Seatbelt Extender - greatest thing since sliced bread

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TestPilot57

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I did a search to turn off the seatbelt chime. Among the "three click" posts was a suggestion to get a rigid 3" seatbelt extender because in addition to turning off the chime it also turns off the light and evic message.

Well I wasn't too worried about the light and evic - I only go beltless up and down my driveway or similar situations.

But, when I couldn't get the "three click" method to work* I remembered the extenders and looked into them. When I saw what they looked like and how they worked I theorized I could solve another problem - the "one-handed seatbelt click". I don't know about you, but I find it's almost impossible to click in one-handed. Granted, I'm not scrawny but I'm hardly supersized either - 6'2" and 220#.

Anyways I decided I'd take a chance and try them. Wow, as I said - greatest thing since sliced bread! Well, maybe not - that probably goes to remote start with auto wheel/seat heat...

*BUT it did turn off the "Key fob has left the vehicle" chime which always bugs my wife (understandably...). It's also slightly annoying to me when I've gotten out for a minute and it's dinging away when I open the door again.
 

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I did a search to turn off the seatbelt chime. Among the "three click" posts was a suggestion to get a rigid 3" seatbelt extender because in addition to turning off the chime it also turns off the light and evic message.

Well I wasn't too worried about the light and evic - I only go beltless up and down my driveway or similar situations.

But, when I couldn't get the "three click" method to work* I remembered the extenders and looked into them. When I saw what they looked like and how they worked I theorized I could solve another problem - the "one-handed seatbelt click". I don't know about you, but I find it's almost impossible to click in one-handed. Granted, I'm not scrawny but I'm hardly supersized either - 6'2" and 220#.

Anyways I decided I'd take a chance and try them. Wow, as I said - greatest thing since sliced bread! Well, maybe not - that probably goes to remote start with auto wheel/seat heat...

*BUT it did turn off the "Key fob has left the vehicle" chime which always bugs my wife (understandably...). It's also slightly annoying to me when I've gotten out for a minute and it's dinging away when I open the door again.

I may just have to look more into these things again. Don’t really need it to keep the auto-park from engaging since I very very rarely ever need to back up with my door open but, I do like what you say about it making the buckle just a little bit higher for easier one-handed buckling.

I like that it turned that key fob leaving vehicle message. I’m not one of those that leaves the key in the cubby or in a cup holder, it always goes in and stays in my pocket so that would be nice to turn that annoying chime off. But what I’m concerned about, other than turning that off, what else does it turn off? My truck’s got auto-headlights so, I don’t have to worry about leaving those on when I exit the vehicle- and since I stated I leave the key in my pocket, I don’t have to worry about locking myself out but I’m curious- since our trucks- at least mine, anyways, will unlock the driver door and toot the horn a couple of times if you leave the key in it and lock the door with the interior button just before closing it, do you still have this feature by making the truck “think” the seatbelts are buckled, just in case if the girlfriend were to drive it, since she has a nasty habit of not keeping her key on her in her car?

Before I knew about those extenders, I once got tired of the seatbelt light staring me in the face all the time making me feel guilty so one day I decided to go under the seat and take that wire that goes to the buckle and cut it, and spliced the wires together, virtually accomplishing the same thing as an extender but the by product was, if you left the key in the ignition, it wouldn’t chime anymore telling you the key was still in the slot. Nor would it chime if you left the headlights on either. Which yeah, I already stated I have keyless ignition and auto headlights so that won’t be an issue but I’m concerned about other things if the truck thinks the belt is always buckled.

Also, I wonder about what would happen in the event of a minor enough crash that would activate the airbags and the seatbelt tensioners of it thinks the belts are buckled and they’re not...

Did you just put one on your side, or both sides?


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TestPilot57

TestPilot57

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...I’m curious- since our trucks- at least mine, anyways, will unlock the driver door and toot the horn a couple of times if you leave the key in it and lock the door with the interior button just before closing it, do you still have this feature by making the truck “think” the seatbelts are buckled, just in case if the girlfriend were to drive it, since she has a nasty habit of not keeping her key on her in her car?

Good point, maybe*. I never use the inside lock button to lock the doors when I'm exiting - always the one on the outside. But I suppose someone could do that. My wife does occasionally drive the truck although I doubt she would use that button either - I've never seen her use anything but the fob.

*I'll have to check. I thought modern cars would not lock from an open drivers' door?

Also, I wonder about what would happen in the event of a minor enough crash that would activate the airbags and the seatbelt tensioners of it thinks the belts are buckled and they’re not...

Did you just put one on your side, or both sides?

Just my side. But not sure why it would matter if the seatbelt tensioner fired when it wasn't actually buckled? Don't think the airbags would go off with no weight on the seat?
 

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Good point, maybe*. I never use the inside lock button to lock the doors when I'm exiting - always the one on the outside. But I suppose someone could do that.

My wife does occasionally drive the truck although I doubt she would use that button either - I've never seen her use anything but the fob.
I do too but a lot times from what I’ve read, is it gets bumped by accident.

But see at least in my case, I have the Uconnect app that allows me to remote lock, unlock, start and sound the panic alarm from anywhere in the world as long as I have internet service so that wouldn’t necessarily be an issue for me.

*I'll have to check. I thought modern cars would not lock from an open drivers' door?
I don’t know about other vehicles but in my pickup, the door will lock even if it’s open and you hit the armrest switch. But, it’ll unlock automatically once it shuts- and toot the horn a couple of times. My old truck, you had to leave the key in the ignition for it to do that but I think it did the same thing minus the horn tooting.

But now that I think of it, there are some cars that if the key is in the ignition or if it’s keyless and they sense the key inside the vehicle, you can hit that lock button 50 times with the door open and it’ll immediately unlock it as soon as you lift your finger off the button.



Just my side. But not sure why it would matter if the seatbelt tensioner fired when it wasn't actually buckled? Don't think the airbags would go off with no weight on the seat?

It probably wouldn’t matter since if you had a major enough crash to set the airbags off, having a seatbelt/seatbelt tensioner replaced will probably be the least of your worries. But see, I don’t know if the belt tensioners and the airbags are both tied into the seatbelt being buckled and the pressure sensors in the seats... so that’s a good question.

But yeah, if I was to look more into this, I don’t really see the need to do both seats.



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Might have to give these a shot in the rear seats, my passengers always have a difficult time with trying to buckle up with the one piece buried in the seat. My fronts are fine for me at 6'2"/230 but I do like the idea of getting rid of the chime when I'm not in it and it's running. When my gf is with me, she has her set of keys which includes my 2nd fob so it doesn't go off when she's waiting for me in it, but anyone else it drives crazy.
 

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I went ahead and ordered me a couple from seatbelt extender pros. We’ll see how they work.


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JD Martin

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You can definitely turn off the chime; I had no trouble and the message you can just ignore or push the up/down button once to change screens.
 

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I went ahead and ordered me a couple from seatbelt extender pros. We’ll see how they work.


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I just hope you won't "see how they work" during a crash. These things alter the dynamics of the safety belt system and aren't DOT approved or tested to any safety or manufacturing standards. I would never trust a random piece of Chinese steel and plastic with my life.


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corneileous

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I just hope you won't "see how they work" during a crash. These things alter the dynamics of the safety belt system and aren't DOT approved or tested to any safety or manufacturing standards. I would never trust a random piece of Chinese steel and plastic with my life.


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I could see that with some of the longer ones they sell. That’s why I got the shortest ones they sold.

I appreciate the warning but they look just as quality as the set belts in my truck.

But they say they’re DOT approved and tested.


https://www.seatbeltextenderpros.com/safety/


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I got one of these off amazon for the backseat for my son. His booster seat makes him sit up kind of high, and it made reaching the seat belt impossible for him. Since my truck is high as ****, I couldn’t buckle it for him, either. Boom, seat belt extender. Puts the buckle right next to his booster seat and he can buckle just fine on his own now.
 

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I could see that with some of the longer ones they sell. That’s why I got the shortest ones they sold.

I appreciate the warning but they look just as quality as the set belts in my truck.

But they say they’re DOT approved and tested.


https://www.seatbeltextenderpros.com/safety/


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Oh my God. Sir, this is wrong on so many levels I don't even know where to start.

"they look just as quality as the set belts in my truck. " - - maybe they do, but you cannot be serious. You approve a crucial safety equipment from an unknown source by its LOOKS?



"I could see that with some of the longer ones they sell. That’s why I got the shortest ones they sold. " - how does one determine which length is OK and which one is not? Safety based on intuition?



"they say they’re DOT approved and tested" - NO, THEY DON'T. The shady marketing babble is prepared to make you believe that. That's exactly what should make you run for the hills. In fact, they state the exact opposite:


They say that "extenders come from E4 and E8 Certified, DOT-registered manufacturers" which means nothing, especially since these manufacturers conveniently remain nameless. If I'm not mistaken, E4 and E8 are merely European marks allowing sales in the Netherlands and Czech Republic

"The E4 or E8 certificate numbers on extenders are based on and issued for three-point seat belts in the absence of seat belt extender-specific standards." - so what they're saying here is the certificate numbers they use were issued for a DIFFERENT PRODUCT, since the standards for their products don't exist. This is simply terrifying and illegal as hell.


"DOT-registered manufacturers" - that again means nothing. It's the product that must be tested and certified by the DOT and issued a certificate of compliance, which should be clearly advertised, and documentation should be easily available. This product is NOT approved by DOT, and they're not even trying to say otherwise, but an honest manufacturer / reseller would explicitly state that fact instead of covering it in a smartly prepared babble.



Lastly, since you seem to trust the information from their generic, cookie-cutter website, please read their curiously detailed and very long waiver and disclaimer section that practically releases them from any liability regarding safety and quality of their products.


Here's an excerpt that is simply hilarious:


"No extender is ever guaranteed to click, securely latch, fit or work in or with any seat belt in or with any vehicle, regardless of how the extender was purchased or obtained. This includes but is not limited to, among all other purchase or acquisition methods, extenders acquired based on vehicle-specific details of a vehicle such as make, model, year and/or seat or suggestions by any representative or affiliate of Nemoda or the company from which the extender was purchased or obtained"



Essentially, the product IS NOT GUARANTEED TO WORK AT ALL.



Are you really willing to trust such product with life, yours and your loved ones?
 

corneileous

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Oh my God. Sir, this is wrong on so many levels I don't even know where to start.

"they look just as quality as the set belts in my truck. " - - maybe they do, but you cannot be serious. You approve a crucial safety equipment from an unknown source by its LOOKS?



"I could see that with some of the longer ones they sell. That’s why I got the shortest ones they sold. " - how does one determine which length is OK and which one is not? Safety based on intuition?



"they say they’re DOT approved and tested" - NO, THEY DON'T. The shady marketing babble is prepared to make you believe that. That's exactly what should make you run for the hills. In fact, they state the exact opposite:


They say that "extenders come from E4 and E8 Certified, DOT-registered manufacturers" which means nothing, especially since these manufacturers conveniently remain nameless. If I'm not mistaken, E4 and E8 are merely European marks allowing sales in the Netherlands and Czech Republic

"The E4 or E8 certificate numbers on extenders are based on and issued for three-point seat belts in the absence of seat belt extender-specific standards." - so what they're saying here is the certificate numbers they use were issued for a DIFFERENT PRODUCT, since the standards for their products don't exist. This is simply terrifying and illegal as hell.


"DOT-registered manufacturers" - that again means nothing. It's the product that must be tested and certified by the DOT and issued a certificate of compliance, which should be clearly advertised, and documentation should be easily available. This product is NOT approved by DOT, and they're not even trying to say otherwise, but an honest manufacturer / reseller would explicitly state that fact instead of covering it in a smartly prepared babble.



Lastly, since you seem to trust the information from their generic, cookie-cutter website, please read their curiously detailed and very long waiver and disclaimer section that practically releases them from any liability regarding safety and quality of their products.


Here's an excerpt that is simply hilarious:


"No extender is ever guaranteed to click, securely latch, fit or work in or with any seat belt in or with any vehicle, regardless of how the extender was purchased or obtained. This includes but is not limited to, among all other purchase or acquisition methods, extenders acquired based on vehicle-specific details of a vehicle such as make, model, year and/or seat or suggestions by any representative or affiliate of Nemoda or the company from which the extender was purchased or obtained"



Essentially, the product IS NOT GUARANTEED TO WORK AT ALL.



Are you really willing to trust such product with life, yours and your loved ones?

Well, I’m no certified master of seatbelts and seatbelt accessories, nor am I privy’d to any of their documentation on research, development, design, manufacturing, or testing certification of their products but the extenders I bought certainly don’t look cheap.

But I’m not gonna argue with you because I can clearly see this as a discussion that no matter what I say is gonna mean didly.

But of course they’re gonna have disclaimers. Nobody wants to be responsible and more importantly- reliable. This is clearly a “use at your own discretion” product. Even Mopar’s web page that talks about seatbelt extender use. They say all kinds of **** about how they can’t be transferred to a new vehicle, or used in a new vehicle- and, can’t be left in a vehicle if you sell it. But see, again- it’s disclaimer, disclaimer, disclaimer. Release of liability. In the very unfortunate even something did happen while using an extender, you can’t cone back and sue them.

But how can this product be any different from the ones from the vehicle manufacturer that they’re supposedly required to have for purchase from customers who request them??

I’m very well aware of the risk. I am kind of curious how differently the air bags will work that Mopar’s page I talked about mentioned if the computer thinks the belts are bucked and they are not. But then again, if your belts are bucked, then what difference does it make? If your belts are not, using an extender or not is probably not gonna make your crash any less worse.

But I get it. And even if you are just primarily posting for the sake of other readers, that’s all fine and dandy. I also get that you don’t approve of extenders. That again is all fine and dandy but there’s no need for the continuing condescension. A lot of times I don’t even wear my seatbelt but one thing about these extenders is that they sure make it easier to buckle so who knows, I may actually wear my seatbelt more often.


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Well, I’m no certified master of seatbelts and seatbelt accessories, nor am I privy’d to any of their documentation on research, development, design, manufacturing, or testing certification of their products but the extenders I bought certainly don’t look cheap.

But I’m not gonna argue with you because I can clearly see this as a discussion that no matter what I say is gonna mean didly.

But of course they’re gonna have disclaimers. Nobody wants to be responsible and more importantly- reliable. This is clearly a “use at your own discretion” product. Even Mopar’s web page that talks about seatbelt extender use. They say all kinds of **** about how they can’t be transferred to a new vehicle, or used in a new vehicle- and, can’t be left in a vehicle if you sell it. But see, again- it’s disclaimer, disclaimer, disclaimer. Release of liability. In the very unfortunate even something did happen while using an extender, you can’t cone back and sue them.

But how can this product be any different from the ones from the vehicle manufacturer that they’re supposedly required to have for purchase from customers who request them??

I’m very well aware of the risk. I am kind of curious how differently the air bags will work that Mopar’s page I talked about mentioned if the computer thinks the belts are bucked and they are not. But then again, if your belts are bucked, then what difference does it make? If your belts are not, using an extender or not is probably not gonna make your crash any less worse.

But I get it. And even if you are just primarily posting for the sake of other readers, that’s all fine and dandy. I also get that you don’t approve of extenders. That again is all fine and dandy but there’s no need for the continuing condescension. A lot of times I don’t even wear my seatbelt but one thing about these extenders is that they sure make it easier to buckle so who knows, I may actually wear my seatbelt more often.


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Fair enough, sir. I apologize if I sounded condescending. That wasn't my intention at all (but now I see that my reply could have been interpreted that way). I'm actually not even saying it's a totally bad product. I'm just strongly against adding an unnecessary variable / unknown to the crucial safety system. Apparently we'll just have to agree to disagree :)

"A lot of times I don’t even wear my seatbelt but one thing about these extenders is that they sure make it easier to buckle so who knows, I may actually wear my seatbelt more often." This is actually a very valid point :)

Of course I still hope you won't have to test your seatbelts "in action", with or without those extenders.
 

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Fair enough, sir. I apologize if I sounded condescending. That wasn't my intention at all (but now I see that my reply could have been interpreted that way). I'm actually not even saying it's a totally bad product. I'm just strongly against adding an unnecessary variable / unknown to the crucial safety system. Apparently we'll just have to agree to disagree :)

"A lot of times I don’t even wear my seatbelt but one thing about these extenders is that they sure make it easier to buckle so who knows, I may actually wear my seatbelt more often." This is actually a very valid point :)

Of course I still hope you won't have to test your seatbelts "in action", with or without those extenders.

You brought up some fair points, I'll pass on the product for now just because I don't want to take that risk. Really more because of who my passengers are, if anything were to ever happen as a result of something aftermarket like that, I don't know if I could live with myself. I like to do things with caution though, and also try to eliminate unnecessary risk. Didn't even think of this product in that way, so thanks for bringing up some counter points. And of course as always, to each their own.
 

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You brought up some fair points, I'll pass on the product for now just because I don't want to take that risk. Really more because of who my passengers are, if anything were to ever happen as a result of something aftermarket like that, I don't know if I could live with myself. I like to do things with caution though, and also try to eliminate unnecessary risk. Didn't even think of this product in that way, so thanks for bringing up some counter points. And of course as always, to each their own.

I tend to overanalyze things to death this way :) Most of the times it's completely unnecessary, but sometimes something valid and useful comes out of it :) and when it comes to safety I have zero tolerance for untested solutions from unknown sources, maybe because of my aviation background.
I'm also 99.95% certain that safety belts and systems with these extenders will still work fine - I just don't want that .05% of risk if not absolutely necessary.


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JoeCo

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I tend to overanalyze things to death this way :) Most of the times it's completely unnecessary, but sometimes something valid and useful comes out of it :) and when it comes to safety I have zero tolerance for untested solutions from unknown sources, maybe because of my aviation background.
I'm also 99.95% certain that safety belts and systems with these extenders will still work fine - I just don't want that .05% of risk if not absolutely necessary.


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I'm with you there, my passengers will just have to struggle haha. In all honesty they're used to them at this point anyway, so really no reason for me to get these. I don't find the front seat belts to be a problem at all, the rear seat belts though are tough. And I'm glad there are people like you in aviation, that's not somewhere to cut corners or get complacent.
 

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And I thought seat belt extenders were only for my fat chicks.lol
 
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TestPilot57

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\Here's an excerpt that is simply hilarious:


"No extender is ever guaranteed to click, securely latch, fit or work in or with any seat belt in or with any vehicle, regardless of how the extender was purchased or obtained. This includes but is not limited to, among all other purchase or acquisition methods, extenders acquired based on vehicle-specific details of a vehicle such as make, model, year and/or seat or suggestions by any representative or affiliate of Nemoda or the company from which the extender was purchased or obtained"



Essentially, the product IS NOT GUARANTEED TO WORK AT ALL.

As I quickly discovered by trying it on our forklifts and my Kubota tractor.

The problem? The tongue on those vehicles is wider than the opening on the extender. So while you could plug the extender into the vehicle receptacle, you could not plug the seat belt into the extender. Yup, total failure.

I (vaguely) remember the time my Dad slammed the brakes on in our 1967 Plymouth and I was a 4 year old sitting in the front seat without a car seat, NASA approved seatbelt or even a leather strap. Yup, I ate the radio.
 
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