Rear seat belts for a double cab? Solutions needed.

[jtauxe]

Has anyone managed to fit seat belts into the rear seat of a double cab? I was looking at one this weekend (a '78 ), and it seems that the rear seats never had belts. I suppose that as a truck this was not required in its country of origin.

In examining the body behind the rear seat, I really didn't see anything to mount lap belts to, though curiously the shoulder mount points are there in the pillars, fitted with little plastic blanks. The only idea I have yet had is to weld in some sort of angle iron spanning the width of the bus behind the seat...

Then there is the problem of the shoulder mount for the middle position of the rear seat. I consider shoulder belts mandatory in the back, since the pony wall behind the front seats would be the target for the face of anyone sitting in the back seat with only a lap belt.

So - looking for ideas, here!
_________________
John
"The bus came by and I got on. That's when it all began..." - Garcia/Weir/Kreutzman
Long gone: 1969 and '78 CE Transporters, Westies: 71, 76, 77, 76, 77, 71, 73, 77
For sale: 1974 Westy Automatic
Current projects: 1975 Single Cab, 1978 RHD Double Cab 2.0-L FI
http://vw.tauxe.net

[busdaddy]

All bay DC's have seat belt mounts, they are hiding on the bottom of the crossmember at the lower edge of the rear bulkhead. As for a center shoulder harness? Start eyeing some current Mvans and SUV's for that solution.
_________________
Rust NEVER sleeps and stock never goes out of style.

Wanted, 68-73 westy OG plaid curtains, singles OK.

[jtauxe]

[naynay]

I had my DC for 12 years- and never managed to figure that out....now I know. Of course I didn't know about the Samba until I was trying to sell the Doka!
_________________
74 Rivi

"Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you Can do." - John Wooden

[jtauxe]

[hcdmueller]

As far as I can tell the back seat on the double cab was supposed to have non retracting seat belts. The center belt looks like it was supposed to be a lap belt only. I have seen kits that mount at any angle. It was from Just Kampers if I remember correctly. Here is a link to Ratwells site on the DC truck.

http://www.ratwell.com/technical/Pickups.html

[jtauxe]

Oops - I misspoke. Busdaddy, you are right! The belt mounts are not on the bottom of the crossmember, they are bit further back, in the zig-zag of supports for the front foot or so of the bed. And there are six of them -- enough for three people. Excellent!

And I obviously didn't realize that R Atwell has this covered here:
http://www.ratwell.com/technical/Pickups.html#seatbelts

Now, the only remaining problem is where to mount the retractor reels on the sides, and figure out if there is any way at all to have a center shoulder belt. Maybe I give up on retractables in the rear, and just use standard 3-point belts.
_________________
John
"The bus came by and I got on. That's when it all began..." - Garcia/Weir/Kreutzman
Long gone: 1969 and '78 CE Transporters, Westies: 71, 76, 77, 76, 77, 71, 73, 77
For sale: 1974 Westy Automatic
Current projects: 1975 Single Cab, 1978 RHD Double Cab 2.0-L FI
http://vw.tauxe.net

[jtauxe]

Long overdue update:

With the fabrication of some L-brackets, I did manage to install retractor reels for the side seats in the back of the DC, but the middle seat is lap only.

So - two retractable shoulder belts and one lap belt in the back. Pretty good, and it works well.
_________________
John
"The bus came by and I got on. That's when it all began..." - Garcia/Weir/Kreutzman
Long gone: 1969 and '78 CE Transporters, Westies: 71, 76, 77, 76, 77, 71, 73, 77
For sale: 1974 Westy Automatic
Current projects: 1975 Single Cab, 1978 RHD Double Cab 2.0-L FI
http://vw.tauxe.net

[70Crew]

It would be great if you could post a couple photos of those brackets with the retractable belts mounted on them.

[westy66]

i got some nice non-retractable lap belts from NAPA for about $25. bolted right up, easy-breezy!