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Seat Belt Question

Opie

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Ok. NOTICE: Tree-hugging, nursing-school induced, trauma-fearing question approaching:





Three-point seatbelts in a deuce?





a) Out of the question!



b) Dude, if you're asking that question you really need to hop in your Volvo and go back where you came from!



c) Difficult, but posible with a few modifications.



d) Easy. Buy NSN # 555-55-55555 from Saturn Surplus and bolt it in.





Per the old (!?) Bartles & Jaymes ads, "Thank you for your support."
 

Desert Rat

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Opie,
Just get one from a salvage semi. They will fit with some adaptions. I'm working on it too.
 

Westech

CPL
6,104
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63
Location
cow farts, Wisconsin
I did a Super man out the windshield of my truck when I was 18. Bran new truck what a shame, but im still here. But really its a good idea but maybe one that has no good answer. Even with 3 points if you got a "goodenough" crash in a deuce the 22" steering wheel is going to really mess you up. Take it from me your better off not geting in to a crash.
 

rdixiemiller

Active member
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Location
Olive Branch Mississipi
I would like a better seat belt for my "co-pilot". My 11 year old daughter likes to ride in the deuce wherever I go. I can take getting myself hurt, but my kid.......
Like Richard said, avoidance is better.
 

Desert Rat

New member
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The non-collapeable steering shaft is a consideration. However, like Kenny, Nick loves to ride with Daddy! When he outgrows the child safety seat there will be modifications done for his safety.
 

Elwenil

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This is something I have been looking into for my 715 as well. I drive like a dang fool, so a seatbelt is a good idea for me. I'm sort of partial to my face, ribs and other breakables above the waist so I'm thinking of a 3 point belt. Since most factory 3 point belts mount to a pilliar above and behind the driver, some mods are in order since most of us don't really want a rollcage in the cab just to mount belts to. The shoulder belt can be mounted behind the driver at a lower level, but you have to be careful how you do it. It can be mounted level with your shoulder or a little below but you can't go past a 10 degree slope. Any more than that and you can hurt your back and break your collar bone in an accident. Side to side mounting is up to the individual, but you don't want it cutting into your neck, and you don't want it falling off your shoulder either. The lap belts should be mounted a little behind your waist and the angle is important there also. I got all of this from Simpson Race Products. It's for their racing harnesses, but should work for a 3 point belt as well. In any case, a little back trouble or collar bone is well worth it if you don't go sailing through the windshield. I'll post the pic from Simpson's website in case my description has you all confuzuled.







This illustration should work pretty well for our purposes. I came up with this after looking at the 715 and trying to find a safer way to put in a factory style 3 point belt. The soft top bows are not strong enough, and rather than risk fabricating something that would be ugly as well as unsafe, I determined that the 715 cab was plenty strong enough to anchor a shoulder belt to if it was done properly. My plan is to mount a plate in the corner of the cab, welded to both the side and back wall of the cab and angled so it doesn't bind the beltup when it is attached. Sort of like this is you can follow my crappy diagram:





Simple, yet effective, or at least that's the idea...
 

Desert Rat

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Mci,
Sounds like you need to shrink then........ But seriously, I've driven many semis where the three point was installed and they used a roller type adjuster toward the top of the cab on some or and extension type roller level with the low back seat on others. The belt itself is really long due to the fact it's 1, bolted to the floor and 2, the adjustment piece allows for some really large (i.e. super fat) truckers to extend it to the fullest length. I'm looking for a low seat mount setup because I don't trust the hard top to withstand the kinds of force generated in an impact. The tub is really reinforced. I believe this is the best place to mount such a setup and concur with enwil about how to set it up in the cab (diagram #2).
 

stagehc

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Guys, the stuf from Simpson and friends about the angles belts are mounted is REALLYx10 important. I pilot my Hummer H1 in off road rally races in north africa. If you get the angles wrong, its almost (but not quite!) as bad as not having one at all. It will compress your spine and do other really bad things to you.

For the M35 I would look into doing a hoop behind the seats, above the shoulders and braced forwards to the floor. Thats what the British Army did with the soft top Land Rovers. Works a treat.

Cheers,

Cole
 

Monster Man

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I've often thought about a full cage- not something that is attached to the frame, but a full independent "bubble" if you will, like the jet boats and their ejectable pilot capsules. So you roll, the first thing that happens is it rips the little cage capsule out of the truck, and you roll to safety while the 14,000 pound truck rolls to a fiery doom :devil: Something independently strong that won't trap you under the truck. You mount the seats and belts to that instead of the cab.



Only problem is the open air soft top is ruined, and all the added weight and trying to climb in and out of that thing.
 

stagehc

New member
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I've seen a russian Zil 10 tonner that had a kind of backwards pickup roll cage. The hoops went over the windscreen and behind the cab but the down bars went forward down to the front bumper. Actually, kinda sexy. Would let you still roll the soft top down...


cheers,

cole
 

spicergear

New member
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Location
Millerstown, PA
Bjorn, are you sure that's a Norwegian truck? I thought it was just an M35A3? I posted that pic a while ago. I've got a pic of another that's desert tan with the same roll over bar thing. Just wondering...
 

Opie

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Location
Salem, VA
Wow!

I didn't realize so many of you had given this so MUCH thought!

Well, I've got all summer to play with your ideas...

Thanks for your thoughts.
 

cranetruck

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Now that you mention it, I'm not 100%. The Norweigian M35's were singled out with ROP and locking diffs as far as I know, and labeled M621. I'll check again.
 

Recovry4x4

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The 600 series trucks from Norway did have a ROPS device but it has the appearance to be bolted on the outside of the fornt portion of the bed. I know of no -A3 stuff delivered to Norway as these were reman vehicls using existing deuce stocks.
 
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