A dual tension safety belt retractor including a belt storage reel rotatably mounted to a retractor frame by a reel shaft having a shaft end protruding from a frame side wall has dual tension retraction mechanism mounted to the frame side wall to apply either of two rewind biases upon said reel via said shaft in response to belt winding and unwinding movements of predetermined manner in which the retraction mechanism has a pawl carrier rotatably mounted on the reel shaft end with a pawl pivotally mounted on the pawl carrier for rotation with and relative to the carrier, providing a power spring receiving chamber, a power spring for biasing the carrier in a given direction, ratchet means to be engaged by the pawl on the pawl carrier, means for biasing the pawl carrier toward the ratchet means teeth, pawl silencer ring means for normally holding the pawl out of engagement with the ratchet means teeth and allowing such engagement on a slight retractive movement of the reel, cam means for selectively engaging the pawl to move it from a ratchet means engaging position, a lower tension spring connected between the pawl carrier and cam means for biasing the reel at a lower value and cam follower means on the pawl for being engaged by the cam means during reel winding movement under the influence of the lower tension spring during a low tension mode of operation of the mechanism to pivot the pawl and thereby end such low tension mode.