BDJeff
Bigger Hammer
Hi gang, just finished installing a set of "universal fit" seat belts from Kaiser Willys so I thought I'd pass along the install.
Seat belts
I put these in after there was discussion elsewhere where one of our members got in a minor fender bender and ended up with a lot of face injuries. Now this setup will not by any means protect me in some sort of highway crash but I'm sure it will help in some unfortunate event under say 25 MPH. Yes, the mounting points will probably fail or at least pull out a lot because of the sheet metal gauge in our trucks but they only have to work once!
The first trick was to determine the position of the upper shoulder harness mount. I checked several other vehicles and they generally were just about shoulder height. Any higher and there is a real possibility of the belt rubbing on your neck.
Next thing was to figure out how to secure the nut on the back of the upper mount cap screw. I didn't want to use a sheet metal screw because the size would be big and probably just weaken the B pillar. So I Dremel'ed out a square about 1" on a side on the back side of the B pillar box section so I could put in the nut and possibly hold it with a wrench if necessary. A good trick to do the whole thing in a mirror but it worked out OK. You can see the cuts in the mirror
Found a good spot on the floor with clearance underneath for the fender washer. Met all the position requirements in the instructions
I bought the short plastic covered receiver belt, the other option was too long. So I made a bracket to extend the mount. I'm using the existing holes from the single strap seat belts that the PO had installed. Not NHTSA approved? Correct, but it only needs to work once which I'm sure it will.
Looks OEM! And they fit great.
Seat belts
I put these in after there was discussion elsewhere where one of our members got in a minor fender bender and ended up with a lot of face injuries. Now this setup will not by any means protect me in some sort of highway crash but I'm sure it will help in some unfortunate event under say 25 MPH. Yes, the mounting points will probably fail or at least pull out a lot because of the sheet metal gauge in our trucks but they only have to work once!
The first trick was to determine the position of the upper shoulder harness mount. I checked several other vehicles and they generally were just about shoulder height. Any higher and there is a real possibility of the belt rubbing on your neck.
Next thing was to figure out how to secure the nut on the back of the upper mount cap screw. I didn't want to use a sheet metal screw because the size would be big and probably just weaken the B pillar. So I Dremel'ed out a square about 1" on a side on the back side of the B pillar box section so I could put in the nut and possibly hold it with a wrench if necessary. A good trick to do the whole thing in a mirror but it worked out OK. You can see the cuts in the mirror
Found a good spot on the floor with clearance underneath for the fender washer. Met all the position requirements in the instructions
I bought the short plastic covered receiver belt, the other option was too long. So I made a bracket to extend the mount. I'm using the existing holes from the single strap seat belts that the PO had installed. Not NHTSA approved? Correct, but it only needs to work once which I'm sure it will.
Looks OEM! And they fit great.