Pick up 3point belts...

39portlander

39portlander

Well-known member
At the point were I would like to buy and install 3point seat belts in the truck. Would like to see some pictures of your trucks so I can get some install ideas. Looking @ what Juliano"s is offering now.

Please don't turn this into a previous thread from last year that was closed because of someone's dumbass reply:rolleyes:. Scott
 
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Can't say for a 39, but on 48-52 trucks people weld in plates between the door jamb and curved around to the rear window area for the upper belt mount. Personally, I'm not convinced the cab has enough strength up there. If you go with modern seats, a lot of them have the seat belts built into the seat base. There again, not sure the floors on these old trucks are strong enough...
 
I just installed the belts in my 39 Fordor and got humbled by the master craftsmen, like 51 Merc-CT who did much nicer installations than mine.

Juliano's has a post on their site for a panel truck. I hope to install belts in my 45 truck, which, I think, is essentially the same cab as yours. Let us know how you make out as it will help me with my truck installation. My truck is not at my house, so I have not even looked at how I will install them. I have my hands full with my 39 sedan!
 
Here's the 48-52 setup
 

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I have a few ideas for a support in the "B" pillar area and floor mounting. Will post as there are a lot of truck restorations going on out there.

As we all know, having a seat belt avoids the alternative and save that debate for someone else thread please.

The nice part about my 39 vs the 48-52 is a support across the upper section of the rear window connecting to the door pillar. Thanks for the picture.
 
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I dont have good photos of my '38 pickup install but here you go. I used Juliano's belts. The 38'/'39 pickup cab is tight and doesn't really give you much room for mounting so this is what I did. The short belts are fixed to the rear floor using the hardware Juliano's supplied (FYI they were none to long, which makes it hard to fish through the seat back/seat bottom). The retractor ends were set into the cab corners to get the belts to come around the outside edge of the seat. There are welded in reinforcements at the upper fastening points. I have interior panels that cover the cab corners so its hard to see everything but you can get the basic idea of the placement.
 

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cas3 said:
one of the reasons i like my old cars is so i dont have to mess with seat belts!
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Noticed you have 108 posts, I'm sure most like these here are irrelevant but please keep thinking you have a clue.

Thanks for the pictures Bill, I do see what your talking about with that 2nd picture.
 
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cas3 said:
one of the reasons i like my old cars is so i dont have to mess with seat belts!
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Don't think that you like your old cars. The real purpose of the seat belts are to keep flying body parts from damaging the dash board/instrument panel.:)
 
Howdy 39Portlander,
As a fellow 39 91C pickup restorer, I've been pondering seat belt safety 3 point sholder attatchment installation ideas, been thinking about a 2" x 2" angle iron
framework coming up from the cab floor with a second steel plate below to frame.
The cab corner curve and cross cab frame web under window seem rather weak.
3/16" flat bar with correct bends from under seat to where seat back meets seat
will enable most stalk ( I have new VW seat belt kit ) to work out well. All fasteners
will need large face & backer washers, like the outside point for driver & passenger.
Looking forward to our visit some time soon. John E. aka "Tigger" 207-380-9794 c.
 
sorry, i didn't know i had to meet a required number to post my opinion. please provide me the number so i can plan a big celebration when i get there. have a nice day, skip
 
39portlander said:
At the point were I would like to buy and install 3point seat belts in the truck. Would like to see some pictures of your trucks so I can get some install ideas. Looking @ what Juliano"s is offering now.

Please don't turn this into a previous thread from last year that was closed because of someone's dumbass reply:rolleyes:. Scott
Click to expand...

Whatever you do, take someone elses advice and do it their way.
Then if they ever fail you can sue them. (if you are still alive).

Oh, and this isn't a dumbass reply, it is reality.
 
A wise man once told me, "not everyone thinks like you do", and I am sure the written word messes with that statement even more ....

That being said, so far I have only installed lap belts in my cars and they have all gone all over the country. And, I have been in an accident as my avatar was rear ended about 1 1/2 years ago - hit so hard I was knocked forward 20 feet. My roadster has lapbelts, the outside one to one of the body bolts to the frame rail, the inside to the back of my cut-down-to-look-like a 32 Dodge Caravan stock seat belt bolt hole in the lower rear bottom of the seat metal. I have steel plates under the floorboards that connect the front and back bolts of the seat, one on each side, to spread the load. Since I am here to tell the tale, the entire configuration of how the belts were installed worked quite well ....
 
I am not trying to be a smart ***. I raced sprint cars (called big cars back then) professionally for long enough to pay my way through college for 6 years. All we had were lap belts in those days.
I was lucky. I got on my head several times. You couldn't avoid it.
You can never install seat belts strong enough and RIGHT enough to save you in a super bad crash but you can take all available engineering data to use for your installation. It just depends on how much you want to gamble. The average person that gives advice on belts on these forums doesn't have a clue on the engineering data needed to do it right.
I have had 5 point racing harneses in all of my cars since I quit racing. The added 10 seconds it takes to get hooked up is worth it to me.
 
Despite all the rumblings about seat belt design failures, liability and other snarky remarks, this forum has easily identified benefits about seat belts that have been shared on other posts and are useful. One is that a lap belt keeps you inside your vehicle; that's better than rolling around on the pavement risking head trauma or getting run over by traffic that can't stop. Another is that lap belts bolted through to the frame are dangerous because people have reported separation of body from frame in severe accidents which can cause significant harm to the belted passengers. The third point of attachment over the shoulder needs to be higher than your shoulder to prevent spinal compression. Lastly, the shoulder belt will slow your forward movement towards the steering wheel and pillar but the forces generated by your body may deform the cab shell at the third point of attachment. Then as Pete says (above) a "super bad" crash is just that. Anything less than that magnitude of crash should be survivable with both two point and three point belts.
 
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Thanks for the input John/Tom, I ordered the Juliano's belts and some of the pictures/ideas here I will consider along with the manufactures install instructions for my truck.

Hang in there 38Bill, just like everything else in life there are always that "10%" out there. Ford Barn is a great reference when posts stay on the subject matter, in this case "installation" not instigation.

Children always try to interrupt adult conversation:D
 
To All,
I for one greatly appreciate all the constructive and creative ideas,
based upon experience and insightful wisdom from inate inteligence.
Those that are basicaly a disctraction, are at best amusingly odd.
Without ALL of the of the collective input, we would'nt have much.
The nuts and bolts structural requirements will SAVE lives and a bit
of restraint might also save face... If my shoulder belt attatchment
is able to help keep my ugly mug face away from the lovely dash,
then I will be able to post pictures, and thank all, or most of you.
Portlander39, you get a tip of the hat from many here, respectfully.
"Tigger"
 
Pete said:
I am not trying to be a smart ***. I raced sprint cars (called big cars back then) professionally for long enough to pay my way through college for 6 years. All we had were lap belts in those days.
I was lucky. I got on my head several times. You couldn't avoid it.
You can never install seat belts strong enough and RIGHT enough to save you in a super bad crash but you can take all available engineering data to use for your installation. It just depends on how much you want to gamble. The average person that gives advice on belts on these forums doesn't have a clue on the engineering data needed to do it right.
I have had 5 point racing harneses in all of my cars since I quit racing. The added 10 seconds it takes to get hooked up is worth it to me.
Click to expand...

Had a sprint car with 5-point and thought it was installed perfectly. In a roll over the car was hit right in the seat pan area. The impact bent the lower frame cross braces which slacked the belt attachment points and helment went right into the upper roll cage. That ended in a trip to the hospital!

This impact also ripped a front spindle from the axle. We found the wheel assemble and axle several blocks away in the middle of a residual street.
 

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