47-55.1 Substitute Shoulder belt suggestions

[vintovka]

Getting down to the finer points on mine and find that the cheapy belts i got off ebay suck. They are the old inertia types that must be pulled out very slowly and need help to retract. $ is scarce now so look for advice on which junkyard choices have belts that could be fitted to my standard cab and seat. Everyone have seen have a rod or short attachment to below seat. Need one that can pass over/thru the bench and down to floor. Even thinking have lower end sewn on.

[dsraven]

sometimes those inertia belts just need to be mounted at the right angle to work properly. if the angle is off it simulates a roll over or impact and the belt locks up. you could try just shimming the roller assy at a different angle and see if that helps. kinda fine tune it a bit.

[Driver_WT]

Check out these ones. No retractor, but the length of the short belt is adjustable up to 25 inches long and they are pretty cheap at $33 each. There are other latch styles available for similar prices.

https://www.seatbeltsplus.com/product/CH300.html

Wade

[mr48chev]

If you are getting a set out of something in a wrecking yard don't get a set out anything that has been in a head on or rear ended as the mechanism may have been compromised in the wreck like the belts in my 92 Geo Prism GSI that I got rear ended by a garbage truck in. The retractor on the belt is jammed but it saved my life both when I got hit and when the car hit the barrier.

If you have to go used i'd say 80/90 truck with a bench before they fastened them to the seats.

[vintovka]

Thanks all. I have looked at yard stuff before and most every 80-90s bench type is worn out or wrecked. Thinking of checking late model 4 door back seats and modifying them. Current set up is maddening and getting worse. Prolly fix them so they don't retract beyond what i need for time being. Just spent last $500 on front end and such.

[mobileortho]

Originally Posted by dsraven

sometimes those inertia belts just need to be mounted at the right angle to work properly. if the angle is off it simulates a roll over or impact and the belt locks up. you could try just shimming the roller assy at a different angle and see if that helps. kinda fine tune it a bit.

Ditto. I used a set from a Silverado and had to get the mounting angle just right in order for them to work properly.

[vintovka]

Going to try altering angles and see if that helps. May also try routing belt thru the side seat frame (instead of outside) to see if it makes any difference. One other idea is to add a section of smooth plastic split tubing to the shoulder belt retainer to reduce friction as belt travels over it. Very annoying playing "yank and stop" the way it is.

[vintovka]

I loosened the re tractor assembly and rotated around until it seemed to work better. Actually its now 180 degrees from were it was along with the fixed part fed thru the seat frame. Seems much better but time will tell. I don't expect perfect (or like a brand new 50K car) but just a bit more user friendly would be nice for this old man.

[edgeleycanuck]

Not sure if this may be an option but I thought I would put it out there. I've attached a couple of pictures of a 2000 pickup seat with integrated shoulder belts. I think it's possible to remove that belt assembly and build it into the late 80s chev bench seat some use and/or the original
Bench seat, if one is planning to reupholster.

[vintovka]

Thanks for the suggestion. Never seen that set up before and am sure many will go for it. Now that mine have been adjusted they are acceptable and I've learned to use them by pulling slowly. Rerouting the belt thru the seat side rail really helps and keeps them from getting caught in the door.

[mr48chev]

I'm not sure that the late 80's seat is designed so that it works with a seat belt that attached to it though. The last thing you want is a seat that folds up on you or someone in the truck in a head on or by getting rear ended. When I got hit by that garbage truck that I mentioned before he hit me in the right rear corner and shoved me into a Johnson barrier and I took another jolt. First impact broke the seat and the second one threw me forward against the belts and jammed them and left a seat belt bruise mark on my shoulder and chest.

If I use aftermarket I will use Juliano's belts as they have been in the seat belt business for years and have a well respected product. They were the first ones to make and sell aftermarket belts that I remember.

[jwhotrod]

I bought the seat belt/shoulder harness setups for my 35 chevy streetrod from seatbeltplanet.com they are a certified seatbelt builder/rebuilder. They will take your musclecar belts and rebuild them good as new with the original labels, etc sewn in or provide new belts made to your specs and color (27 or so different colors) and mine cost me about $70 per position. Great people!

[nvrdone]

you might look at the rear seat belts out of a '80's to '99 jeep Cherokee. they seem to work well in street rod coupes.

[dsraven]

whatever you do, plan for success in the event of an accident.

[vintovka]

Still "sticking" to the aftermarkets. A bit annoying when pulling them out but if you go slow they are still ok. At this point they are just another unique quirk that goes with the truck so i'm going to leave them just the way they are.