Seat belts will not release, HELP

[LonesomeSTX]

I gutted my interior in my 2000 Ranger to clean and repair it. The problem is when I pulled the seat belts and they fully retracted. I did not think much about it until I went to reinstall them. Now I cannot get them to release. How do I fix this?

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

Hold the retractors the way they would be normally mounted in the truck and give them a few up and down shakes....they should release...

 

[adsm08]

Or bolt them back in to the truck. A lot of them ship like that and won't release without the right tension on the case so they don't flop in and out and twist during shipping.

 

[LonesomeSTX]

Thanks, I will try that.

 

[LonesomeSTX]

Okay, so I got the driver side seat belt to work perfect. But even installed the passenger side will not release. I tried tapping it with a hammer and manipulating it by hand and no luck. Now what? This one problem is stopping me from getting the rest of the interior installed.