Should have been an easy install but I’m scratching my head now wondering if they know how much cutting it seems I’m going to have to do to get them installed. There’s a little box that comprises the pocket the factory retractor sits inside that these retractors do not fit at all. They interfere with both the front and rear walls of the pocket and there’s a carriage bolt that interferes with the roof of the pocket, or I assume it would if I could even get that far with the install before cutting. The pocket seems rather necessary as it’s spot welded to another structure inside the sail panel and where the vertical walls meet the roof of the pocket they are reinforced by the form of their stamping. Before I go cutting anything up I’ll regret later I figured I’d ask here first.
Doesn’t seem possible to remove all of this without compromising something but for these belts to install it all has to go.
I wouldn't instal a seat belt that required cutting all of that out. That material is the support for the mounting holes the retractor mechanism bolts into. Without it, it's just the strength of the sheet metal. In the case of an accident the force on that sheet metal will be really high. Having an impact that rips that out when you need it most would be less than ideal. If you need newer seatbelts you can always swap 4th gen ones. I swapped some for a a newer 4 gen and it was easy w no cutting.
