Shortening harness straps

[Dave J]

I have four extra feet of shoulder harness strap left on my new seat belt installation. How much strap should I leave beyond the locking buckle? What's the best way to cut the strap to length so it doesn't fray?

TIA

[R. Pare]

Leave enough to be able to loosen the straps enough to get out of the car easily, and still leave enough to be able to grasp to tighten them when you get in again, so maybe a foot of extra. If the extra tries to flap around once at speed, the ends can always be tucked under or have some velcro sewn on to them.

I'd try cutting them with a almost-red-hot knife.

[Gary_T]

Cut with sharp scissors, then cauterize with a flame (lighter or propane torch). Have a bit of water to dip your fingers in to squish the hot plastic to a nice shape.

[EricP]

I believe there is a rule that you must have 3” (might be 4”, check) extra extended beyond the final locking mechanism (not the adjuster but the multiple fold lock thingy).

[BeerBudgetRacing]

I had the same problem with the arm restraints.

Folding them really tight and zip tying them for a while worked really well - until I was sure of the length, etc.

4 feet is a lot though !

[Bob L.]

hot knife is best. If you have an old wood burning hobby kit, that works nicely, as does old soldering iron with exacto knife blade added...

(Funny, I have the opposite problem, mine are about a foot short.... ashame we couldn't arrange a suitable merger....)

Bob L.

[Dave J]

Just to clarify, the extra strap length is on the non-adjustable side (once installed)...

[TimH]

Cut with sharp scissors, then cauterize with a flame (lighter or propane torch). Have a bit of water to dip your fingers in to squish the hot plastic to a nice shape.

Do be wary of the fumes from the melting...

[Dave J]

Found it. Thanks Eric.

The GCR (9.3.18 pg 74, figure 6) says at least 100mm (4") should remain after the buckle.

[racersonly]

I set my propane torch up under a steel sheet and let it heat up good. Then, I cut the straps with a sharp scissors. Then, I touched the newly cut end on the metal over the hottest, blue area. It for a makes a nice clean belt end.

[Keith Carter]

On our old backpacks as a kid, the same weave type straps needed to be cut on an angle instead of straight across to prevent fraying as well.

[E1pix]

As an adult, too, angle-cut and either hot-cut and/or burned with a lighter.

[Steve Demeter]

cut with very sharp scissors then sear with the side of a soldering iron to prevent fraying.

That is how we do it when an Air Force cargo net needs a strap repaired.

[stonebridge20]

I use a soldering gun tip that I sharpened. Lay the belt across a piece of wood and cut to length and sear the edge at the same time. I can't count how many belts I've done like this in the past 30+ years.