Before I muck-up the plastic facia trying to remove the 3rd row shoulder belts for the seat belts, I thought I better ask if anyone has done this and how to get the plastic body panels removed to get access to the tensioner assembly...anyone?
3rd Row Seat Belt Removal Help (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter spressomon
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When I removed mine to remove the belts and tensioners to install my roller draws I just got my hand behind the plastic and pulled and moved my hand along untill I could feel tension on the plastic (so a clip was near) and pulled again and all the clips let go. The Ellerys says to use a screwdriver behind, probably a better way to go or a bit of flat bar bent over that you can slide along to get as close to the next clip as possible. Start with the one in you jack/tool compartment, and go from there to get the feel of it.
greynolds
SILVER Star
I removed my 3rd row seat belts today as I don't see myself ever using the 3rd row seats (which were removed the day I brought my LX home). Pretty easy to do - the driver side panel came off a lot more easily than the passenger side panel, but the job took well under an hour.
Now that they're off, I've got 2 bolts sticking out a bit at the top, 1 bolt sticking up on the driver side at the lower attachment point, and 1 bolt that's pretty well covered by the carpet. So I got to thinking that it would make sense to use those bolts as mounting points for cargo tie downs (the upper ones probably won't be too useful, but the lower ones sure would be).
I've got some cargo tiedowns leftover from my Land Rover Discovery that might work, but the bolt holes are somewhat larger (not a lot, but may be enough to be loose):
I'm planning to give these that I have a try over the long weekend, but has anyone come across anything similar that's an exact fit on the Land Cruiser or have a better idea on what to use those bolts for (especially the upper ones)? Also, does anyone know what size bolts these are? One option if they make the correct bolt size is a Jergens hoist ring (http://www.jergensinc.com/search_pictorial_frames.aspx?catChapterID=10&subCat=true), which would replace the original bolt.
Now that they're off, I've got 2 bolts sticking out a bit at the top, 1 bolt sticking up on the driver side at the lower attachment point, and 1 bolt that's pretty well covered by the carpet. So I got to thinking that it would make sense to use those bolts as mounting points for cargo tie downs (the upper ones probably won't be too useful, but the lower ones sure would be).
I've got some cargo tiedowns leftover from my Land Rover Discovery that might work, but the bolt holes are somewhat larger (not a lot, but may be enough to be loose):
I'm planning to give these that I have a try over the long weekend, but has anyone come across anything similar that's an exact fit on the Land Cruiser or have a better idea on what to use those bolts for (especially the upper ones)? Also, does anyone know what size bolts these are? One option if they make the correct bolt size is a Jergens hoist ring (http://www.jergensinc.com/search_pictorial_frames.aspx?catChapterID=10&subCat=true), which would replace the original bolt.
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We use the Jergens hoist ring at my work it is a very nice unit. The ones we use are American sepc. You could try using some type of bushing for you Disco units, this will allow you to use the smaller bolts and allow it to rotate.
But this idea may allow it to rattle, but that could be fixed too.
DMX
But this idea may allow it to rattle, but that could be fixed too.
DMX
greynolds
SILVER Star
DMX84 said:
I've used the Jergens hoist rings previously and they work really well. The trick is finding them with the correct thread size to make use of the existing threaded holes.
A bushing would probably work IF I could find one the right size. The thickness of the Disco tiedowns is pretty much the same as the the seatbelt ancors (in fact the Disco tiedowns are very similar to seatbelt ancors).
greynolds
SILVER Star
100 TD said:
I'm assuming you would mount another bolt so the bracket would be held on well. Definitely a good use of the bolt.
Yes I was thinking that, although the bolt/mount point is strong and may be able to support the extinguisher by it self, I think a an aditional bottom mount point would be better as I like to do it once for the long haul and not have vibration issues/breakages later.greynolds said:
I would go to a hardware store and look for a metric shoulder bolt.
Dan, did you get your panels off?
DMX
Dan, did you get your panels off?
DMX
greynolds
SILVER Star
100 TD said:
Yes, I would think the mount point would be strong enough. The concern would be that being only 1 mounting point, it would allow the bracket to pivot which wouldn't be a good thing. The 2nd mount point probably wouldn't have to be very strong - just enough to prevent the bracket from pivoting.
greynolds
SILVER Star
DMX84 said:
Not sure which post you were replying to, but the mount points already have metric shoulder bolts.
greynolds
SILVER Star
greynolds said:
Well, the Disco tiedowns aren't going to work. They're just enough larger than the seat belt ancors that they won't pivot around freely in the driver side lower ancor point. The mounting hole is also enough larger that they would be a sloppy fit and most likely rattle when not in use.
I took one of the bolts to the hardware store today. They're 12mm x 1.25 extra fine thread in case anyone wanted to know. I can't check to see if Jergens sells hoist rings in the correct thread site because their site seems to have been down all day.
I also pulled out the third seats, and got tired of the belts rattling around back there. So I pulled out the belts too. All this talk about using the bolt holes for something else is great, but I'm not paying $112 each for the cool tie down from Jergens. I dug out the tap and die set and found that the threads are 7/16 X 20NF. Most Asian cars use SAE threads to keep modifications down a little. And yes, it's a 14MM head on the bolts and SAE threads. Try ordering that one.
Well, off to the hardware store................
Well, off to the hardware store................
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Campfire said:
This is about the only sae bolt on the whole truck. The government mandates that all manufacturers use a 7/16 X 20 for seatbelt anchors.
greynolds
SILVER Star
LEXUSBEN said:
Interesting - it hadn't occured to me to even bother trying non metric sizes at the hardware store given that the 14mm socket fit and the 12mm threads seemed to fit fine.
Anyway, I've found a few possible options:
http://www.bluehummer.com/catiri.html
These are $35 each (probably overpriced for what they are, but...) and come with 1/2" bolts, so 7/16" bolts should be a close enough for a tight fit.
http://www.agmcontainer.com/tie_downs/tie_downs_k480S.htm
I haven't been able to find pricing or ordering info, but with 13mm mounting holes, 7/16" bolts should fit just fine.
Unfortunately, 7/16" x 20 threads don't open up options in the hoist ring category (and not all the Jergens hoist rings are $100 and up - the ones I used previously were the Swivel Eyebolts and cost around $35 or so each). When available with 7/16" threads, the hoist rings seem to use 7/16" x 14 (coarse) threads.
I did find 1 hoist ring option that would work - an Actek "Round Base Swivel & Pivot Hoist Ring" (part #44646), which has a hole for a mounting bolt - you supply your own bolt. The smallest size on these has a 1/2" hole for the bolt, which would work fine. I sent them an email asking for pricing and ordering info earlier today, but probably won't hear back for a few days.
The other possible hoist ring option is that some of them can have their mounting bolts replaced with a different thread pitch at the expense of losing a snap lock ring on the bolt to hold the assembly together if it isn't bolted down tightly. The guy at Jergen's who answered my questions suggested this could be done and work just fine for this application - it would be frowned upon if using in the lifting environment.
My hunch is that I'll end up going with the rings from BlueHummer unless someone comes up with a better idea or the Actek rings turn out to be $50 or less.
After a little research, I've come up with a low cost alternative to $128 Jergensen lift points to replace the selt belt bolts. I found Summit Racing has some on their website. Seat belt eye bolts for only $4! Your local speed shop should also have a decent selection of these. The picture is the original bolt with the new tie down and a spacer I made. They are the DOT specified 7/16 X 20 thread for seat belt anchor points.
And the eyelet installed in the pillar for a fastening point.
And the eyelet installed in the pillar for a fastening point.
greynolds
SILVER Star
Campfire said:
Nice job hunting those down. They look like they'd work out great for using straps with hooks, but would probably be a bit small to pass webbing through (not really a huge downside). For the price it would definitely be tough to do any better. What type of pipe did you use to make the spacer?
Edit: Combined with the snap hooks, those eye bolts would work great with webbing straps too. Now I just have to wait for a few backorders to work themselves out
.
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greynolds said:Nice job hunting those down. They look like they'd work out great for using straps with hooks, but would probably be a bit small to pass webbing through (not really a huge downside). For the price it would definitely be tough to do any better. What type of pipe did you use to make the spacer?
Edit: Combined with the snap hooks, those eye bolts would work great with webbing straps too. Now I just have to wait for a few backorders to work themselves out
I had some 1/4" wall spacers I had used on my engine stand that were rolling around the tool box. They are the same OD as the base of the eyelet. You can also use solid 3/4" round mild steel stock from a hardware store and just drill it out if you have a drill press.
