Annoying Tundra Seat Belt Buzzer – Can It Be Stopped?
Jason Lancaster | Jul 05, 2007 | Comments 30
There’s a growing number of people that are dis-satisfied with the annoying seat belt buzzer — you know, the one that reminds you every 6 seconds that you, or one of your passengers, isn’t currently wearing their seat belt.
We know, we know, if we were following the rules, we’d have the belt on and this wouldn’t be a problem.
For the record, SEAT BELTS ARE VERY IMPORTANT. In fact, THEY CAN SAVE YOUR LIFE. Not wearing one is stupid, and anyone who is looking for a way to deceive the system so that they can drive around without their seat belt on is a moron. While there are a LOT of excuses to explain why we don’t want to wear our belts (some of them good), that’s not what we’re trying to talk about here.
It’s not about excuses, right or wrong, saving lives, etc. It’s about finding out if something can be done. We’re going to put this info out their and then let you decide what to do with it.
Here are the options for disabling the Tundra’s annoying driver seat belt buzzer (aside from, you know, wearing your belt). Incidentally, there is a process for disabling the passenger seat’s buzzer — see your dealer. They plug your truck into the computer and re-program it. Some dealers won’t do it for you, and if they will do it, they’re going to charge you.
1. Get a seat belt extender from your dealer. Then, run the belt around the back of the seat and plug it in.
The extender is free, but some dealers won’t give you one unless you “look like you need it” (i.e. big-boned). Your dealer may not even know that this is something they should offer — have them refer to this TSB if they give you a blank stare when you ask for your free seat belt extender.
2. Find or make a spare seat belt buckle and plug it in.
The system determines your seat belt is fastened when your belt is plugged in. If you find or make a seat belt buckle and shove it in their, then the system will be fooled. Cost is just a junk-yard part or some quality time spent with some scrap metal.
3. Short out the seat belt sensor (or, put it on a toggle switch) so that the switch is always closed.
This is a bad idea that we don’t suggest, but it is an option. The reason we think it’s such a bad option — the new Tundra uses data from sensors inside the driver’s seat to determine if the airbag should be fired. If you start cutting wires and installing switches in their, you could damage or short out the sensors. That would cause your airbag to fail and not deploy when you need it. Worse, it could also cause your airbag to fire unexpectedly (sounds hilarious, but could result in serious injury). We suggest you throw option 3 out the window.
4. Remove or disable the buzzer in the dash that makes the noise.
With this option, you also lose the noise that reminds you to shut-off your headlights, to take your keys out of the ignition, or to check doors to make sure they’re closed. We think this is a bad option for all those reasons, plus, we like to avoid taking panels out of the dash if at all possible.
5. Fasten the belt, then sit in the seat.
Simple, but not very comfy.
Where does that leave us? In our minds, no where. We’re going to have to learn to deal with the noise or we’re going to have to put the belt on every time we’re in the car, regardless of circumstance. Unlike Ford, Dodge, and Chevy, Toyota didn’t give us an easy option to disable the reminder.
Seems like Toyota doesn’t trust us…
Filed Under: TundraHeadquarters.com
[…] A lot of people have complained about the seat belt warning chime. If you take your seat belt off for just a few seconds (say to get out of the truck to get the mail) your warning chime will go off. Also, if you are hauling something in the front passenger seat that weighs more than about 40 lbs, the weight sensor in the passenger seat will think there is a passenger sitting in the seat. If this cargo isn’t buckled in, you’ll get to hear the warning chime. There are lots of solutions to both — check out our article on the Tundra’s annoying seat belt buzzer. […]
My 2007 Crewmax passenger seat belt chime goes off when I simply put my briefcase in the passenger seat – which I do often. The issue is that it does not weigh 40 lbs as referenced. Even with the laptop in it, it does not weigh more than 20 lbs. After learning of the chime, I immediately went back to Toyota and threatened to let them have the truck back (you can do that in Texas within first few days of purchase). They finally relented and re-programmed the passenger side so that it would not chime and then tried to CHARGE me. Of course I did not pay, but they said that when the battery gets disconnected, it will default back to original settings and I will have to pay. That does not make me happy, but it is a small problem. The truck truly is wonderful in all other areas. The one other thing I wish was offered is steering wheel audio controls that don’t cost $1800 (only upgrade option)
I have different issue with my seatbelt chime. It starts chiming while I am driving down the road even though my seat belt is buckled. It does this about every 1500 miles. I have to stop the truck and turn the key off to let it reset itself. Toyota has tried correcting this problem several times and looks like I am going to get a new truck if the next attempt doesn’t fix the problem.
Thanks for the info, since I like my truck and now I at least have a choice if they can’t fix it (after the 6 attempt).
Wow I hear alot of complaints about this chime issue. Why is it such an issue? #1 You should always wear your seatbelt, its the smartest choice.
#2 If the chime does sound wait about 30sec and it will stop.
Quit acting like a little ding noise is killing you or something. Grow up its meant to be there as a reminder to do the right thing. As far as the passenger side if you don’t want to hear it and no one is in the seat fasten the stupid buckle when you get in and shut up about it already. People worry about some of the dumbest things now a days. If the shoe fits…. 🙂
Just to give you a small education on valid reasons why, I work a job where I am off the road, on personal property, and in and out of my truck many many times an hour. To get in my truck in the middle of a field, put my seatbelt on, drive for three minutes, stop, unbuckle seat belt, get out, and repeat 30 or 40 times a day is a huge pain in the wazoo. And so is doing the same process without buckling the seatbelt, as the buzzer is most annoying one i have ever been unfortunate enough to deal with in any brand of truck, and i have driven them all. So before you get on your high horse and preach seatbelt use, be aware that there are valid reasons for not using one…..
RUDE!!!!!
Okay we hear that. I usually put my stuff on the rear floor so I don’t have the chime in my Crewmax.
During moose hunting season we travel a lot of logging roads/off road looking for moose sign. This is a lot of in and out of the truck travelling at low speeds checking for tracks, etc. This is when the seatbelt chime is very annoying. I would like to shut it off for that week. Also, I have gotten a few groceries and placed them on the passenger seat and set off the chime, as little as two 2 liter pop bottles, no where near the 40lbs that is required.
Ray
Ray you can do what others have done on Tundratalk.net and probably mentioned here and make a fake clip and it fools the seat thinking the belt is buckled. I think they are made from a plastic cd case. By doing it this way you’re not fooling with the safety system at all so the insurance company can’t state you voided your policy or the manufacturer’s warranty.
I took the little black clip off that connects to the seat belt and found that it is magnetic. I just taped on a fridge magnet and the buzzer stops. I just did however put the one back on the passenger seat because i couldn’t figure out how to get the passenger airbag to stay activated. I always wear my seat belt but for short runs where your in and out its very annoying.
Shawn – What year is your Tundra? That sounds like the easiest and best way to defeat the sensor.
I have a 2008 Tundra double cab. Some magnets don’t work as well as others but I have had no problems with the drivers side since i taped the magnet on. The passenger side is another story. I can’t figure out how to get the air bag to turn on when the magnet is taped on. If anyone can solve this let me know.
Shawn
Shawn – Great tip – THANK YOU. As for the passenger side air bag, there’s a weight sensor. Try adding something heavy to the seat, then starting the truck up. NOTE: If you fool the Tundra’s safety system into thinking your seat belt is buckled, it may deploy the airbag at full speed (as opposed to medium full speed). That could mean injury…so wear your safety belts people! 🙂
I have an 07 Tundra. I took mine to the dealer and they hooked up a mobile computer to my truck and disabled the chimes for both sides. The airbags were not affected.
Stephen – This is news…thanks for the tip.
the seat belt chime would be tolerable if it only dinged 10 shorts times and stopped but no, THEN 50 fast dings reminding me of what we already know.
Really, the noise should be quieted is that possible?
bz – Stephen says the dealer can disable it – see the comments above.
I take offense to the whole…”SEAT BELTS ARE VERY IMPORTANT. Not wearing one is stupid, and anyone who is looking for a way to deceive the system so that they can drive around without their seat belt on is a moron.”
I always wear my seatbelt when driving on roads but if I’m in a campground driving over speedbumps doing 20k or less, I’m not and that’s up to me. My choice.
Ask a dealer, my 2010 tundra manual says this chime is an optional setting that can be disabled.
Milton – I hear what you’re saying about the “moron” comment – it was a little harsh.
BTW, this post is old…the info has changed. When I’m not pressed for time, I’ll update it.
For those who are capable enough to perform option 3 then another option would be to unhook the wire that goes to the buzzer from the seatbelts. This is based on a Toyota Supra design. I have not tried it on a Tundra. Not sure if the dealership is going to be willing to disable a ‘safety’ feature.
shawn what little black clip on the seat belt are you talking about?
As an avid seat belt user, I’m just leery of making physical modifications to the seat belt. God forbid there is an accident and you are injured because the belt or airbag malfunctions. Any 3rd year law student would have an easy time of tying the seat belt mod to the malfunction.
Do what I did and have this done programmatically at your dealership. As per the manual:
6-2. Customization
Customizable Features
Your vehicle includes a variety of electronic features that can be personalized to your preferences. Programming these preferences requires specialized equipment and may be performed by an authorized Toyota dealership.
Long story short, seat belt reminder buzzer’s customizable setting is OFF.
If they try to give you the whole liability run-around, let them know that in order to sell the car it must be ‘equipped’ with the alarm. Equipped does not rise to the occasion, legally, of it being activated. Moreover, seat belt laws, not reminders are what motorists are supposed to obey. Have you ever heard of anyone beating a seat belt ticket using the defense that the reminder didn’t go on?
My drive way is 1/8th of a mile long so when I get the mail after work each evening, I would rather not have to re-belt. Although I am an avid seat belt wearer, I think I’m pretty safe on my driveway. If I happen to get in a five car pile-up in my own driveway, well I guess I had it coming! (- :
I had the driver’s and passenger’s side done yesterday. . .it took around 25 minutes and the dealership was even surprised that it could be done.
FYI, the PDF from the toyota site is sec_6-2 and it references page 597 in the manual.
Scott – Thank you for posting this – I’ll get something on the site.
Any new news on this topic?
Subaru has the same thing, what I suggest is that you take a hot glue gun and inject it into the hole of the buzzer, it will decrease the volume by more than half, so its still there, just not as loud. Also I like your website, I am in the market to buy a Tundra and have learned a lot of things here.
I get it that we have to wear our seatbelts, but when you are driving around on a farm, opening and closing gates, it is not practical. And why does Toyota have to have the most annoying and loudest buzzer? I had a Nissan Titan, it beeped a few times and it was over, I have no problem with that, but Toyota your buzzer sucks! I like my Tundra in most aspects, but would never recommend it for a farm truck because of this loud buzzer. I know I have to wear a seatbelt, I don’t need you to remind me of it!
Take your truck to the dealership and have them turn the seatbelt alarms off. My driveway is around an eighth of a mile long. I hated having to put my seatbelt back on after returning from work, but first stopping to get my mail.
Anyone have problems with tire pressure sensor? Mine stayed on all the time, checked pressures all were good, still on… checked spare and to my total amazement there were places rubbed on the spare that had the treads showing in the sidewall!!! Going out of town on weekend so I purchased new tire…. 6 months ago. 2 weeks ago tire pressure sensor back on… no low tire thought surely not…. but sure enough the spare is starting to show some places where it touches frame. Now I can NOT get light out even after dealer visit. They say they have not heard of this issue so they did not offer any solution other than mount spare in bed!!!
I had a 2007 and i now have a 2010 Tundra. I got this little hint from a fellow in Washington State. Take a plastic box vhs tapes used to come in or any flat plastic of about the same thickness. Take the male part of your shoulder harness and lay it flat on the plastic and trace the out side and the opening in the middle. Carefully cut on a hard surface (bread board) take the middle out first then cut around the outside edge. You might have to touch up the edges a bit but it works like a hot dam. I only use this in hunting season. Caution when you go to eject it put your hand over it as goes flying. No harm done so make a few as your buddies may want a couple.
PS- Make it a little extra longer so you have something to grip onto. Use an Xacto knife but be careful. Hope this works as well as it did for me.