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
"Travelling in a fried-out Kombi, on a hippie trail, head full of zombie..." - Colin Hay and Ron Strykert
http://vw.tauxe.net
1969 Transporter, 1971 Westfalia, 1976, 1977, 1976, 1977, 1971, 1973, 1977 Westfalias,
1979 Champagne Sunroof, 1974 Westfalia Automatic, 1979 Transporter, 1972 Sportsmobile, 1973 Transporter Wild Westerner, 1974 Westfalia parts bus, 1975 Mexican single cab *FOR SALE*, 1978 Irish 4-door double cab RHD

[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.

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[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
"Travelling in a fried-out Kombi, on a hippie trail, head full of zombie..." - Colin Hay and Ron Strykert
http://vw.tauxe.net
1969 Transporter, 1971 Westfalia, 1976, 1977, 1976, 1977, 1971, 1973, 1977 Westfalias,
1979 Champagne Sunroof, 1974 Westfalia Automatic, 1979 Transporter, 1972 Sportsmobile, 1973 Transporter Wild Westerner, 1974 Westfalia parts bus, 1975 Mexican single cab *FOR SALE*, 1978 Irish 4-door double cab RHD

[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
"Travelling in a fried-out Kombi, on a hippie trail, head full of zombie..." - Colin Hay and Ron Strykert
http://vw.tauxe.net
1969 Transporter, 1971 Westfalia, 1976, 1977, 1976, 1977, 1971, 1973, 1977 Westfalias,
1979 Champagne Sunroof, 1974 Westfalia Automatic, 1979 Transporter, 1972 Sportsmobile, 1973 Transporter Wild Westerner, 1974 Westfalia parts bus, 1975 Mexican single cab *FOR SALE*, 1978 Irish 4-door double cab RHD

[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!

[deepcflea]

I just got a 78 Double Cab that needs seat belts for the rear as well. Anyway you can post some pics on your set up/solution? Thanks!
_________________
1978 Bay Window Double Cab (1600cc) - Marilyn
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...005b041ddd

Formerly owned VW's
1983 Westfalia
1956 Oval Ragtop
1967 Bug
1970 Ghia
1969 Buggy

[jtauxe]

I apologize for not posting photos earlier.

And now, the bus is all apart and on the operating table (rotisserie) so I can't get photos of my solution. Besides, it had a problem -- to get things to work on the right side, I had to remove the plastic engine air snorkel tube to get it to fit. My metal guy (owner of the rotisserie, who is doing major welding on the bus) says he has another approach for this that will not get in the way of the snorkel tube connector.

I have bookmarked this thread, and hope to be able to show the new mounts once they are fabricated. Have patience. Might be another year or so.

So, my bus is a '78 as well (RHD from Ireland). What is the history of your '78? Got any photos? Mine are here: http://vw.tauxe.net/bluebird
_________________
John
"Travelling in a fried-out Kombi, on a hippie trail, head full of zombie..." - Colin Hay and Ron Strykert
http://vw.tauxe.net
1969 Transporter, 1971 Westfalia, 1976, 1977, 1976, 1977, 1971, 1973, 1977 Westfalias,
1979 Champagne Sunroof, 1974 Westfalia Automatic, 1979 Transporter, 1972 Sportsmobile, 1973 Transporter Wild Westerner, 1974 Westfalia parts bus, 1975 Mexican single cab *FOR SALE*, 1978 Irish 4-door double cab RHD

[jtauxe]

I was prompted to post the conclusion to this story, so here it is. It was one of those dangling threads that...

So, here is the left side rear seat retractable belt installed in the 1978 RHD 4-door double cab:

Here it how it is mounted to a stout piece of steel angle:

and an analogous view on the right side. Sadly, the black plastic ducting that connects the high engine air intake in the C-pillar to the frame had to be removed. The holes are here covered with painter's tape.

Under the seat, the angle is bolted to the seat belt captive nut on the body:

I hope this helps all of you trying to make your rear seat passengers to be safe. The poor sap in the middle of the rear seat still just gets a lap belt, so will smack their head on the bulkhead.
_________________
John
"Travelling in a fried-out Kombi, on a hippie trail, head full of zombie..." - Colin Hay and Ron Strykert
http://vw.tauxe.net
1969 Transporter, 1971 Westfalia, 1976, 1977, 1976, 1977, 1971, 1973, 1977 Westfalias,
1979 Champagne Sunroof, 1974 Westfalia Automatic, 1979 Transporter, 1972 Sportsmobile, 1973 Transporter Wild Westerner, 1974 Westfalia parts bus, 1975 Mexican single cab *FOR SALE*, 1978 Irish 4-door double cab RHD

[Bram]

Smart solution! Thanks