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Old 03-22-2018, 07:17 PM   #1
LordDevlin
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Middle seat belt for kids booster seat

Hi there,
Did plenty of searching on the forum but can't seem to find what I am looking for. My son is now large enough for a booster seat and the wife says that she now wants him to be in the middle between us, rather than when he was against the window in his big kids seat and she was stuffed in the middle between us.

A simple backless booster seat will allow us to still have some space. But to put him in the middle I will need a shoulder belt in that middle position. Just wondering if anyone else has done this at all.

I have a small window 59.

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

Regards,
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Old 03-22-2018, 08:55 PM   #2
1project2many
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Re: Middle seat belt for kids booster seat

I have a potential solution but it does not involve a seat belt. I use car seats designed for school buses in my antique vehicles. The bottom of the seat connects to the bottom of the vehicle seat and the back of the seat straps to the back of the vehicle seat. It works well.

Look at the STAR and the SuperSTAR

We have the STAR seats.
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Old 03-23-2018, 09:30 AM   #3
whitedog76
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Re: Middle seat belt for kids booster seat

Corbeau has a 3 point belt that may work without cramping the Driver and Passenger's space. You can get them with or without a retractable. you may also look into seat belts for UTV/Utility vehicles. Often times they are slightly smaller than the automotive ones.
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Old 03-23-2018, 12:35 PM   #4
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Re: Middle seat belt for kids booster seat

I've done that with 2 kids. Installed 2 lap belts in the middle of the bench seat. Each lap belt secured a car seat to the bench. Easy..... The car and boosters had their own 4 point harness.

Later when they out grew those car and the booster seats, I installed a 4 point harness for each of them. Kind of a pain to adjust as they grew but it worked well.

Was a sad day when all 4 of us could no longer fit on that bench seat belted in! Ha! -Steve
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Old 03-23-2018, 02:40 PM   #5
_Ogre
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Re: Middle seat belt for kids booster seat

you want to fake out the wife or be safe?
the original bench seat will come forward in most any wreck, a shoulder belt might inflict more damage than just a lap belt
it would be a good idea to limit the forward movement of the seat back in either case
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Old 03-23-2018, 07:13 PM   #6
SanJosesSteve
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Re: Middle seat belt for kids booster seat

I like to remind myself that the only padded surface in the cab of the truck is under my butt. All that sheet metal in my face makes me think I'd rather take my chances with the shoulder belt and risk the seat moving forward a bit.

That said...... how would one best go about strengthening the seat mounts? Upgrade to Grade 8 fasteners? Anchor the seat to the floor with a short tether or 2? Hummmmmm........ That's something to think about before me next 300 mile fishing trip this summer. Hummmmmmm....... -Steve
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Old 03-23-2018, 08:06 PM   #7
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Re: Middle seat belt for kids booster seat

Quote:
Originally Posted by _Ogre View Post
you want to fake out the wife or be safe?
the original bench seat will come forward in most any wreck, a shoulder belt might inflict more damage than just a lap belt
it would be a good idea to limit the forward movement of the seat back in either case

There are some fairly easy ways to secure the original seat back and I believe this should be done on any truck with an original bench. If you think about what happens in a front-end collision in a TF it only makes sense to secure the component which will drive everyone toward the dashboard.
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Old 03-24-2018, 12:28 PM   #8
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Re: Middle seat belt for kids booster seat

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Originally Posted by SanJosesSteve View Post
how would one best go about strengthening the seat mounts?
i used 3'' square 10ga steel washers under the floor supports when i bolted my seats in truk
the seatbelts are bolted to the seat brackets i fabbed up
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Old 03-25-2018, 10:45 AM   #9
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Re: Middle seat belt for kids booster seat

This is a 4 point but it should work well:
https://www.wescoperformance.com/4po...iABEgIRE_D_BwE
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Old 04-02-2018, 10:20 PM   #10
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Re: Middle seat belt for kids booster seat

Thank you for all the help and suggestions, I certainly appreciate it. That bus seat one looks interesting.

For the concerns about the seat going forward, if the 3 points of a seat belt are all well attached to the cab, would the seat going forward be a concern? Wouldn't the seat belt restrict you moving too far forward?
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Old 04-03-2018, 04:06 PM   #11
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Re: Middle seat belt for kids booster seat

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Originally Posted by LordDevlin View Post
For the concerns about the seat going forward, if the 3 points of a seat belt are all well attached to the cab, would the seat going forward be a concern? Wouldn't the seat belt restrict you moving too far forward?
the seatbelt restricting forward seat movement is your biggest concern
the seat will only come forward in a crash, if the seatbelt is attached to the back of the cab, the seatbelt will put all seatgoingforwardpressure into your kid
if you've ever been in an accident, the seatbelt will bruise the heck out of your shoulder
imo a 40lb kid with a 40lb seat back coming forward wouldn't stand a chance

you could always securely fasten the seat back to the back of the cab
in a serious wreck your all screwed anyway
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Old 04-03-2018, 04:21 PM   #12
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Re: Middle seat belt for kids booster seat

I'd think one could rig a simple latch mechanism to secure the lean back near the top so it won't go forward even if it is an additional seat belt that is anchored high behind the seat and at the bottom with the other seat belt anchors and only holds the seat it's self. At times you don't want it to show you just unlatch it and put the top belt behind the seat. Most people probably would't notice an extra belt that matched the other ones being cinched up tight against the lean back. I like the looks of that bus seat setup if the child in question is tall enough for it.

From experience it isn't the fasteners that break holding a seat or belts in a crash it is poorly installed fasteners pulling out or pulling though weak floors. That is if all the fasteners are there to hold the seat down. When I rolled my son's old 70 C10 I found out that after he had had the seat out he didn't put all the bolts back in and the seat did come loose in the crash.
There is a length of 1/4 X 2 flat bar running the width of the floor under my cab on the 48 that the seat belts fasten though mu students made sure that those belts stayed in place.
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Old 04-03-2018, 09:29 PM   #13
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Re: Middle seat belt for kids booster seat

from personal experience, if I could go back, I would surely secure the seats and the seat belts properly. in a dune buggy rollover accident I was thrown clear of the buggy only to have it roll over me and break all the ribs off my spine (except the floaters) on one side. it teetered on top of me on it's last roll until it finally fell off (yup, the engine end of the buggy of course) so I was all out of breath. luckily I got my wind back before passing out and was able to drive the buggy back home so I could drive my 63 gmc (std steering) to emergency. moral of the story is: fasten all belts and seats properly and make sure the welds are done properly etc. my issue was a friends buggy and the seat belts were attached with some pretty bad welds ground off and painted which let go under the pressure. that is the reason my project has seats with integral shoulder belts. I am not using a stock floor but if I was the seats would be bolted to the floor and then cabled to the frame under the floor so if they let go they couldn't go far (hopefully). a bench seat would be secured to not tilt so there could be no way for the grand kids or others to be injured by the seat or thrown through the windshield due to poor belts or seat mounts.
when I was a kid my family drove around in a 59 chevy truck. 2 adults and 2 kids. no seat belts. not a problem at the time. I would definately not do that in today's world with access to all the safety items we have today.

end of rant, your truck, your conscience, your decision
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