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Seat Belts?

S

SimpleT

New Member
I live in Kansas. I have called the highway patrol to TRY to get an answer on what type of seat belts I need to install to pass inspection. My 1927 T is a build fron scratch. I have heard all three options from different people at the highway patrol. I have heard lap belts - shoulder harness - full harness. Help
 
I went through inspection at the Olathe station and all I had was lap belts. No problems. In Kansas, I have heard that it depends a lot on which inspection station you go to and also which inspector you get. Apparently they have quite a bit of leeway. For example, I was told by one inspector that I needed to have electric wipers, but another one said a manual wiper was OK. I had a manual wiper when I went for inspection, and it passed. I was also told I needed a working horn, but they didn't check it during the inpsection. They also didn't check if I had a light over the license plate (I did), which I had been told I needed.

Whereabouts in Kansas are you?
 
I live in a small town south of Wichita - Mulvane. I am just going to go with lap belts. Another thing the hit me up about was - third brake light.

Tom
 
i plan on lap belts also.i dont know of any way to mount a shoulder belt or harness unless you have a roll bar.
 
Third brake light did not come up in my inspection. You don't want shoulder belts unless the mount point is above your shoulders, otherwise you will get spine compression on a rollover.
 
I only had lap belts im my model A tub. I figured since it didn't come with any they were good enough.
 
I have lap belts in my bucket but they're in there because I wanted them. Here in Illinois my bucket is titled as a 1923 Model T and as an antique is exempt from any kind of inspections.
 
I will install the lap belts and argue the safety point noted above. They are going to title it as a 2008. I need to find out what I need for documentation and identification here in Kansas. Thanks All

Tom
 
I think this is a good topic. but i want to ask were does everyone bolt the belts to? I would expect the frame but what about the center?Do you make a crossmember?with a fiberglass body and wood floor there is not much choice.
 
I welded in a small crossmember and bolted the belts to it. Hope I never have to use them in a 'T'.
 
Options very on this, but I decided to definitely use lap belts... if for nothing else to keep my a$$ in the driver's seat when I'm having a little fun... I chose to attach mine to the body... actually the attach to the wood on the bed with large bolts and seat belt washers... along the lines of this but I used grade 8 hardware including the washers:

wescoperformance_2023_402095


The reason I did is I've seen pictures of three tbucket crashes... two of them the body came off the frame... while I don't want to be thrown from the car... I also perfer not to be used as an anchoring mechinasim to hold the body to the frame if you will...

WreckedT-Bucket.jpg


now clearly this would suck... however I like my chances being strapped to the body... could you imagine what this guy would look like if the belts were attached to the frame and his a$$ was used to try and hold the body to the frame!... no thank you! :eek:
 
By accident I did exactly the same thing Al did and for the same reason. I guess us pacific northwestern people look at things a lot alike. :lol:
 
After seeing an accident like this makes you think more about a steel reinforced body.
 
in the one i've done i ran a 3/4x1-1/2 tube cross member in the frame. the other thing i did to this car was to sh*t can the total body mounts and weld brackets to the outside of the frame rail and used trough bolts with nuts on them. IMO, the total body mounts should be outlawed. look at the pictures of Freds T. that picture tells it all!

Ron
 
Youngster said:
...the other thing i did to this car was to sh*t can the total body mounts and weld brackets to the outside of the frame rail and used trough bolts with nuts on them. IMO, the total body mounts should be outlawed...

Ron
Click to expand...

I "totally" agree Youngster... I've never used them so I can't say I have first hand experience, but the whole concept behind them seemed off to me... I used 6 points of mounting... all grade 8 nuts, bolts, washers, and lock-washers... I'm pretty sure (I'd have to double check) they are 1/2 inch bolts as well...

I wish I was knew you guys when I was re-doing mine, I'd done a lot more of stuff you have implemented... BTW... that wood work on your body rocks!
 
In my accident, the wellnut setup did not keep the rear portion of the body attached to the frame. I was going about 35mph. I wasn't wearing belts and lifted up maybe 6" off the seat. If I had been wearing belts, I think my weight being straped to the body would have possibly caused the body to come completely off the chassis.

There are so many variables to this question and so many different factors to consider. The main one being speed. Hey, I was driving careful and looking out and I still got hit.

Now, when I used to get on the highway, I wore belts. I don't even know why. Maybe because I felt safe. In my opinion, at high speed, it wouldn't matter that much whether you wore them or not. Looking at the pic of that accident, it looks like the guy may have been better of not being attached to the body. But EVERY accident is different.

When I get going again, I won't wear them just cruising around town at fairly low speeds. I'll wear them when I get on the freeway, but I don't think they would make a difference.

Bottomline, at highway speeds, I guess it depends on what kind of funeral you'd like. Open or closed casket.
 
When I installed my lap belts it wasn't with the thought of an accident. I always figured any accident in the bucket would be fatal. After the first couple of test runs I made when I first built the car I installed the belts to hold me in the seat for when I got to doing the crap I used to ground my kids for doing.
 
Thanks for the replies,i would say it safe to say these cars are not Volvo wagons.The last t we built the outer side of the belt we bolter to the frame were the shocks mount then the inner through the wood floor with large washers top and bottom.I agree about the body mounts and think i will come up with something better on this next one. thanks guys
 
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