73-87 seat belt tech

[Pyrotechnic]

I haven't seen any info on seat belts on this site so I'd like to start a thread to see if we can collect our knowledge. Until I started trying to replace my seat belts, I thought all seat belts for these trucks were the same over their 14 year run. Not true.

73-74 had lap belts. Some may have had 3 point belts as a dealer option but most I've seen just have lap belts.

75-77 had 3 point belts which utilize the retractor on the floor from the lap belt, and adds a retractor behind the seat.

78+ did away with the retractor behind the seat. The belts still use dual retractors, but both retractors are now integrated into one box on the floor.

I tried putting 78+ belts in my 77 and it did not work. Seemed like they moved the mounting hole on the floor for the later trucks.

Hopefully this helps and if there is anything I missed feel free to add it. I would also be interested in seeing what you did to restore/replace your seat belts if you've done it.