Rear Seatbelts in Panel Bus

[70-CA-Panel]

Hi guys,
Having just taken our little one on her first run drive in the Bus I’d like to see what the best options are for (having) seatbelts installed in the back of our Panel. There are no existing anchor points present.
I’ve heard of spreader plates, do these need to be welded in? Thank hey seem a bit small to hold much weight. Where are they best placed? Ideally I would like 3 point seatbelts. A Multimac looks like a great solution albeit at £1500 a bit steep for a few trips out a year. This still requires two anchor points.
What have you done, do you have photos and alternatively who have you used and how much was it all in please?
Thank you all.
Andy

 

[Clem]

When I first became a parent I had a converted panel van as a camper and had no rear seat belt mounts. I used a lap belt in the back, fitted behind a rock and roll bed, to allow the use of a car seat that had its own restraint system, so I was only belting down the seat, not the child.

I bought a couple of seat belt mounts that were essentially a thick guage square piece of metal with a bolt welded to them, and that's all they need to be. I drilled bolt sized holes though the rear bulkhead and bolted them through, mounting the spreader plates externally. I popped on some weld to secure them but realistically I'm not sure it added anything? I feel that if the metal you mount to is strong and the mounts are good then the strength is there. If I did it again I reckon I'd bond them in place.

Anyway, after that I bought Westy with factory mounts.

 

[70-CA-Panel]

Thanks Mike!
Forgot you had a panel van. Do you still have any photos of it?
Our child car seats are either isofix or require 3point seatbelts…
Did your lap belt child seat have a leg in front so it doesn’t flip over?
I’m thinking of possibly using a longish square pipe or angle iron behind the firewall to fit all seatbelts to. Is this a good idea? My thinking is it would spread the force further. I would really like two 3 point seatbelts on the outside but would need the brackets custom made I think.

I saw the below done by VolksMagic which looks brilliant, but unfortunately they haven’t gotten back to me on several occasions.
EarlyBay discussion

The Multimac really does look good, but what do you do with it when wanting to use the RNR bed for sleeping?
Cheers

 

[Clem]

The child seat I had had a pull over brace type thing (a bit like a ride at a theme park) that would provide impact protection and had its own mini seat belt straps built in. It was part of a pushchair/pram/child seat ‘travel system’.

If I’m really honest I think just the mounts I mentioned are adequate, it depends on the weight of the child or person of course, but when you consider you are stopping them being propelled forward in the event of an impact then for a child the forces won’t be excessive. All that said, I’m never going to tell anyone what to do regarding child safety!

Yeah it was a twin slider panel van with a full bulkhead and windows cut in. Tin top with a partial Westy continental interior. It was ‘of it’s time’.

 

[ozziedog]

The multimac is removable once you’ve parked up. Think from memory someone said it could go in the front seats or the awning but was a tad weighty so would really need two peeps to move it. Looks like a brilliant idea. My van is also an ex panel van and I have some purpose bought seat belt mounts welded in on the underside but at the moment I only have two lap belts but will eventually go for two three point belts and a lap in the middle. I’ll use those belt extensions via Davidoft and I’ll have a complete set of custom belts made in the states by seat belt planet. The only really good set of three triple point seatbelts I’ve heard of had a racing style harness in the middle rear seat with the central one fixing back to almost the rear hatch lock, plus it had a pop in plug for the bed cushions to complete the bed when camped.

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,there’s usually a way

 

[Graham L]

You can buy a ford focus isofix mount on eBay quite cheaply that I know a few people have used, needs fastening to the top of the engine floor behind the rear seat.

We've put mounts in before by using the captive nut plates JK sell in both the wheelarch and under the seat (in original locations) the hard one is the top mount for the 3 point, may be worth looking at the late seat belt anchor risers and seeing if you can get them welded to the inner structure.

 

[70-CA-Panel]

Thanks for your helpful reply Graham. Did you weld these nut plates to the bus?
Does anyone have diagrams with measurements for the seatbelt mount and rear bench mount locations?
I’d be interested seeing the isofix mounts in the bus if anyone has it installed.
@froggy has a really nice setup on page 2 of this thread http://forum.earlybay.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&start=20&t=911&sid=9a8cb618c08fa959b2394a4f55462641

Should also clarify that I have a Rusty Lee’s RnR bed from 10 years ago.


Cheers
Andy

 

[naskeet]

Here are a few links you might wish to peruse:

Bay Window Bus > 1968~79 VW Type 2, seatbelts, head restraints & airbags

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=262433
Board index > Kamper Chat Forums > KamperTech » baby seats and seat belts

http://www.justkampers.com/forum2/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=164719
3 point rear seat belt instructions ?

http://www.justkampers.com/forum2/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=155391
Board index » EarlyBay Forums » General » modern car rear center 3 point seat belt source

http://forum.earlybay.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=40137
Nigel’s note - lap & diagonal seat belt, for central seat, with upper mounting bolted to the car ceiling

Board index » EarlyBay Forums » Technical » ISOFIX Baby Seat Bracket

http://forum.earlybay.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=40062
The Late Bay » Mech, Tech & Products » Mechanical & Technical » How to - Look in this new section for answers to your questions » rear seat belts without the inertia part showing

http://thelatebay.com/index.php?topic=5472.0
The Late Bay » Mech, Tech & Products » Mechanical & Technical » Rear 3 point seatbelts

http://thelatebay.com/index.php?topic=13888.0
Includes pictures of raised seat-belt mountings for rear seat

The Late Bay » General » General Discussion » Rear seat belts. Any recommendations? Suitable for children too.

http://thelatebay.com/index.php?topic=6067.0

 

[70-CA-Panel]

Brilliant thank you Nigel, plenty to read through this rainy weekend.
Cheers
Andy

 

[sparkywig]

I think you'll find the JK Forum links are dead, it was shut down almost 10 years ago.