Need Help with Seatbelts

[raisingruckus]

So, I left one of our dogs in the back of my 2009 Fit tonight and she decided to amuse herself by gnawing through both of the rear three-point seatbelts (the side belts; the center one was retracted).

Any advice on replacing the belts? Can I do it myself, or will special labor be required? And would I have to get the replacement parts from another '09 Fit, or could they be salvaged from another year, or model of Honda (like a Civic?)

Any advice is appreciated. I may also craft new belts from some German shepherd hide I have laying around... (kidding!) :D

[manxman]

My suggestion is to ONLY use seat belts for the '09 Fit. Even if you can find something else that might "kinda" work, Honda is liable for any death or injury that might occur from a seat belt failure. If you screw around with it and misfortune occurs, YOU are now liable.

You should own a 2009 Honda Fit Service manual for this kind of job. The instructions for rear seat belt R&R covers five pages, but it looks like you will only need a metric/SAE combo socket set. Almost every bolt on a Fit is a metric size, EXCEPT the bolts that anchor the rear seat belts to the floor. They are 7/16". I don't know this for sure, but I think that you can access the '09 Fit Service Manual on line for free for a few visits, and then thereafter for a paid subscription. Trust me, buying the service manual from Helm is well worth the cost.

If you don't care about personal liability regarding passengers in a crash, the only belts & components that are guaranteed to fit are those that you obtain from a wrecking yard FROM an '09 Fit.

If I were in your position, I would go to a dealer and buy new seat belts. They will probably come with installation instructions. Maybe College Hills Honda has a DIY movie on this part- www.collegehillshonda.com. If you have any mechanical skills at all, you should be able to save a $100-200. in labor charges by doing the job yourself.

This is my best, sincere, advice. But feel free to do whatever you want. Good luck!

[claymore]

For sure seat belts are one of the ticklish subjects concerning liability. I would use only 2009 replacements but installing them you could do yourself. Other than removing and replacing the trim parts the actual belts probably have only one big bolt holding them to the frame and like manxman pointed out it may be a inch based size not metric. They used to be sparkplug socket size 13/16 but I'm not 100% sure on the 2009.

[ekonetics]

The socket size for the bolt up top is a 14. Hope that helps.