Fix for the hard to reach seat belts

RZB

Active member
Joined
Feb 13, 2014
Location
Connecticut
TDI
2014 Jetta TDI
So before my father purchased his new Beetle, he found out that he could not easily reach the seat belt as many others do. Additionally, he has minor back issues which made reaching towards the bottom (and any alternative methods of grabbing the seatbelt) equally difficult.

Initially, I could not find any solutions from Beetle owners, but the folks on the Mini forums helped. They had luck with purchasing Chevy Cobalt seat belt holders, so I gambled away $40 for a set before my father made his purchased -and it worked.







Part #s are (for black in color):
GM OEM 10385983
GM OEM 10386174


One hole was able to be utilized in the seat belt holder, but it had to be made larger. A second hole needed to be drilled for the outer end (closer to the doors) headrest pole. When the headrests are down all the way, it does slightly block the use of the latch to bring the seat forward, but not completely. Otherwise, when the headrests are up even one notch, the seat release handle can be pulled open to its entirety. I reversed the location of the holders to have the shapes better counter the shape of the seat (took the one GM intended for the right side, and put it on the left and vice versa).

You will need a drill bit right under 1/2" to drill the holes out - I believe we used a 15/32" and the holder fits on tight (does not move even without the lock washers).
 

Hintertux

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2001
Location
Fort Walton Beach, FL
TDI
2013 Beetle TDI DSG Candy White
Nice, I will have to remember this if my wife or daughter takes the car... right now I have my seat all the way back so no issue.

I wonder how this might impact safety... Air bags and such.
 

maybe368

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2014
Location
Phoenix
TDI
Happily none
Do you know how that is going to affect the deployment of the air bag? That is what I would worry about...Mark
 

RZB

Active member
Joined
Feb 13, 2014
Location
Connecticut
TDI
2014 Jetta TDI
Thanks for the replies. Unfortunately, I do not know how it might impact the airbags if they were to deploy. There is still a substantial amount of room between the door pillar and the seat; additionally, the seat belt holder does line up with the seat pretty well - the pictures make it appear to stick out more than it does. I would think that the airbags would still deploy without any issues.
 

VeeDubTDI

Wanderluster, Traveler, TDIClub Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 2, 2000
Location
Springfield, VA
TDI
‘18 Tesla Model 3D+, ‘14 Cadillac ELR, ‘13 Fiat 500e
I highly doubt that it would affect airbag deployment at all.
 

2017BugMan

New member
Joined
Jul 17, 2019
Location
Houston
TDI
Beetle
My daughter is only 5ft tall and it's hard for her to reach the seat belt on her 2017 Beetle and she asked if there was something I could fix for her. I came across your posting and ordered the Colbalt brackets. My question is how tight do they fit over the headrest shafts? I measured the shafts with calipers and they come out about 14MM (.550"). If you drilled only 15/32" (.469" or 11.9mm), that's a very tight interference fit (2mm or .08"). Did you have to beat them on? Now if you used a 17/32" bit (just over 1/2"), that would give you just a .020" interference fit. I'm just wanting to make sure I don't drill the wrong size hole. Could my headrest be a different size?
Great ideal. Thanks for posting.
Tommie
 
Top