Interesting Lap Belt

[aaminnky]

My DH had a 1972 Ford Truck fixed up and we are replacing the original lap belts with lap/shoulder belts. (This was an option in 1972 on the truck, it has the mount for the shoulder belt to bolt on.) I took some pictures because I have never seen, or don't remember using any seat belt set up like this and thought you guys might be interested too. DH thinks I'm a little crazy for posting this so someone please tell me I'm not alone thinking this is interesting.

The first picture is the male end of the belt and the retractor. The second picture is the female end with the locking latchplate. And the last picture is the male end of the belt fully extended.

I don't plan on installing a car seat until the belts are replaced. Just for fun... if you HAD to install with this set up what would you do?

 

[jess71903]

Interesting! So, on the male end, is it an ERL or ALR? I want to play with it . If you were to buckle it, say on a car seat, could you pull the other end tight enough that it would stay out at the end of its range?

 

[jourdysmom]

My dad always had cars or trucks with those when I was a kid LOL I would be petrified to try to get a car seat tight and properly fitted...

 

[aaminnky]

It does not lock, at least I haven't figured out how to lock it. If I sit in the seat I fully extend the male end, buckle and tighten the female end. It only extends about 12 inches or so.

For fun (and to prove to DH that is would not be safe) I attempted a FF Scenera install and was able to get it tight with the male end fully extended and pulling the tail of the female end tight. It was not easy and the seats are super squishy so there was a lot of compression. And it left the rather large buckle in the center of the belt path, right on the child's back.

 

[Calideedle]

DHs Dads old Imperial has those same buckles. I installed a Radian FFing for fun and it worked great. The buckle was in the belt path but it was the same as how the Radian is installed on an Airplane. I don't know how safe they are but man it was a great install!

 

[Laurette]

That would be a ELR retractor with a locking latchplate on the other end... You would need to use a Belt shortening clip on the ELR portion of the belt to install a CR.


Very interesting.

 

[BookMama]

That would be a ELR retractor with a locking latchplate on the other end... You would need to use a Belt shortening clip on the ELR portion of the belt to install a CR.

But why would you need to use a BSC? If the other end has a locking latchplate, you'd just extend the male belt stalk all the way, install the seat, buckle, and pull the "tail" to cinch the belt tight.

 

[mommycat]

But why would you need to use a BSC? If the other end has a locking latchplate, you'd just extend the male belt stalk all the way, install the seat, buckle, and pull the "tail" to cinch the belt tight.

:yeahthat: assuming that it adjusted short enough.

 

[aaminnky]

But why would you need to use a BSC? If the other end has a locking latchplate, you'd just extend the male belt stalk all the way, install the seat, buckle, and pull the "tail" to cinch the belt tight.

:yeahthat:

I'm not sure a BSC would do anything in this situation. The point of a BSC is to fully extend the ELR belt. The male end of the belt is only about 12 inches long.

BTW, I'm not sure the belt even locks, ELR. I have not been able to 'lock' it by sharply pulling on it (simulating a crash or evasive maneuver) like I can with most retractable belts.

 

[Qarin]

It seems like maybe the retractor is just there to keep the seatbelt from getting caught in the door and flapping as you drive (unbelted) down the highway, chipping your paint.

 

[ketchupqueen]

Yeah, the only reason a BSC would be necessary is if the male end of the belt didn't work because the female end wouldn't tighten enough or the latchplate ended up at the edge of the seat. Then you'd need to shorten that male end in order to tighten properly.

But with most seats looks like you'd just pull the male end fully out, hold it fully extended while buckling (an extra set of hands or possibly like a chip clip to stop it from retracting more might be necessary here-- I'd be worried if you didn't hold it all the way out you might miss some slack) through the belt path, and then tighten the female end's tail fully before you let go of that male end. Difficult but not impossible.

 

[Laurette]

Well, I guess I was thinking it would benefit the childs comfort to use the BSC on the retractor end to move the buckle out from behind her back. *shrug*

 

[Qarin]

Well, I guess I was thinking it would benefit the childs comfort to use the BSC on the retractor end to move the buckle out from behind her back. *shrug*

And here's everyone else, unable to read your mind.

I would expect that whether the buckle was uncomfortable would depend entirely on the seat (and the child)- a rearfacing seat, or a seat with a belt path that doesn't touch the seat padding wouldn't matter, or one with a really high belt path that leaves the buckle on the far side, outside the seat..., and some kids wouldn't care. I certainly wouldn't automatically jump to saying a car seat installation would require a belt-shortening clip- there's so much room for error with one (especially for a parent needing to reinstall the seat in the future) that avoiding its use is pretty high on my priority list.