phenryiv1 Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 I have a 2 year-old daughter who always wants to ride in my MJ, however with the non-locking seat belts, I don't feel safe throwing her seat in there and running around town with her. Are the stock belts inertia-lock models? On "modern" belts, if yuo pull them all of the way out and then allow them to retract, they lock at the retraction point. On the MJ, no such luck. What are you guys doing to safely transport a child in the front of an MJ? Here was my thought- grab a lap belt from a JY and add it to the passenger-side lower mount (the base of the current shoulder belt) and run it from there to the center receiver on the MJ, then supplement that by running the normal MJ shoulder belt over that. This way the seat is locked in place, but in a crach, the shoulder belt will also do its thing and secure the upper portion of the seat. I would use the Subaru for any long (5 miles+) trips, but if I need to go to Lowes to get something that requires a truck, I need to be able to take her with me...plus she BEGS to take the truck, every time we go anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddzz1 Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 My wife crashed our other car so now all we have is the mj. I won't put the baby in it unless it comes to a point where there is no other choice. current law requires that all children ride in the back seat so I'm not sure what you do if you don't have a back seat. If you are just gonna take the baby around the block a few times because she wants to go for a ride then i think you will be fine. I'm pretty sure they work like you said, they lock when a certain amount of inertia is reacched, but i wouldnt go far or on any busy roads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedave360 Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 Here is what I would do. I would sit in the passenger seat, and get someone I trust to drive it. Put the seat belt on like your supposed too. Get the driver to go about 30 or 35 and slam the breaks, if the seat belt grabs you before you eat the dash then it has the inertia locks and your kid is probably fine. But thats just me. Maybe you could see if the belts out of a XJ has the locking point and just trade it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelbyluvv Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 Most car seats come with a metal clip to put on the seat belt to keep it from becoming loose. Check this out, page 11, in the PDF http://www.elitecarseats.com/assets/product_files/instructions/Fisher-Price/101633.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phenryiv1 Posted March 3, 2009 Author Share Posted March 3, 2009 My wife crashed our other car so now all we have is the mj. I won't put the baby in it unless it comes to a point where there is no other choice. current law requires that all children ride in the back seat so I'm not sure what you do if you don't have a back seat. If you are just gonna take the baby around the block a few times because she wants to go for a ride then i think you will be fine. I'm pretty sure they work like you said, they lock when a certain amount of inertia is reacched, but i wouldnt go far or on any busy roads. The law (in WV) states that the child must ride in the back seat if the vehicle has one, and that if the child is in any front seat it must be with an airbag disengaged, if the vehicle has an airbag. For many trucks (particularly of the 80s- early 90s vintage) standard cabs (or extended cabs w/o real rear seating) were the norm, and they did not have airbags. For the law to restrict people from using these vehicles to transport children would create an uproar. That being said, I don't plan to use this as my primary vehicle for moving my daughter, but my wife is an accountant and is working 6-7 days a week, so I have my daughter all weekend most weekends. That means that if I need to take the truck somewhere, I have to take her with me. As mentioned, this would not be out-of-town trips or highway runs (even in the Legacy, I won't make certain left-hand turns with her in the car), just short runs. So is adding the lap belt to supplement the shoulder system an appropriate idea? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phenryiv1 Posted March 3, 2009 Author Share Posted March 3, 2009 Most car seats come with a metal clip to put on the seat belt to keep it from becoming loose. Check this out, page 11, in the PDF http://www.elitecarseats.com/assets/product_files/instructions/Fisher-Price/101633.pdf Duh... :doh: Thanks. That AND the lap belt will make me feel better for short around-town runs. Heck, when I was a kid, I always rode in the front of a CJ-7 and in my father's 280Z (no rear seat), as well as in my grandfather's J-10s. That was all that they had. We did not have any other options, so that is where I rode. Of course, I never had a bike helmet, either... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 I have a 2 year-old daughter who always wants to ride in my MJ, however with the non-locking seat belts, I don't feel safe throwing her seat in there and running around town with her. Are the stock belts inertia-lock models? On "modern" belts, if yuo pull them all of the way out and then allow them to retract, they lock at the retraction point. On the MJ, no such luck. Either your belts are broken, or you don't understand how they work. The XJ/MJ belts ARE inertia belts. That means they lock either when pulled rapidly, or when the vehicle itself is stopped rapidly enough to exceed a certain G-force. I'm pretty certain the XJ/MJ belts are of the latter type. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 My wife crashed our other car so now all we have is the mj. I won't put the baby in it unless it comes to a point where there is no other choice. current law requires that all children ride in the back seat so I'm not sure what you do if you don't have a back seat. If you are just gonna take the baby around the block a few times because she wants to go for a ride then i think you will be fine. I'm pretty sure they work like you said, they lock when a certain amount of inertia is reacched, but i wouldnt go far or on any busy roads. Re-read your law. The law in CT (which is the only one I'm familiar with) also requires back seat, IF there is a back seat. The law specifically allows front seat carry in a pickup that has no rear seat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 So is adding the lap belt to supplement the shoulder system an appropriate idea? ???????? :huh???: The stock MJ belts are combination lap & shoulder belts. What came in yours? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phenryiv1 Posted March 3, 2009 Author Share Posted March 3, 2009 I have a 2 year-old daughter who always wants to ride in my MJ, however with the non-locking seat belts, I don't feel safe throwing her seat in there and running around town with her. Are the stock belts inertia-lock models? On "modern" belts, if yuo pull them all of the way out and then allow them to retract, they lock at the retraction point. On the MJ, no such luck. Either your belts are broken, or you don't understand how they work. The XJ/MJ belts ARE inertia belts. That means they lock either when pulled rapidly, or when the vehicle itself is stopped rapidly enough to exceed a certain G-force. I'm pretty certain the XJ/MJ belts are of the latter type. Mine may well be broken. No matter how hard/fast I pull either one, they don't lock. I thought that there was a ball in the locking mechanism that only engaged the lock when there was a rapid decelleration, thus propelling it forward and engaging the lock. Most "modern" cars have one that locks with a tug or pull. I don't remember what my other older XJ/MJ vehicles had, but the 88 does not lock when the car is at rest and the belt is yanked on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddzz1 Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 I hope you didnt take my post as some type of a put down, it wasnt meant that way. If you did I apologize. i think you will be fine with just the regular belt, without adding an additional lap belt as long as you use that metal clip thing to prevent loosening of the belt. I use that in all my cars even when the in the back seat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelbyluvv Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 There is a pendulem (SP?) lock inside the seat belt spool. When you slam on the brakes it swings forward locking the belt in place. Sometimes they will not lock by simply pulling on them. Try to park on a steep hill with the front facing downhill. If they are working correctly they will lock until you get the truck flattened out. When I tore Onyx down the seat belt spools was full of dust, pocket lint, and other stuff. I cleaned the spools out and they worked fine. Take the side panels off the Jeep and see if your belt spools are full of gunk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phenryiv1 Posted March 3, 2009 Author Share Posted March 3, 2009 So is adding the lap belt to supplement the shoulder system an appropriate idea? ???????? :huh???: The stock MJ belts are combination lap & shoulder belts. What came in yours? The same- but with them not locking, I wanted something like a lap belt that can be locked at a fixed length. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phenryiv1 Posted March 3, 2009 Author Share Posted March 3, 2009 I hope you didnt take my post as some type of a put down, it wasnt meant that way. If you did I apologize. No insult taken. Safety first. :cheers: I think you will be fine with just the regular belt, without adding an additional lap belt as long as you use that metal clip thing to prevent loosening of the belt. I use that in all my cars even when the in the back seat. I need to dig through the boxes from the car seats to find them. With the seatbelts in the Legacy and the Pilot, they are not needed. I suppose the whole point of them was applications like the MJ- pull it out all of the way, lock it in place with the clip, and fasten. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 Mine may well be broken. No matter how hard/fast I pull either one, they don't lock. I thought that there was a ball in the locking mechanism that only engaged the lock when there was a rapid decelleration, thus propelling it forward and engaging the lock. Most "modern" cars have one that locks with a tug or pull. I don't remember what my other older XJ/MJ vehicles had, but the 88 does not lock when the car is at rest and the belt is yanked on. I believe you are mistaken. Most modern cars in my experience use some sort of pendulum mechanism in the door post that locks the belt only when the vehicle is decelerating sharply. The old ratchet type locks to which you are referring were used back in the 60s and 70s but they were prone to breaking. Just checked with the guru at my dealership. He confirms that the XJ/MJ belts are inertia reels, not ratchets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james750 Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 I think that what he is referring to is that on the newer cars (both my f250 f/r and Ranger front seats had these) when you pull the belt ALL the way out and then let it retract it turns on a ratcheting function to keep the belt from loosening. Once the belt is retracted all the way, the ratchet turns off and it turns into a regular inertia belt again. But the rear seats in my 00 ranger were all ratchet all the time. Kind of annoying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phenryiv1 Posted March 3, 2009 Author Share Posted March 3, 2009 Mine may well be broken. No matter how hard/fast I pull either one, they don't lock. I thought that there was a ball in the locking mechanism that only engaged the lock when there was a rapid decelleration, thus propelling it forward and engaging the lock. Most "modern" cars have one that locks with a tug or pull. I don't remember what my other older XJ/MJ vehicles had, but the 88 does not lock when the car is at rest and the belt is yanked on. I believe you are mistaken. Most modern cars in my experience use some sort of pendulum mechanism in the door post that locks the belt only when the vehicle is decelerating sharply. The old ratchet type locks to which you are referring were used back in the 60s and 70s but they were prone to breaking. Just checked with the guru at my dealership. He confirms that the XJ/MJ belts are inertia reels, not ratchets. My Subie locks up if I lean forward to check over my shoulder when merging. Maybe it is really sensitive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpnjim Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 My Subie locks up if I lean forward to check over my shoulder when merging. Maybe it is really sensitive. My 98 XJ locks up when I'm taking corners. Probably means I'm going too fast, but it's annoying that I can't lean forward when I'm taking corners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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