All the currently available new production seat belts on the market will do the job, including the $18 belts (Speedway has some for around $15). From there, the price increases with each added option. The cheap belts have GM style releases, are fairly short,and just lay where ever they stop moving when you take them off, including hanging out the door, and laying on the ground.
If you want the wide flat belt release mechanism (like the old Mopars) instead of the center push button (like GM) you add a little more money.
The length of the belt also changes the price, be sure you buy belts that are long enough to go around you and reach the floor on both sides.
The belts with the retracters will coil the door side of the belt neatly back into a little holder where it will remain inside the vehicle and will stay dryer and cleaner, but adds to the price.
If you want shoulder belts instead of "just" (more on that later) lap belts, you add a little more money.
I've installed lap & shoulder belts to nearly every old car I've had in the past few years. The ends anchor to the floor with 3" diameter 1/8" thick plates under the floor, and I install a 1/8" x 1" x 3"-4" flat stock (or bigger if it will fit) with a 5/8" nut welded to the center into the door post or reinforced roof panel, just behind the seat back, as the belt center support. A lot of the newer cars mount the seat belts to the seat frame and the shoulder belt holder to the top corner of the seat back, but keep in mind those areas need to be reinforced, the last thing you want is to have the belt pull free in a crash.
"Just" a lap belt? Understand, adding a lap belt is 10X better then not having any belt. In a crash, the lap belt holds your butt in the seat, but your upper body bends forward until it impacts something to stop it. The shoulder belt holds your butt in the seat, and catches your body before it contacts something more hard.
The lap belt I installed in my 50 Dodge pickup would have folded me over the steering wheel and placed my head into the center of the windshield. I often didn't wear the belt for that reason. The day of my crash, I wasn't wearing my lap belt. As a result, most of my body moved forward. I bent over the window crank on the drivers door, my shoulder cracked the door glass, and my head hit the sunviser above the windshield. I had my hand wrapped firmly around the steering wheel as it went through the entire tilt process (the wheel was normally tilted near the bottom of the tilt range) and abruptly stopped at the top end of the tilt sweep. I ended up with 11 stitches in my forehead and a badly sprained thumb on my right hand.
That was in Oct 2011. Since then, everything I have built for myself has lap & shoulder belts, and I buckle them every time I get in the car/truck.
My crash, It was a bright sunny morning. I went to the Post Office to mail off some stuff and was on my way home. 30 mph, 4 lane wide with no center median, slight curve to the left, side street going to the right, I had the right of way. Some lady was in a string of cars and decided to turn onto the side street in front of me. She said didn't see me. All I remember was seeing a red fender come out of a line of cars into my lane, then the roof of that red car as I hit it. I don't believe I was even able to hit the brakes. My 50 was on an 80 Dodge 4x4 chassis and weighed 4480 lbs. That truck went from 30 to dead stop instantly. The impact was so hard the entire truck came off the ground. She had air bags the protected her, I had guardian angles protecting me. We both walked away with minor injuries. I came out of the insurance deal content with the results. Before picture. Gene
Last edited by poorboy; 05/11/14 09:52 AM.
