Courtesy photo
Operators, when exiting the LTAS FMTV, make sure your four-point seat belt is fully inside the cab before shutting the door. If not, the belt’s restraint latch gets slammed in the door jam.
Why is that a problem? It usually leaves a dent in the door and jam, sometimes bad enough that it lets in moisture, which then leads to corrosion. But wait, there’s more.
Worse yet, the heavy doors can crush the safety pull tab (latch guard) on the restraint latch, which then makes the vehicle not mission capable (NMC). In the BEFORE OPERATIONS PMCS of TM 9-2320-333-10 (Oct 19), it notes that any part of the restraint system that is missing or damaged makes your truck NMC.
Replacement Parts
If you have to replace the whole restraint system, NSN 2540-01-528-1903, it’ll cost about $209. If you’re lucky and it’s just the safety pull tab that’s damaged, it’s about $29 to replace using NSN 5340-01-648-4908.
Quick Fix
So you’re on a mission and the safety pull tab got damaged. What now? As a quick field-fix to keep the vehicle operational, use some 550-cord to make a temporary pull tab.
Temporary field-fix for safety pull tab
Loop it through the pin on the seat belt, and tie a knot in the middle of the cord so it doesn’t get wrapped around the latch. Then tie another knot at the end to keep it secure.
Replace the tab with the proper part when you get back to the motor pool.