Bench Seat 4 Point Safety Harness

[comanche1989]

Hello Everyone, my 1989 Comanche's driver seatbelt recently broke. I've been searching for one with no success so I figured I might as well throw in a 4 point if I can. Is it plausible? If so how easy is it to install and which brands are the best?

 

Thanks,

Sam

[AMCJeepMJ]

Sabelt harnesses are what pro drivers use.

 

My thoughts are, however, if you are using the rig as a DD, a 4 or 5 point harness isn't going to be practical and may be thought of as a Fast N Furious item by others.

 

I am using an aftermarket retractable 3 point seat belt from Mid America Motorworks after my retractor mechanism failed; it only took a small amount of modification to make this work and was relatively inexpensive.

[neohic]

Someone needs to ask... Why do you need a 4 point harness in your truck? Do you go racing were you need to pass inspection? Rock crawling perhaps were you don't want to fall out? Something else? I've though about the same thing for one of my trucks but I'm going with bucket seats. If I don't make up a full cage, I was thinking about just going with a simple support bar (kind of a mini cage) that ties into the b-pillars at the factory seat belt mounting locations... if not just some factory shoulder belts anyway.

 

There's a lot that goes into figure where to put supports though. For example:

 

 

Having the shoulder straps in the proper locations could be the difference between comfort and compressing your spine. Everything changes then too if you're not the only one who drives the truck. Difference height people require different strap locations. Then there's the performance of putting it and and taking it off everytime you drive where the shoulder belt is just one convenient pull and a click.

 

Unless you need one, what would be wrong with replacing the belt with another?

[gogmorgo]

Unless you've got full visibility while only moving your head, a safety harness is a pretty terrible idea. They don't retract, so you have to tighten each strap individually, which is a pita without help, and unless you tighten them all, it's not going to do you much good. And when they're all tight, your body may as well be welded to the seat. You won't really be able to lift any part of your body off the seat, from your @$$ all the way up to your shoulders.

[comanche1989]

Honestly I probably don't need one, I just saw them online and started thinking about it. My female buckle failed and I can't seem to find an oem piece online. I've found the bucket seat female buckle but I don't think I can uses one of those because they have the plastic sleeve.

[Eagle]

Unless you've got full visibility while only moving your head, a safety harness is a pretty terrible idea. They don't retract, so you have to tighten each strap individually, which is a pita without help, and unless you tighten them all, it's not going to do you much good. And when they're all tight, your body may as well be welded to the seat. You won't really be able to lift any part of your body off the seat, from your @$$ all the way up to your shoulders.

 

I have to disagree.

 

Mounting the anchors for the shoulder straps will be a real problem in an MJ cab, but the practicality of using a 4-point harness on the street is nowhere near as bad as you make it out to be. For several years, when I was campaigning a Javelin in Autocross, time trials and hillclimbs, I ran a Simpson 5-point harness in the car. I used all five when racing and skipped the anti-submarine belt when driving it on the street. It wasn't at all uncomfortable, and it wasn't at all inconvenient.

 

Tightening the straps doesn't require help. The tabs fall within easy reach. Once adjusted, you know they are adjusted. There's no wondering if the retractor is going to fail when you need it to grab. But ... I had a roll bar to attach the shoulder belts to, so I had the correct angle. I don't know where you could anchor them in an MJ other than bolting through the rear wall of the cab just below the window.

[Alexia]

I have to disagree.

 

Mounting the anchors for the shoulder straps will be a real problem in an MJ cab, but the practicality of using a 4-point harness on the street is nowhere near as bad as you make it out to be. For several years, when I was campaigning a Javelin in Autocross, time trials and hillclimbs, I ran a Simpson 5-point harness in the car. I used all five when racing and skipped the anti-submarine belt when driving it on the street. It wasn't at all uncomfortable, and it wasn't at all inconvenient.

 

Tightening the straps doesn't require help. The tabs fall within easy reach. Once adjusted, you know they are adjusted. There's no wondering if the retractor is going to fail when you need it to grab. But ... I had a roll bar to attach the shoulder belts to, so I had the correct angle. I don't know where you could anchor them in an MJ other than bolting through the rear wall of the cab just below the window.

 

Build a bar that will run between the B pillars. The appropriate size holes will need to be drilled with a hole saw through the B pillar plastic. Weld the bar to a base plate on each side that bolts through the inner B pillar metal with four bolts. On the inside of the B use another plate to effectively sandwich the material and strengthen the support. For further support build K bars from the middle of that bar to the bottom at the B pillars at the floor.

 

With that setup there will be no internal to external corrosion possibilities introduced by bolting through the back of the cab. I doubt it would be race legal, but it will hold just as well as the stock seat belts.

[comanche1989]

Build a bar that will run between the B pillars. The appropriate size holes will need to be drilled with a hole saw through the B pillar plastic. Weld the bar to a base plate on each side that bolts through the inner B pillar metal with four bolts. On the inside of the B use another plate to effectively sandwich the material and strengthen the support. For further support build K bars from the middle of that bar to the bottom at the B pillars at the floor.

 

With that setup there will be no internal to external corrosion possibilities introduced by bolting through the back of the cab. I doubt it would be race legal, but it will hold just as well as the stock seat belts.

With my limited metal fabrication experince- I might be purchasing a small flux core welder soon:banana:- and my small budget, I think I might be better buying an aftermarket 3 point or finding a buckle for my existing seat belts. Thank you for the input though, when I have more experience and funds that seems like a very good mounting system!

[Swampy]

does anyone have a diagram of where the stock seat belts go? I swapped from bench to buckets and forgot to not how the seat belts were mounted. I was also thinking of running a rear main hoop and harness bar and run a 4pt harness with cherokee buckets

[HOrnbrod]

 

The bottom pic is for the bench middle seat - Don't need that with buckets.

[neohic]

3 hours ago, Swampy said:

does anyone have a diagram of where the stock seat belts go? I swapped from bench to buckets and forgot to not how the seat belts were mounted. I was also thinking of running a rear main hoop and harness bar and run a 4pt harness with cherokee buckets

 

Call up D&C Extreme out of Colorado Springs. We’ve got a Comanche cage kit that we can piece down to only what you need. 

 

[Keyav8r]

On 2/12/2013 at 7:17 PM, comanche1989 said:

Honestly I probably don't need one, I just saw them online and started thinking about it. My female buckle failed and I can't seem to find an oem piece online. I've found the bucket seat female buckle but I don't think I can uses one of those because they have the plastic sleeve.

 

I don’t know if the lengths are the same for bench and bucket seat belts, but the plastic sleeve will come off the belts for the buckets.

Measure your belt with the broken buckle from the center of the anchor hole to the end of the buckle, PM it to me and I’ll measure one of the bucket seat belts I’ve got for comparison and PM back to you.