a 4yr old broke my 4runner!

T

TXNuke

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Howdy! I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! My wife's family visited, and it went great.. Except somehow, my 4 yr old niece managed to wrap my 3rd row seatbelt around the opposite seat headrest... the seatbelt is locked and will not budge. I tried moving seat forward/headrest down to get enough room to slide it back over, NO GO!

I was wondering if anyone was unfortunate enough to have this happen, and had suggestions on how to fix it (besides taking the interior completely apart to get to the belt's anchor points, I always break the plastic pins) Any help is appreciated!!!
 

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Wow- something new on here every day...

I'm guessing the belt was extended fully and now it will only retract, right? Looks like the belt anchor on the rear cargo floor needs to come out, seems to be easier than messing with the headrest or the seat.

Maybe you can find another 4 yr old to fix it?:redbrick:

Good luck there!
 
Hmm... yea I didn't think about the seat. I will look at that closer when I get home. The seatbelt anchor still looks tough to get to. Honestly I only focused on the tensioner part yesterday to see if I could reach up through the taillight access panel. I could see and feel a nut/bolt, though I'm not sure if it is the only one used to anchor. 17mm.
 
Don't have access to another 4 yr old, but I took my 2 month old out to look at it... he just drooled on my carpet.
 
It's a flipdown headrest, so I think I would have to remove the carpet/seat backing, then disconnect whatever is keeping it in place and allowing it to swing. I investigated a little, and it didn't seem as straight forward as I had hoped. I appreciate all of the ideas!!! Hopefully this evening I can make a decision and some progress.
 
TXNuke said:
It's a flipdown headrest, so I think I would have to remove the carpet/seat backing, then disconnect whatever is keeping it in place and allowing it to swing. I investigated a little, and it didn't seem as straight forward as I had hoped. I appreciate all of the ideas!!! Hopefully this evening I can make a decision and some progress.
Click to expand...

Flipdown, but surely its adjustable/removable?

Figures Toyota would overcomplicate our 4Runners
 
will dropping/folding the seatback forward about half inch create enough slack so seatbelt can extend/unlock to provide enough room to fit over the headrest.

fold headrest down, then pull from the bottom/backside first.
 
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Hehe this is funny, don't mean to be rude but I went to my parents house today to do some repairs at the house and I let my 3 and a half girl play in the truck while I was working outside. I was lucky she only jumped all over the seats and was yelling vroooom vroooom.
 
From the picture, it looks like you might be able to get just enough slack....

While holding the seatbelt taunt, fold the seatback forward. This may give you just enough slack to be able to release the seatbelt locking mechanism.

You would only have one shot - If it doen't you would probably have to unbolt the seatbelt anchor.
 
I don't have a 4 year old kid but my smart 7 year old lab said let the air out of the tires on the drivers side, that should give the body enough lean to allow you to lift the seat belt over the headrest.:frog:
 
I agree with jduck, to fold the headrest down and try to slide the belt (down) off the rest. If that doesn't work, looks like you can pop the rear panel of the seat off and have access to the headrest. There's an illustration of it in the repair manual. (Rear NO.2 Seat) Or unbolt the seat from the floor. Whichever looks easier would be my choice. Good luck.
 
You can leave it like that as a reminder of how destructive and dangerous a 4 yr old can be. My daughter is 3... can't wait to see what surprises await me.
 
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