Seatbelt (Re-webbing): Who have you used/What to look for

[Paul Thomas]

It appears that part 23 airplanes are subject to TS0-C114 while CAR 3 airplanes can do as they please? Looking online, two places that re-web belts have prices were at $800 for the all 4 seats while another was at over $800 per seat. I do plan to call around and learn what makes a belt better than another but I'm shocked at the price difference and struggle to see what makes on 4x the cost of the other. It's even worse when a friend with an experimental just told me he has $50 in the job and places that specialize in  re-web/certification for race cars are much cheaper than what I'll pay.

Is it all about getting belt with the proper paperwork or should I be looking for more? Who have you all used and why?

BTW: do you know that that multiple manufacturers have a 10 year limit on belts?

[201Mooniac]

I had mine rewebbed  at an annual a couple of years ago by Aviation Safety Products https://aircraftseatbelts.com/ (recommended by Top Gun).  They did a great job with a quick turn around.  They have many color choices.  I'm not sure but I think I paid $250 for the two front seats lap and shoulder belts.

[MikeOH]

My F is completely under CAR3 and I replaced all the belts and added shoulder harnesses from Hooker Harness.

The J certification reads a bit odd.  Maybe @PT20J or @kortopates know if the below would still require the expensive TSO C114???

 

[kortopates]

My F is completely under CAR3 and I replaced all the belts and added shoulder harnesses from Hooker Harness.
The J certification reads a bit odd.  Maybe [mention=17346]PT20J[/mention] or [mention=7862]kortopates[/mention] know if the below would still require the expensive TSO C114???
 

It’s actually pretty easy. If one has the TSO’d seat belts the webbing is tagged with the TSO on it. It’s the hardware that is TSO’d not the webbing, so all one needs to do is send in the complete old belts and the shop re-webbing the belts will ensure they get the TSO tags on the re-webbed belts using your existing TSO’d hardware.
Re-webbing is a lot cheaper than buying entirely new belts.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[MikeOH]

14 minutes ago, kortopates said:

It’s actually pretty easy. If one has the TSO’d seat belts the webbing is tagged with the TSO on it. It’s the hardware that is TSO’d not the webbing, so all one needs to do is send in the complete old belts and the shop re-webbing the belts will ensure they get the TSO tags on the re-webbed belts using your existing TSO’d hardware.
Re-webbing is a lot cheaper than buying entirely new belts.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The OP indicated his source wanted $800 to re-web!!!

I was trying to suggest a lower cost non-TSO option (Hooker harness) if the aircraft TC allowed it.  No real idea if the need, or lack thereof, for TSO belts/hardware is controlled by the TC.

[Pinecone]

8 hours ago, 201Mooniac said:

I had mine rewebbed  at an annual a couple of years ago by Aviation Safety Products https://aircraftseatbelts.com/ (recommended by Top Gun).  They did a great job with a quick turn around.  They have many color choices.  I'm not sure but I think I paid $250 for the two front seats lap and shoulder belts.

I had them reweb my rear seat harnesses.  And also reweb my CAP-10 harnesses.

They also found that there was an AD on both planes that had been missed for MANY years on the buckles.  They were able to replace them to comply with the AD.

I replaced the front ones with inertial reel systems from Alpha Aviation.  Although the buckle side webs were too long, so I had Aviation Safety Products shorten them to get the shoulder harness attach where it needs to be.

[1980Mooney]

12 hours ago, Paul Thomas said:

It appears that part 23 airplanes are subject to TS0-C114 while CAR 3 airplanes can do as they please? Looking online, two places that re-web belts have prices were at $800 for the all 4 seats while another was at over $800 per seat. I do plan to call around and learn what makes a belt better than another but I'm shocked at the price difference and struggle to see what makes on 4x the cost of the other. It's even worse when a friend with an experimental just told me he has $50 in the job and places that specialize in  re-web/certification for race cars are much cheaper than what I'll pay.

Is it all about getting belt with the proper paperwork or should I be looking for more? Who have you all used and why?

BTW: do you know that that multiple manufacturers have a 10 year limit on belts?

Davis Aircraft Products, Bohemia, NY, supplied most of the seat belts to Mooney during the 70's-80's..  My 1980 J had the original worn seat belts with Davis Aircraft tags.  Davis Aircraft Products, is still in business and will reweb/repair your belts.  You can reuse your hardware if it is in good shape.  I sent mine there a few years back.

General Aviation Aircraft Seat Belts | Davis Aircraft Company

Davis Aircraft Products Co, Inc.
1150 Walnut Ave
Bohemia, NY, 11716

Phone 631-563-1500

Davis Restraint Systems, Inc.
184 Wire Drive
Andrews, SC 29510

Phone 843-264-2500

BTW - about 10 years ago there was a FAA enforcement action against a number of mom and pop rewebbers that were resewing/rewebbing belts at a discount to the certified shops.  They were shut down and planes found with those belts during ramp checks were grounded,   The FAA inspector came into the maintenace shop at my home field and inspected the belts of planes being worked on.  There was a Cessna 421 in the shop that had new belts from one of the offending belt shops (here was one on the Gulf Coast that was popular but I can't recall the name).  It was grounded and could not fly out until all 10 sets of seat belts were replaced.  I got this straight from the shop owner.

There were some posts/articles at the time but I cannot find them now.

Although you may never be ramp checked, think about resale of your plane if you opt for a "lower cost" seat belt repair without certification.

Edited Tuesday at 03:20 PM by 1980Mooney

[kortopates]

The OP indicated his source wanted $800 to re-web!!!
I was trying to suggest a lower cost non-TSO option (Hooker harness) if the aircraft TC allowed it.  No real idea if the need, or lack thereof, for TSO belts/hardware is controlled by the TC.

Odd, i had all 4 of my TSO’d belts re-webbed by Alpha Aviation without any changes and think it was less than $800 back then but this was a number of years ago. Of course my hardware was fine and just re-used it.

Alpha does a quality job too.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[DCarlton]

13 hours ago, MikeOH said:

My F is completely under CAR3 and I replaced all the belts and added shoulder harnesses from Hooker Harness.

The J certification reads a bit odd.  Maybe @PT20J or @kortopates know if the below would still require the expensive TSO C114???

 

You used the STC (with the difficult to install clamp) from Alpha Aviation with Hooker Harnesses?   

[MikeOH]

1 minute ago, DCarlton said:

You used the STC (with the difficult to install clamp) from Alpha Aviation with Hooker Harnesses?   

Exactly what I did

And, felt a bit ripped off by the Alpha kit: Two MS clamps, 2 X AN bolt/washer/nut and bushing.

[Paul Thomas]

I do believe my belts were originally Davis and re-webbed in Georgia in 2011 but I need to verify that. Since mine have been re-webbed, Davis won't touch them and Davis' position is no one can legally touch their belts. I asked if they had any documentations as to why no one is legally allowed to work on them but the person I talked to was not aware of any, it's just what he's been told to say.

Aircraftseatbelts is the cheapest I've seen at $735 for all based on their online price. I called an authorized repair station 45 minutes away that does them; their cost is $225/seat and their process is to replace the material (rated by G force), re-stitch is how it was, and relabel. 10 days turnaround.

It makes one wonder how hard it is to get the certification to be a repair station; it sounds like a great business to be in (probably till you get an insurance quote for liability).

[Jackk]

800 for 4 seats is kinda crazy if you’re re using the hardware (which one would be)

 

I’d probably as my local rigger what he would charge as they deal with harnesses all the time which are under much harder use conditions than a plane seatbelt 

Edited Tuesday at 11:05 PM by Jackk