The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Seat belts.

Even though seat belts are not required in my 1955' chevy truck whats you bolters opinion on the need versis original application? Thank You!

Put'm in my 54..Didn't want a young trooper asking me about it, and I wear it all the time for me

I'm undecided they are not required on either of my trucks but the incident recently of the newly restored duesenberg being broadsided by an SUV got me thinking about it. Wiht my vehicles it has nothing to do with diminishing the value of the trucks as I don't see my trucks as being extremely valuble other thaan to myself. Just wonder whether or not installing them in a vehicle not designed for safety belts would make any difference. I do wear them in vehicles that are equiped with the safety belts.

I have them in mine, sort of hard for me to remember to hook up, dont know why, no problem when I drive the newer cars... in our state,, if you have them you have to use them although they are option equipment....Fred

Bolt them in, ensure that you reinforce what ever it is that you are bolting them to...

Seat belts are one of God's methods of keeping the more intelligent people alive.

Mine has them, but I don't like being strapped to the gas tank!

I hear pros and cons to both sides of the argument.

On one side, you don't want to have your chest cavity slam into that big ole steering wheel while your face goes thru the laminated glass..

..on the other side, to you really want to be strapped to the wreckage?

I had a seatbelt lock me in once.. I went to the 7-11 to get smokes and when I tried to get out, the seatbelt wouldn't disengage.

I tried for close to 30 minutes to get it loose.. finally I said to heck with it and pulled out my pocket knife and cut the belt.

I think the best way to avoid injury is to drive defensevly.. keep your eyes moving.. leave yourself and out.. make sure they see you.. aim high in steering.. stuff like that.

I wear my seatbelt in the later model vehicles just because I don't want to pay a ticket.

I feel naked without em. Got the 3 point shoulder belts. The key is to get them installed in a comfortable position. And, if they aren't easy to click in and out of you won't use em. I got the kind with the stiff plastic sheath over the belt on the short end that sticks up from the bottom of the seat. You can heat and twist it to get it in a more comfortable position.

Take a good look at the door latches on these old bombers. If you ever rolled one over, God forbid, what do you think the chances are of staying inside where it's safe. It's 2005 guys.

I'm with 2many, I like my teeth. I have always remembered driver's education pics and films of folks with steering shafts sticking out their backs.

I put them in my 49. I have kids and I plan to be around for awhile. It is a simple as that.

Do a ride-along with a wrecker crew or an ambulance for a few days before you decide seat belts aren't worth the effort. I ran a 24-hour wrecker service for about 3 years. I can only recall one incident where a driver was killed while wearing a seat belt, and that car left the road at over 120 MPH, and flipped/rolled several times.
Jerry

I have them on the two outer spots of my 64. I wear them and so does my passenger. I am worried however about the person who sits in the middle. As soon as I make it to a wrecker again, I will find a belt for the middle. I am still young and don't want to risk it. I am not sure what to do about my 53 yet.

Like was said before me in this chain-mail: hitting that big old hard steering wheel and non-collapsing steering column would be a bad thing. But I've been working auto accidents for 18 years, and I've seen way too many people simply ejected and killed, when they would've been fine if there had just been something to keep them inside the vehicle. I wear mine all the time...doesn't matter what I drive...it's habit now. I added three-point belts to my '53. Wouldn't have it any other way. I like being alive.

I tend to agree with Fumblin46. The best way to approach it is to drive defensively, seatbelt or not. I wear them in the newer vehicles, and I see the value in wearing them, but I don't like them. As for the '51, I bought a set of them a year ago, and never have found a good, truly safe way to install them. Oh, well. The Harley doesn't have a seat belt either...

They were in the '66 cab of GMC (the first year they were required) The cab I put on is from a '64 Chev. I made the truck into a Chevy , but sooner or later I'll put them in. Back-up lights also in '66. I rebuilt the 305-V6, runs great, but sucks alot of gassssssssssssssssssssssss!

Ya, I kind of like the being alive bit. Ive got em in my '49 and wear them all the time. I remember when my dad was hit broad side in his '53 GMC. He broke every window in the cab with his head and was unconsious for 18 days, but survived. He would have been better off if he had seat belts.

i drove "ol'blue" ( my '50 ) for over 5 yrs. before i tore it down for the rebuild with no belts & was never comfortable with it. i'd been wearing belts in all the modern vehicles i drove since my middle twenties & like someone already said i feel naked without them. even though the cab isn't back on the frame yet it's been fitted for belts. i had a lady hit me almost head on one time. i was jerked up out of the seat really hard, was gripping the wheel so hard with both hands i bent it. if i hadn't been wearing a belt i'd have eaten the windsheild.
you restorers talk about not wanting to change your trucks because you like the "experience" of driving an old truck. well i drove a stock '52 for 8 yrs. before i had blue & i've had all of that part of the "experience" ( no belts ) i want.
if your still wondering about it talk to my mother & one of my best friends. they're emergency room nurses.

Has anybody done a tech tip on seat belt installation? If not-WOULD somebody? I don't have money to buy new stuff,what belts and shoulder harnesses work well in an early 60's chevy truck? Where are the best/easiest places for the mounts? I'd like to have 'em in my truck-I get out of the habit when I drive the truck for several days in a row.
speed

Classic Deusenberg t-boned by a VOLVO (not SUV) running a stop sign and killed 3 members of a family and left 2 young kids orphaned.
[img]http://images.ibsys.com/2005/0801/4794819.jpg[/img]
http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/4791142/detail.html
Big debate over the need / use of seatbelts in classic cars.
I say go for it - the life you save might be your own or at least someone thats important to you.

My '49 will have belts as soon as I can get them in. I worked on an ambulance for 6 years and I never unbuckled a dead person. But I did pick up some dead people that weren't wearing them. That made up my mind. I wear mine all the time. I'm not a fan of being told I have to wear them but I do see the value. Some folks swim in the shallow end of the gene pool!

In the 1960s after watching Indy racing cars crash on television and watching the drivers walk away unharmed, I asked my parents for seat belts for Christmas for my 1948 Buick Roadmaster. I received my wish, not only 1 belt for the driver, but also a passenger belt.

I've been wearing seat belts every since whether I'm driving or someone else is. I feel kind of naked without one on. I even find myself clicking my Ford tractor seat belt on even if just moving the tractor a few feet. Good habit whether a pain or not.

I haven't done it yet, but I will be removing the rear seat belts from my 1978 Ford Granada to install into my '49 3800.

Like my bicycle helmet, I use them all the time. I recall as a kid seeing a 50's four door sedan get t-boned and the seat and driver came right out the other side. I feel secure with the belts and naked without. Another thing I do when taxiing the Yak trainer I keep my shoulder harness done up until the plane is stopped and the prop is no longer turning. I have heard of pilots undo their shoulder harness and for some very weird reason the plane either hits a bump or hole and flips on its back resulting in a crushed head.

Seatbelts can save you, seatbelts can kill you.. it depends largely on the type of accident. In headon or rollover situations, a seatbelt is a good idea. In side impact accidents where rollover dosen't occour, a seatbelt just holds you in place while the side of the vehicle crushes you. (think trash compactor).

I won't say you should or shouldn't wear a seatbelt, i'm just saying they outta leave it up to the individual to decide.

Fumblin46: What if you're t-boned from the passenger side like my father? Dead with no seat belt. It'll save you 9 times out of 10.

I've been in two accidents where seat belts saved my young [censored]...First, at the ripe old age of 17, me and a friend were driving his mom's '72 Cutlass Supreme coupe to a keg party out in the 'dobes. We were going around a decreasing-radius gravel curve at about twice the recommended speed. Over we went and down a 25-foot embankment. The car flipped at least three times. Me, my friend, and the radio were all that were left. We got scratched up and he cut his head, but we walked away.

Second, I was driving a '72 Datsun 510 at 55 mph down a 2-lane highway, when I rear-ended a new '78 Ford F-250 4x4, and knocked him into a '72 LTD with eight people in it.

Seat belts saved me both times.

Now, that same Summer, we rolled a '57 Buick Roadmaster twice, with five of us in it, no belts, and we got nothing more than a good scare.

Go figure, huh?

Seat belt's are an option that could be the best modification/investment that you ever could do for yourselve and your loved one's. Don't delay too long

Seat belts, bah,humbug... Back when I was young and stupid, I totaled several cars, always walking away without a scratch!!

>>Fast Forward... Last year, sitting at an intersection, I watched an elderly lady pull right into the path of an oncoming vehicle, doing 55-60 mph.
The collision sent cars and glass flying. The elderly lady was hurt very seriously. When I reached the other car, the young lady was out of her car, screaming hysterically, looking for her babies! Her car was stradling a big ditch. I feared the worst...But to my suprise, her 3 year old had already Unbuckled his belt, and was standing in the back seat! And her infant was still strapped in the infant seat! She and her 3 year old were both bruised by the seat belt, but unhurt! The infant was OK too! Had they not been belted in, I'm sure both kids would have gone thru the windshield... Since that day, I've ALWAYS buckled up...
I agree with "Speed"... let's have some tech tips on installing seatbelts!

I'm 50 yrs. old now, but when I was 16 yrs. old I had 3 wrecks in 6 months and since then not even a ticket, none of the wrecks were my fault.
One old lady blew a red light on a blind corner, and another lady ran a stop sign in a Kmart parking lot doing 60 mph, She was high on crack cocaine. She said she was late for work and thought she had entered the freeway, and lastly I got t-boned while I was parked at a burger joint when a car careened off a bus and flew into the parking lot.

Bottom line for me, no cuts and no bruise's, just hamburger and soda everywhere, mostly on my girlfriend. Sometimes even if you're the most defensive minded driver, CRAP HAPPENS.

My grand kids love to ride in my 49 chevy, so I installed 3 belts. I don't want any regrets.

I don't mean to preach but it is Sunday. Smoking, drinking, drugs, running thru a gay bar naked are all options, but if you don't use common sense, you're gonna get it in the rear sooner or later.

Hey Patrick66 with your luck and mine maybe we should make sure were never on the the same stretch highway at the same time, it sounds like a collison waiting to happen, warn me if you ever come to Calif.

For those interested in a tech tip for installing seat belts, here\'s an article about installing them in an AD.

Great, informative article! Thanks for sharing!

Regards,
Wannabe

Some good advise thanks.

Well Bolters youve made a believer out of me on our seat belt thread. I have installed them and now feel a lot more comfortable in my 1955 chevy cameo pick up. Thanks again for all your replys.

Amen!!!

Boo

If you're driving around without seat belts, you'd better have darn good medical insurance. I don't want to pay for the repairs to your busted-up skull! :mad:

see;
http://www.speedprint.com/Deves50/seatbeltassembly.php
http://www.stovebolt.com/bboard/cgi-bin//ultimatebb.cgi
http://www.chevytrucks.org/tech/seatbelt.htm

gooday
jim

"I won't say you should or shouldn't wear a seatbelt, i'm just saying they outta leave it up to the individual to decide" from Fumblin46

Are you crazy? This is America 2005, we can't have people deciding things for themselves anymore. Individual thought could be dangerous! To be on the safe side you'd better just turn your mind off, besides some sort of "official" has already figured it out for you.

Talking abt seatbelts-can anyone suggest a source for aftermarket 3 point belts/harnesses?

I've seen some through online Brother's catalog.