Installing seat belts into ute

[FATBOY]

Any help would be appreciated
regards fatboy

[JB]

Hey Fat,

Had to get plates that were of a certain size for each point of the restraint. I think it was 3750 square mm and a thickness of the steel of about 8mm. I bought these plates at a 4wd mob in cairns, the have a thread already cut into it for the seat belt bolt. When time to fit I tack welded the plate underneath the floor and mounted the seat belts. For the pillar I cut enought out to slip the plates behind the metal hiding the installation... ie getting rid of the bolt that appears on the outside. Again weld this plate from the inside in place for the sash part of the belt.

Hope this help a little,
Cheers
Jason.

[Jonno]

Hi Fat,

I have done a similar thing for my (still to be completed) ute. These bits were carefully fabricated by the panel beater to sit behind the pillar....its a bit tricky getting them in, dangling them from a bit of wire but then are then held in by small screws top and bottom.



I bought inertia reels from Rare Spares which I am not entirely happy with but....we made up mounts for these to prop on the floor which just clear the bench seat and again are contoured a bit to sit flat.



I ran all of this by the engineer as we were doing it and he seemed pretty happy.

Jonno

[FATBOY]

thanks for the replies im still after more ideas maybe rear parcel shelf for inertia real
regards fatboy

[Glenn 'Stinky' Stankevicius]

Here's a nice neat inertia reel belt install in the rear of a sedan, could also do the same for a ute I guess.

[sexyfc]

hi jonno
Do you think your panel beater would make another set of brackets to sell?
sexyfc

[Jonno]

I suspect that he is pretty flat out...he's had my car for the best part of 3 years ()....but can ask next time I see him.

Jonno

[Jonno]

Fat,

Another thing to consider is how the seat belt will feel. I thought about (and certainly like the look of) the rear parcel shelf set-up as shown above by Stinky but when I sat in my car and tried a belt in that position it seemed to be cutting into my neck. Not real flash for a daily driver but might be OK if used infrequently.  Or maybe it was just MY neck...

J

[FATBOY]

Ive been thinking about mounting them in the parcel shelf but waiting for people to come forward with pictures and comments
regards fatboy

[sexyfc]

Whats the law about seat belts anyway, are able to just use lap belts in the front and the rear ?  I have finished 1 side of my mini tubs and i've been thinking about the anchor points for the seat belts.

[ekute]

Hey Fat, mount the reels directly behind the front seats on the panel that separates the cabin from the tray, just above floor level, with a plate behind it in the ute well.Works well on my ute!

When i put inertia reel belts in the van I did the same and for top mounts I slid a plate with a nut already welded to it down the pillar then spot welded thru the hole for the upper mounting bolt (make the hole a bit larger and it will be covered by the upper mount).

You can get inertia belts with different size stalks for bucket seats or webbed ones for bench seats.

Just make sure your belts are good quality-better to get new oem stuff than aftermarket for smooth all round action!

Mark