractors used in the front seat were only there to "store" the belt. They had to be fully extended for proper use, which is why there was a length adjustment on the female end. Starting in 72 (I believe January of 72, but maybe earlier) the retractors provided the length adjustment and the female buckles were sewn to the belts. The difference is that the retractors in 72 work like modern retractors where a quick force pulling on the belt (like tha force of an accident) locks the retractor so it cannot extend further. The retractors in your supreme should look like the ones in the pic below. Notice the center belt still has a "pull to adjust" length adjustment, but it is on the male end.
Here is a shot of what the above belts look like in a car. At this point, they did not have covers on the female ends.
Yea, that's what mine look like. Guess that settles that dilemma. Always a wealth of information on this forum. Thanks everyone!
So after seeing the pic above, I realized that you could see three female buckles on seat. Further inspection revealed that only two were visible on my rear seat. As I dug deeper into the issue, I realized that when I put the sound deadening material under my rear seat some months ago, I left one of the buckles buried under the sound deadener. It never dawned on me until today.
So, out I went just a few minutes ago and after a short wrestling match with the rear seat, I emerged victorious. I now have all three buckles visible 😀
March 3rd, 2024, 03:26 PM
