| Seatbelts... [message #123175] |
Mon, 25 April 2011 21:09  |
metrichead
Messages: 4
Registered: April 2011
Location: Flemington, NJ
Karma: 0
|
Junior Member |
|
|
Hi all -
Woohoo, after many years of wanting a GMC, we pulled the trigger and bought a beautiful 76 Royale rear bath unit from a great, great guy, the Dutchman, in Allentown PA! We went with the rear bath unit as we felt it was better suited to house the children in the middle of the coach during trips rather than in the way back of a mid bath unit. I actually bought it with another guy, whom we are great friends. We figured this would be a good way to travel together as two families and a great way to cut our costs of ownership in half, get into the hobby at a more reasonable pace, etc....
So, one of the first things we were looking into is putting some lap belts on the rear benches, basically just to keep them planted in case of a bad accident. Our Royale has wooden bench/beds on either side. My thinking is to get them attached into that main horizontal waist beam that runs the full length of the coach. Has anyone had any experience in doing anything remotely similar and have any pointers?
Also, thinking while I am at it, it would make sense to put a 3 point seatbelts up front. Has anyone done this and have a good resource for belts and tips there as well?
So looking forward to many years of motoring in my new coach and thanks in advance to any advice you can offer!
Carl
76 Royale Rear Bath
Turnit Loose
|
|
|
|
| Re: Seatbelts... [message #123190 is a reply to message #123175] |
Mon, 25 April 2011 21:35  |
GeorgeRud
Messages: 1380
Registered: February 2007
Location: Chicago, IL
Karma: 0
|
Senior Member |
|
|
I think the coaches had mounting holes on the vertical supports below the front windows to mount seatbelts (at least my 75 Palm Beach does), and I would use those rather than the horizontal seam.
The use of three point belts up front is controversial. There really were no upper mounts designed into the framework, so it may not be a good idea to mount three point belts, but rather stick with the original mounting of the seatbelts.
Enjoy your new coach in good health!
George Rudawsky
Chicago, IL
75 Palm Beach
|
|
|
|
| Re: Seatbelts... [message #123196 is a reply to message #123190] |
Mon, 25 April 2011 22:09 |
John Sharpe
Messages: 489
Registered: February 2006
Location: Texas
Karma: 1
|
Senior Member |
|
|
| Quote: |
.... putting some lap belts on the rear benches, basically just to keep them planted in case of a bad accident. Our Royale has wooden bench/beds on either side. My thinking is to get them attached into that main horizontal waist beam that runs the full length of the coach. Has anyone had any experience in doing anything remotely similar and have any pointers?....would (it)make sense to put a 3 point seatbelts up front
|
In my opinion NO 3 point belts in front because the structure was not designed for them. Also, some have survived rollovers with lap belts as the results would not have been positive for 3point belts because the entire front side structure and roof separated from the coach.
The best place to anchor the seat belts would be the floor. That's where GM mounted theirs. This may not be possible over the wheel wells, generator compartment, etc. Keep in mind that the belt should ride low on the hips and not higher to avoid internal injuries to the colon.
John Sharpe
Humble,TX
'78 Eleganza TBI
'89 Spectrum 2000 MPI V-10
'40 Ford Panel Delivery TPI
johnasharpe@gmail.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Re: [GMCnet] Seatbelts... [message #123236 is a reply to message #123175] |
Tue, 26 April 2011 06:21 |
gmcrv1
Messages: 839
Registered: August 2007
Location: Memphis
Karma: -1
|
Senior Member |
|
|
Carl,
Congrats and welcome to the ____, ____, ______ fill in the blanks. If you
don't someone else will. Knowing the PA Dutch, you probably have a really
clean coach!
Make sure the belts are not buried under the cushions first.
I know the GMCs outfitted by GM have seat belts and anchor points for all
the sitting areas. At least my 73 Glacier does. As far as three point
belts up front, I'm not so sure. The factory lap belts should provide all
the restraint you need. There is a lot of room between the driver and pax
seating position and anything you may dome in contact with in the event of
rapid deceleration. I have heard that in a severe or roll over crashes the
coach may separate into two sections - top vs. bottom. Also, I am not sure
if there are any anchor points near the shoulder area that would provide the
strength needed to support the belts.
Just my opinion.
Good luck and welcome aboard!
Tom Eckert N2VWN
73 Glacier
Oakland, TN
On Mon, Apr 25, 2011 at 9:09 PM, Carl Caruso <little_valley@comcast.net>wrote:
>
>
> Hi all -
>
> Woohoo, after many years of wanting a GMC, we pulled the trigger and bought
> a beautiful 76 Royale rear bath unit from a great, great guy, the Dutchman,
> in Allentown PA! We went with the rear bath unit as we felt it was better
> suited to house the children in the middle of the coach during trips rather
> than in the way back of a mid bath unit. I actually bought it with another
> guy, whom we are great friends. We figured this would be a good way to
> travel together as two families and a great way to cut our costs of
> ownership in half, get into the hobby at a more reasonable pace, etc....
>
> So, one of the first things we were looking into is putting some lap belts
> on the rear benches, basically just to keep them planted in case of a bad
> accident. Our Royale has wooden bench/beds on either side. My thinking is
> to get them attached into that main horizontal waist beam that runs the full
> length of the coach. Has anyone had any experience in doing anything
> remotely similar and have any pointers?
>
> Also, thinking while I am at it, it would make sense to put a 3 point
> seatbelts up front. Has anyone done this and have a good resource for belts
> and tips there as well?
>
> So looking forward to many years of motoring in my new coach and thanks in
> advance to any advice you can offer!
>
> Carl
>
>
> --
> 76 Royale Rear Bath
> Turnit Loose
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://temp.gmcnet.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gmclist
>
_______________________________________________
GMCnet mailing list
Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
http://temp.gmcnet.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gmclist
|
|
|
|
| Re: Seatbelts... [message #123251 is a reply to message #123175] |
Tue, 26 April 2011 08:14 |
 |
RF_Burns
Messages: 2277
Registered: June 2008
Location: S. Ontario, Canada
Karma: 3
|
Senior Member |
|
|
My 2005 Chev and 2010 GMC pickups have the shoulder belts built into the top of the seat back so that should eliminate the issue of attachment as it would transfer to the floor.
They are nice comfortable seats so I went to the local men's mall's hoping to find some in good condition. Well they wanted over 500.00 each for dirty, worn out seats that would need to be re-done so I shelved the idea.
Bruce Hislop
ON Canada
77PB, 455 Dick P. rebuilt, DynamicEFI EBL EFI & ESC.
1 ton front end
http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/showphoto.php?photo=29001
My Staff says I never listen to them, or something like that
|
|
|
|
GMCforum
Search
Help
Register
Login
Home
