The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts is there any form of breakaway steering for these trucks?

As title. Are the larger trucks less suceptible to steering column through the head because they sit higher or designed a little differently than say a '38 car?

Think about the position and angle of the steering shaft- - - -behind a pretty massive front axle, and mounted to a very heavy frame. It would take a hard lick to bend things enough to cause the steering column to move toward a driver. That's a pretty goo argument for seat belts- - - -to keep the driver from bouncing around like a BB in a boxcar in case the truck hits something large and heavy enough that it won't move- - - -like a 3 foot diameter tree, for instance!
Jerry

I agree; this is a plus to have our larger trucks. Going to look for a good source on those seat belts Jerry.. prefereably the kind with a shoulder belt!

Finding a solid anchor point for the shoulder harness can be a challenge- - - -usually involving reinforcing a fairly large section of the cab sheet metal where the upper belt slider is located. If you use salvage yard parts, be sure the inertial pendulum that locks the belt during a sudden stop works freely and isn't rusty or damaged. Some states prohibit seat belts and/or parts from being recycled, especially ones from wrecked vehicles. "Use it once- - - -then trash it!"
Jerry

New three point belts are affordable and available from many vendors. I bought mine from Seat Belts Plus, with all the hardware including reinforcement plates.

Seat Belts Plus

PHak1 What were the instructions like that came from Seat Belts Plus with your new belts ??

Phil they look doable but dont seem to have the spindly roller thing that allows the shoulder belt some travel for driver to move forward for example if they need a little more umph to turn the steering wheel on a large truck.. or am I missing somethin g there?

Brother's trucks has a couple different good install videos on it, although I would definitely not recommend ordering from them, unless you want to get the wrong item or it to take 3 months. I got a 3 point retractable kit from seatbeltsplus, and plan on installing them as per Brother's instructions.
Seatbeltsplus didn't provide any instruction with the seatbelts that I received.

I had to contact them to get the instructions. See attached.

Nice klhansen.
I wonder if the rivets are necessary reinforcement, or just to keep you from having to hold the back plate up again if you replace seatbelts in future. Not looking to laze out on it, but the less holes I can try and line up and drill the better.

I'll likely plug weld the shoulder backup plate to the inner panel.
If using the pop rivets, I'd probably use the backup plate in FRONT of the inner panel as a template to locate/drill the holes, then put it behind the panel.

I drilled the bolt hole, fastened the bolt (plate on backwards facing cab, bolt from behind) and drilled hole to install the rivet. I only installed the bottom rivet so the belt hid it.

[wuote=BurningTracks]
I wonder if the rivets are necessary reinforcement, or just to keep you from having to hold the back plate up again if you replace seatbelts in future.[/quote]

They are to keep them in place in case you need to remove them.


You’ll need to bend the plate to make sure it sits flat, as in the photo.

I took a different route with mounting them to the floor. I fabricated 1/4” steel plates and 2”x 3” angle iron mounts. I didn’t like the way the belts were routed over the edge of the seat frame, so I cut windows thru the back frame near the top which gave me a much straighter route.

More pictures. Used the welding magnets as a second hand to keep it in place.

They are just to hold the plate in place while you put the bolt in place and to keep the plate from turning as you tighten the bolt.