Front Row Seatbelt options

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brisveganbj42

brisveganbj42

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Does anyone have any photos of bucket seats or benchseats and people with the seat belts pivoting off the roof channel (i.e. NOT on the D pillar like later models)..

I may have to do this with my build and just wanted to see photos for comparison.

Thanks!
 
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It's ok.. I threw the seats in the pig today and measured up some options..
20200612195758-6eea9502-me.jpg

20200612195927-f0ee1705-me.jpg

Mocked up a drop link int he roof line:
20200612200317-889f2af9-me.jpg


With various lengths:
20200612210137-c3eb6fa2-me.jpg
 
I used seats from a Chevy Trailblazer in my FJ55 build. They have integrated belts and are some of the most comfortable seats I've ever sat in. Not having to deal with attaching the belts to that flimsy metal roof was worth the $40 I paid for the seats at the pick and pull. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

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I've thought about those seat belt harnesses in the seat and it seems to me the three point harness is compromised. You are now just relying on the seat bolts in the floor. 🤷‍♂️ The metal in the floor is probably worse off than the post metal as far as rust and fatigue go. Just something to think about.
 
scrapdaddy said:
I've thought about those seat belt harnesses in the seat and it seems to me the three point harness is compromised. You are now just relying on the seat bolts in the floor. 🤷‍♂️ The metal in the floor is probably worse off than the post metal as far as rust and fatigue go. Just something to think about.
Click to expand...
I had to put a new floor in my pig, so I went with new 14 gauge sheet metal reinforced with 1.5" C channel from the 2"x4" tube rockers to the tunnel. Grade 8 bolts and grade 8 fender washers anchor the seats down. You could probably stick a forklift fork under either seat and pick up the whole truck. The seat itself should fail before the floor does.

I would think that an underbody frame of angle iron could be easily constructed under the original floor that could be drilled for the seat bolts to pass through, creating a solid base with zero chance for the seat bolts to pull through. Of course that would depend on how bad the floor really is.
 
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scrapdaddy said:
I've thought about those seat belt harnesses in the seat and it seems to me the three point harness is compromised. You are now just relying on the seat bolts in the floor. 🤷‍♂️ The metal in the floor is probably worse off than the post metal as far as rust and fatigue go. Just something to think about.
Click to expand...
This is a good point, but the bigger picture is that the Pig is not going to get a 5 star rating on how she crashes and protects the occupants.
Best strategy is not to crash...
 
PabloCruise said:
This is a good point, but the bigger picture is that the Pig is not going to get a 5 star rating on how she crashes and protects the occupants.
Best strategy is not to crash...
Click to expand...

Agreed...and anything would be better than the factory bench seat and lap belts. That was standard in '71, the year of my pig.

Another point to ponder is that if you use a three point belt and attach the pivot to the thin metal above the rear door, the other two belt attachment points still rely on bolts through the floor. If any one of these three attachment points fail, the whole restraint system fails.

Reinforcing the steel above the rear doors is not possible without removing the headliner and doing some well engineered structural work. A dangling pivot point could obstruct ingress / egress for the rear seat passenger. In my opinion, reinforcing the floor for attachment points is much easier and less intrusive (it can all be done underneath). The containment system in the seats with integrated belts is tried and true. General Motors had to pass stringent crash tests with those seats. Honestly, if you look at the way the seats were attached to the floor of the Trailblazer, you'd question whether the floor was strong enough in that application as well...but apparently it was plenty strong.

I'm not saying that my way is the only way, but for me it was the best solution...and like I said, the seats are super comfortable.
 
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roadstr6 said:
Reinforcing the steel above the rear doors is not possible without removing the headliner and doing some well engineered structural work.
Click to expand...

This part is bypassed by running a backing plate with welded nut up the B pillar for the third point. Your system of attaching to the floor is well thought out with reinforcement. As we all know our 55's floors are a bad point of rust.

Related story... My son as a teenager was involved in a high speed crash into a light pole. He was the rear passenger without a seatbelt. On impact he slammed into the front pass. who was wearing a seatbelt and broke the seat from it's mountings driving the pass. into the dash with his face. The pass. had a broken jaw, missing teeth, broken knee cap and a broken ankle. They were finding pieces of the dash under his gums for weeks after the accident. My son shattered his L3 vertebrate among many smaller injuries. Take away from this is don't have a 180 pound missile laying loose in the back thinking you're safe up front all strapped in. The driver got the worst, but lived.
 
scrapdaddy said:
This part is bypassed by running a backing plate with welded nut up the B pillar for the third point. Your system of attaching to the floor is well thought out with reinforcement. As we all know our 55's floors are a bad point of rust.

Related story... My son as a teenager was involved in a high speed crash into a light pole. He was the rear passenger without a seatbelt. On impact he slammed into the front pass. who was wearing a seatbelt and broke the seat from it's mountings driving the pass. into the dash with his face. The pass. had a broken jaw, missing teeth, broken knee cap and a broken ankle. They were finding pieces of the dash under his gums for weeks after the accident. My son shattered his L3 vertebrate among many smaller injuries. Take away from this is don't have a 180 pound missile laying loose in the back thinking you're safe up front all strapped in. The driver got the worst, but lived.
Click to expand...

Scary situation. It is a wonder they lived. Were they in a 55? As much as I dislike modern cars, there is a lot to be said for the safety aspects. Air bags and crumple zones have saved a lot of lives.

You know, Scrap, I thought hard about the B pillar, but the problem with that is that it is too far forward for the pivot point...at least with the bucket seats I tried it is...unless you are a short person. With bucket seats positioned far enough back for a 6' person to drive comfortably, the B pillar works out to be several inches forward of the seat back. If you look at the OP's pics above, you can see that he has a later truck with the belts in the B pillar position, but he's trying to move the pivot back to the rear door frame for comfort / safety reasons. I would be afraid that if left in the B pillar, the belt would act more like a guillotine than a restraint. The belt should go over the shoulder and pull down snug, as opposed to flapping in the breeze out in front of the occupant's body...at least that was my thinking.
 
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roadstr6 said:
Agreed...and anything would be better than the factory bench seat and lap belts. That was standard in '71, the year of my pig.

Another point to ponder is that if you use a three point belt and attach the pivot to the thin metal above the rear door, the other two belt attachment points still rely on bolts through the floor. If any one of these three attachment points fail, the whole restraint system fails.

Reinforcing the steel above the rear doors is not possible without removing the headliner and doing some well engineered structural work. A dangling pivot point could obstruct ingress / egress for the rear seat passenger. In my opinion, reinforcing the floor for attachment points is much easier and less intrusive (it can all be done underneath). The containment system in the seats with integrated belts is tried and true. General Motors had to pass stringent crash tests with those seats. Honestly, if you look at the way the seats were attached to the floor of the Trailblazer, you'd question whether the floor was strong enough in that application as well...but apparently it was plenty strong.

I'm not saying that my way is the only way, but for me it was the best solution...and like I said, the seats are super comfortable.
Click to expand...

You can also go into the B pillar for upper and lower mounts.
 
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