HDJ81 2nd-row seatbelt mod/retrofit (1 Viewer)

[mot]

I've got one of the earliest 81 with lap-belt-only 2nd-row seat.

With two small children still in car/booster seats, I have been meaning to upgrade/update to the 3-point harness type since I picked the rig up at the end of last year.

Anyway, when I told about my modification yesterday to someone who has purchased a similarly-equipped rig in/from Japan and he told me of his interest in the details I decided to post this mod.

I guess not too many of you have this problem, but hope those of you with the problem now (or in the future) would find this even remotely helpful.

Pics 1-3: I've posted these pics before, but the shoulder harness anchor hole with thread is already there when you pry the headliner(?) open.

So far so good!

 

[mot]

Before I took on this endeavor I looked for used belts from a wrecked/parts vehicle.

The first guy wanted almost what a new set would have cost, so I waited patiently until another one showed up, with less greed.

I wanted to have as many of the original parts as possible, so I asked the seller to include as much of the associated parts as possible, which turned out to be a good decision later.

Pic 1: 2nd-row seat up

Pic 2: The attachment part

Pic 3: The donor part (right-side's female end and the center belt) Notice the wire attached (cut ) that, IIRC, releases the seat to fold up (or was it to fold forward?) I think it is to flip it up.

 

[mot]

Not that it has anything to do with this part, but the bolt that attaches the seat to the floor. This one was shaped differently. Is it broken off or it's supposed to be shaped that way to discourage people from taking it out? (Pic 1)

Pic 2: How the heck am I supposed to gain access to the bolts/bracket under the fabric with that thing covering the bottom of the seat???

Pic 3: The only way this smart cookie could think of, and I saw no harm at the time as it would be out of sight when in use anyway, was to cut it open. (Caution: THIS IS NOT NECESSARY )

 

[mot]

Pic 1: Opening her up to take a look

Pic 2: You can kind of see the above-mentioned wire in there (You can also see a few of the ugly rust(?) spots which will be revealed soon, too )

Pic 3: As you could imagine, the bolts were torqued in there pretty tight!

 

[mot]

I guess you can see in the last pic that the "bar" that was going vertical over the bottom part of the seat was missing.

It turned out that (I'm sure it was obvious to many of you to start with ) all I needed was to remove a few little clips and the whole thing comes right off!!!

 

[mot]

Pic 1 & 2: Pics of the part/clips that could be removed

But now, since the cable had to be attached to the release mechanism I had to use the cable that came with the seat and ditch the one (along with the brackets) that came with the used one: Take out the belt components only and not the brackets, wire, etc... from the used one.

Pic 3: In anticipation of removing the stuck-on-very-tight bolts from the used part.

 

[mot]

Pic 1: Step on the wrench with the right foot (hard to see) like so... You can see how the cable/wire is extended/attached to the seat.


Pic 2: Step on the other wrench with the left. And torque, with your whole body. A few choice words while doing it seemed to have helped.

Pic 3: Lap belts' female part comparison; She's been used a few dozen times, at least.

 

[Radd Cruisers]

Awsone job man, I have had two people ask me about this particular installation.

Rob

 

[mot]

Pic 1: The other side of them (Identical)

Pic 2: Finally coming undone, for me to take out the belts.

Pic 3: Close-up

 

[mot]

Awsone job man, I have had two people ask me about this particular installation.

Rob

Rob,

I wish it were/was an awesome job!

Stay tuned!

(I should be in bed! )

 

[mot]

Moving on...

Pic 1: Forgot to mention the plastic cover thingy that is covering the bar that can be removed by unscrewing two screws (different lengths)

Pic 2: What it looks like with the "new" addition/replacement poking through (just re-install everything else in reverse)

Pic 3: Does something look amiss???

 

[mot]

Pic 1: The bottom of the female part that needs to be removed

Pic 2: CAUTION!!! Be sure that BEFORE you tear up the interior of your vehicle you double check to see where the threaded hole is underneath.

Believe it or not, the process thus far was the easy part.

 

[mot]

Now that I have done multiple irreversible damages to my rig I had reasons to be more cautious!

When I had first removed the inside trim panel where the new seatbelt will reside I tried to gain access without removing the entire side-rear panel behind. And there was ABSOLUTELY NO ROOM to put the retracting part in there.

Also, not to make matters worse the threaded hole that was there for the shoulder anchor part was not there for the retracting part.

WHAT AM I TO DO???



















OK, not that I hadn't given away what I was going to do above already, but you just have to remove the side panel entirely. Be sure you have half a dozen or so of the trim panel holding tacks thingies so you would not be cursing like I was.




Pic 1: All of the pieces removed

Pic 2: The retracting part installed.
The thread was there for the top (smaller one you can see here) but not for the big one at the bottom.

Toyota dealer told me that the wagon (gasoline), 7/8 seater models must have come with the nut welded on the other side so you would not have to get your pretty hand back there trying to hold one and lose a couple of allen wrenches like somebody did (Tried for like an hour to fish them out, with a string and strong magnets, but did not work )

This could have been avoided by having the right tools to do the job.

Pic 3: Up close

 

[mot]

Pic 1: The unit "hooks" to the top small hole above the small bolt

Pic 2: Close-up of the bottom part. I had picked allen wrench bolts(not sure what they are called) because I did not want to use a rachet wrench and use the socket (OK, I think I didn't really think about it. I came across the allen wrench bolt thingy at the hardware store and thought it might work And it does, but if I were to do it over again, I would probably just use the regular stuff).

Anyway, I believe that I used 25mm in length and also I went a little bigger (sorry no recollection of the exact size) than the OEM size (I think it would take the same size used for the upper, anchor part bolt) to be on the safe side since the OEM bolts were not available from the dealer.

[edit]
I "think" it was 12mm with the head size of 10mm.

Pic 3: What I had used.

 

[mot]

Pic 1: The biggest piece that was underneath the trip piece

Pic 2: The bugger piece that HAD TO be removed, back in its place

Pic 3: Close-up of the said piece

 

[mot]

Now tackling the right side:

Pic 1: Before taking it apart

Pic 2: Winch controller residing

Pic 3: First piece coming off

 

[mot]

Pic 1: That's not what you call a/the "sub", is it? Looks pretty tired, too, doesn't it?

Pic 2: Nakid

Pic 3: More of the same of/from the other side. You can actually(kind of) see the thread for the smaller bolt on top, but no thread for the bigger hole at the bottom.

 

[mot]

What the retracting part actually looks like

Pic 2: Yes, my thumb really bends like that.

 

[mot]

Pic 1: More close-up

Pic 2: The "hook"

Pic 3: Hooked

 

[mot]

Why is that whenever I do write-ups they always end up being way too long!!!

May I go to bed now??? I'm not addicted to Mud. No Sir!





Pic 1: The gaping hole

Pic 2: How it "should" go in there (at an angle)

Pic 3: With the upper hook and bolt in