Lee,
I am using the original seat in my truck, which is about 13-14" off the floor
of the cab. For my upper mounting point, I sat in my modern truck and got a
sense of where the upper mount was in relation to my neck/ear. I then went to
the 'Ole truck and transferred that same point to the cab wall. As it turned
out, the upper mount in my modern truck was about even with the lower portion
of my ear. In the old truck, this same point is 40 5/8" off the floor, and
2 3/4" in from where the inner cab skin ends at the door post.
To install the upper plate, I went about it a little differently than Gary.
So, I will briefly describe it to give you some options. I positioned the
plate,(horizontal) on the outside of the skin, about where I wanted it and
marked the hole for the bolt, as well as where each end of the plate would be,
making sure that one end overlapped the edge of the door post metal. At each
end I drilled two holes through the cab metal, as well as the hole for the
mount bolt, which is 7/16", as Gary mentioned.
I also drilled a hole in the mount plate to tie a string to so that I wouldn't
lose it during installation. Bending the upper plate just a little so that it
more closely matched the curve of the inner cab helped some with fitting. At
this point, I slid the plate into place behind the inner skin, installed the
bolt and nudged it into alingment with the holes drilled at each end. I then
tack welded the plate into place through the drilled holes.
The lower mounts were much more simple. I mounted mine 3 1/2" from back of
seat base riser, 2 1/2" from floor edge in corner (with hole being junction
point of of 90 degree angle of these two measurements). This allowed the seat
belt retractor to be positioned into the cab corner.
For the lock part of the belt, which comes up through the seat cushion, I sat
in the seat and positioned the belt to where it would be just a little out
from my hip on the seat. I'm a little narrow, so this measurement came out to
8" from the center of the cab (toward the respective side of cab: 8" to pass.
side of cab for pass. belt, etc.). I mounted mine inside the factory seat
base riser, under the cushion. This required cutting a slot in the seat frame
for the belt to run through, but it came out looking pretty clean in the end.
Whew, sorry for the long winded reply that's as clear as mud. If you have any
questions, please don't hesitate to ask!
Michael Z.
Lawrenceville, GA
mzaic@athens.net
1952 GMC 150
1948 GMC 300
> It will be a little hard to set the top mount position without at least an
> idea of what seat you will be mounting. But for example, I have a set of
> S-10 bucket seats in my cab, mounted to a plywood box that sits up about 5"
> from the cab floor. That puts the top of the seat at 12" above the cab.
>
> The previous owner did the seats and they are about 1-2" too high for me, so
> when I installed the belts, I set the top mount about 1" lower than ideal
> (which should be the mid-point of your neck, I believe). My top mount is
> 36.5" above the floor. I'm planning to re-do the interior in the next year
> or two and will find seats that end up 10-11" off the floor. What are you
> thinking of for seats? I haven't started my quest for the perfect seat
> yet...
>
> Without seats you won't want to mount the center bottom fasteners yet, but
> they are easy to do afterwards.
>
> For the top mount, Julianos really suggested welding. This is how I did the
> top mount (I have a 3-window as well):
>
> 1. Located bolt location and drilled hole (I think it was 7/16" since I had
> to buy a bit for it).
> 2. With a cutting wheel, I cut a slot a little shorter than the length of
> the mount plate. The slot was cut along the edge of the door frame, where
> the inner skin is tack-welded on.
> 3. I drilled a small hole on the top of the mounting plate and tied a
> string to the plate.
> 4. With the headliner out, I slid the plate down (using the string) and
> lined it up to put the mounting bolt in.
> 5. With the plate in place, the slot was welded up, making best efforts to
> tie the plate into the door frame and not the thin inner skin.
>
> Good luck with the install. Let me know if I can be of any other help.
>
> Gary
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <lglenn11@mchsi.com>
> To: "Gary DelGrego" <gdelgrego@yahoo.com>
> Cc: <mzaic@athens.net>
> Sent: Friday, August 08, 2003 4:54 PM
> Subject: Re: [oletrucks] AD shoulder harnesses
>
>
> > Thanks Gary and Michael.
> >
> > I don't have a seat yet and it's looking like it'll be a while before I
> will
> > get one. I'm trying to get the welding finished up in order to paint.
> Anyway,
> > I pretty much figured out that I need to put the mounting plate up near
> the
> > door pillar, but my problem is: how high? I don't want the strap going
> across
> > my face nor do I want the strap slipping off my shoulder. :-)
> >
> > If either of you (or both) could measure up from the floor to your
> mounting
> > plate, I'd appreciate it. Also, if you have any other tidbits to share
> please
> > pass along. I have a 3-window.
> >
> > Thanks.
> > -Lee
> > '49 3600
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