a motor vehicle seat belt retractor having load limiting features for controlling seat belt restraint loads for a retractor having a spool for storing belt webbing and rotatable with respect to a retractor frame , and a locking mechanism for locking the spool to provide vehicle occupant restraint . a load limiting element coupled with the spool limits restraint loading of the seat belt webbing upon locking of the spool . a rotational displacement limiting mechanism limits the displacement of the load limiting element , the limiting mechanism having a cam forming a spiral flight rotatable with the load limiting element and a cam follower engaging the spiral flight . the cam and the cam follower interengage to reach an end position preventing further relative angular displacement beyond a predetermined angular displacement of the load limiting element . embodiments provide various configurations for the cam and cam follower elements .