How Orion Safety Belts can give a damaged seat belt a new lease of life. A frayed seat belt. A cut in the webbing. A belt that’s been trapped in a door. Or perhaps a dog that’s decided the passenger seat belt makes a particularly good chew toy. Whatever the cause, discovering a damaged seat belt presents a problem that can’t simply be ignored.
A seat belt is one of the most important pieces of safety equipment in any vehicle. If the webbing is damaged, it shouldn’t simply be dismissed: one of the vehicle’s primary occupant restraint systems may have been compromised.
The obvious solution might seem to be replacing the entire seat belt assembly. But that isn’t always necessary. At Orion Safety Belts, we’ve worked with seat belts and vehicle restraint systems for more than 30 years. One of our specialist services is seat belt rewebbing.
So, what exactly is rewebbing?
We tend to call the whole assembly a “seat belt”, but it is actually made up of several components.
The retractor contains the mechanism that allows the belt to extend, retract and lock when required. The tongue clicks into the buckle, while mounting points and other hardware secure the system to the vehicle. The woven fabric that passes across the occupant is the webbing.
Rewebbing means removing that fabric and replacing it with new, high-quality seat belt webbing while retaining the original retractor and hardware where they remain suitable. So, if the belt in your vehicle is frayed, cut or otherwise damaged, you may not need to find an entire replacement assembly.
Why do seat belts need rewebbing?
A driver’s seat belt may be extended and retracted thousands of times during the life of a vehicle. Along the way, webbing can become worn or frayed, rub against damaged trim, get trapped in doors, be caught by sharp objects – or, more often than you might imagine, get chewed by a dog.
The damage may not look dramatic. It can begin as a small amount of fraying along one edge or a nick in the material, but a seat belt is a safety-critical component.
Damage shouldn’t be ignored simply because the belt still pulls out, clicks into its buckle and retracts normally. If the problem is confined to the webbing and the rest of the assembly remains suitable, that’s where rewebbing comes in.
Fraying, cuts, tears and even damage caused by pets are all reasons a seat belt may require rewebbing
Why replace the whole thing if you don’t need to?
For Don’t Travel Empty members, this is where rewebbing can be particularly useful. If the original retractor and hardware remain suitable, replacing an entire assembly because only the webbing is damaged can mean discarding perfectly serviceable components.
We tackle the actual problem: remove the damaged webbing, replace it with new webbing and retain the suitable original components. That can provide a cost-effective, time-efficient alternative to replacing the complete assembly – especially on older or unusual vehicles.
As vehicles get older, replacement parts become harder to source. Manufacturer stock disappears, parts become obsolete and suitable donor vehicles become scarcer.
Seat belt assemblies can also vary by model year, body style, seating position and specification. If you already have the correct original assembly and its problem is simply damaged webbing, retaining it can make a great deal of sense.
That can be especially important for classic and cherished vehicles, where originality matters. A belt that happens to fit is not necessarily the same as retaining the original equipment that belongs with the car.
We’re also accustomed to bespoke and unusual requirements, with experience across passenger cars and vans, buses and coaches, commercial and emergency vehicles, aviation, motorhomes, motorsport and wheelchairs. So, an old or unusual belt doesn’t automatically frighten us off. If there’s a solution, we’ll do our best to find it.
From damaged to rewebbed in less than 24 hours
A vehicle with an unusable seat belt isn’t something you want sitting around for weeks – particularly if you’re a garage or trader with a car waiting to be used, delivered or sold. That’s why speed is one of the key strengths of our rewebbing service. Once we receive a suitable assembly, we can turn a reweb around in less than 24 hours.
The process is deliberately straightforward:
1. Send your seat belt assembly to Orion
Remove the affected assembly and send it to our team with the relevant order information.
2. We remove the damaged webbing
Our team assesses the assembly and removes the existing webbing ready for replacement.
3. New webbing is installed
The original suitable retractor and hardware are retained, and the assembly is professionally fitted with replacement seat belt webbing.
4. We send it back
The completed assembly is returned to the customer ready to be refitted to the vehicle.
Assembled by hand in the UK
At Orion, we’re not simply moving boxes from one place to another. Our products are assembled by hand here in the UK by a team with decades of experience in vehicle restraint systems. We use high-quality components sourced from the UK and EU, with an approach built around getting the job right first time.
Seat belts are safety equipment, so quality isn’t an optional extra. Across more than three decades in the industry, Orion has maintained an exceptional record, with zero product recalls in our history.
Although our work is highly specialised, dealing with us doesn’t need to be complicated. You don’t need to know the technical name for every part before picking up the phone. Tell us that your dog has eaten the belt, the driver’s belt is fraying or you can’t find a replacement for an old car, and that’s enough to start the conversation.
Our friendly team will talk through the problem and help establish the right solution. Sometimes that will be rewebbing, sometimes a complete replacement, and sometimes something more bespoke.
Rewebbing isn’t only for damaged belts
Replacing the webbing also gives you the opportunity to change its colour while retaining suitable original retractors and hardware. A set of red, blue or other coloured belts can add a subtle but striking detail to a performance car, modified vehicle or restoration, complementing paintwork, trim or stitching.
One customer might send us a belt because their Labrador has eaten half of it; another might send a complete set because red belts would look fantastic against a black interior. Both benefit from essentially the same specialist process.
Keeping perfectly good components in use
There is a natural connection between DTE and Orion: both recognise that repairing a vehicle shouldn’t automatically mean buying everything new.
The vehicle recycling industry keeps usable components in circulation and helps owners and the motor trade keep vehicles on the road when new parts are difficult or expensive to obtain. Rewebbing follows the same principle.
If the hardware remains suitable, why discard it because the webbing is damaged? Keep the components that can continue to do their job and replace the part that can’t. It’s a straightforward approach that can save money, retain original equipment and help keep vehicles safely on the road.
Before you search for another seat belt, look at the one you’ve got
Next time you discover a damaged seat belt, look at what’s actually wrong with it. Is the retractor or hardware damaged, or is the problem simply the fabric webbing?
If it’s the webbing, you may have another option. Instead of searching for an entire replacement assembly, send your original belt to Orion and ask whether we can reweb it.
With more than 30 years’ experience, UK hand assembly, high-quality UK and EU sourced components and a rewebbing turnaround of less than 24 hours after receipt, we can help get your belt – and your vehicle – back where it belongs: on the road.
And if you fancy changing the colour while we’re at it? We can do that too.
ORION SAFETY BELTS
- Over 30 years of specialist experience
- Hand assembled in the UK
- High-quality UK & EU sourced components
- Rewebbing turnaround in less than 24 hours
- Bespoke colour options available
- Friendly, knowledgeable service
Don’t replace it. Reweb it.