Rav4 Xtr 57 Rear Seat Belts

January 15, 2011

Hi all, this is my first post in this forum so please be gentle with me. i dont know if its me or not but every time i put my kids car seats into the rear of the rav4 i end up shouting and screaming att he car!!!! the seat belts, i pull the full length of the seat belt out, wrap it through the child seat, accidently let some of the legth retract and i end up with not enough seat belt length to fasten into the plug. So normally you would just pull more seatbelt through, well i cant. i have to completely let go of the seat belt so it fully retracts back in untill it lets me pull it back out to its full length.

so once the seat belt starts to retract, it has to fully retract before extending again.

Is this normal or am i missing something real simple????

January 15, 2011

Welcome to the club :thumbsup:

Don't panic, you're normal! I find if you pull the belt out slowly and release it slowly (and I mean slowly!) the belt wont lock up. It's the locking of the belt that keeps the baby seat in place :yes:

If it's any consolation, my wife doesn't get on with the rear belts either :lol:

January 16, 2011

They are automatic locking retractor (ALR) belts for child seats.

If you pull the belt out till it stops you will re-activate the recoil mechanism. It is explained fully in the hand book.

January 16, 2011

Hi all, this is my first post in this forum so please be gentle with me. i dont know if its me or not but every time i put my kids car seats into the rear of the rav4 i end up shouting and screaming att he car!!!! the seat belts, i pull the full length of the seat belt out, wrap it through the child seat, accidently let some of the legth retract and i end up with not enough seat belt length to fasten into the plug. So normally you would just pull more seatbelt through, well i cant. i have to completely let go of the seat belt so it fully retracts back in untill it lets me pull it back out to its full length.
so once the seat belt starts to retract, it has to fully retract before extending again.
Is this normal or am i missing something real simple????

It's definitely NOT just you! I got so frustrated with this "feature" that I now keep a clothes peg keep in the rear door pocket and use that to lock the belt in the extended position until I have everything connected up. In the end this caused me less a lot less hassle than trying to trap the belt by leaning on it or using one hand to hold the belt while using the other to connect the belt. Mind you - I'm just a grumpy old grandpa!