got the seats in the bed (pics)

[Captain Ledd]

Hell, a kid I went to high school with just put a regular love seat in the back of his truck. it was many moons ago but still 1999-2000 or so. it was enough to quell the cops here in Mi. And by a different logic, a year after we graduated another friend was almost killed by a drivers side impact with a fully laden semi, the only thing that saved him was because he wasn't wearing his seatbelt. The B pillar snapped right a the top and came down like a guillotine, but since he was pushed to the door and not held by the shoulder belt it missed and just pinched him between the door. I personally believe that wearing a seatbelt is safer overall though.

it's still safer than having no seat and no seatbelts at all. I give ya props dude, I think it's cool

man people need to relax...

 

[Redneckryder]

hey somebody call Jim....did he change this forum from rbv's to ripping on people and calling them names?

No???------THEN STOP IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think he gets the point that some of you wont ride in his rolling deathtrap(no offense dude) but really, is there any reason to start calling him stupid and moron and some stuff like that?? geez....where is Ryan "The Booter" when you need him?? it takes effort to reply to this post, and it's effort half of you guys dont need to put forth, because you are getting worked up over a truck you will never ride in, or prolly see, in your life!!!

watch---

I dont like it.
vs.
I think you're a stupid doo-doo head!

lemme see which sounds more grown up? You guys need to get a life. To those who responded like adults, you are the only reason i still visit this site.

 

[Captain Ledd]

because you are getting worked up over a truck you will never ride in, or prolly see, in your life!!!

x2

And actually it still looks safer than my '84 which I ride INSIDE in.

 

[Loanranger]

To all the guys calling this guy a moron, there's no need for it.

From what I can see in the pics, the seatbellts are completely safe in themselves. It looks to me (and I could be wrong) that it is in fact a rubber bed mat, that the belts pass through, and from his explanation of how he attached them to the bed, it's just as good as the factory belts in any of your rigs. From the factory, seatbelt bolts are only passing through a piece of 24 guage or so sheetmetal, and into nut welded to the back of a piece of 16 guage sheetmetal. If the belt bolts are passing through a piece of 1/4 inch steel and the bed floor, with the 1/4 inch welded to the floor, this should be up to the task of holding in someone upwards of 200 lbs.

The seat mounts themselves, could use some work. It looks as though you only have three mounts at the front of the seat? This would cause injury in a headon accident, sending the seat backwards, pivoting on the front mounts, squeezing your passengers between the belt and seat. You sould add at least two mounts to the back of the seat to make it safe.

In the event of a rollover, you should add a rollbar (not a cheesey light bar) directly over the passengers heads. The beafier the better. And add head restraints. (often called head rests, but in fact they're there to keep your head from snapping back in the event of an accident.)

Aside from the safety issues, I think this is a great idea. You've got a great start to something, you just need to finish it before letting passengers ride in it.

 

[Carlos Murphy]

Rear seats

I remember when Suburu? had bucket seats in the back with handles on them for you to hang on to FROM THE FACTORY.

I think your passengers need to wear helmets or you'll lose your back window.

 

[reno]

I only see the mounts for the front of the seat, not the backside, would this not make the seat unstable and want to flip forward? A rollcage that protects the sides and the head (for side impacts and roll overs) is a good idea.
Contact your highway patrol office as well, they will tell you the law on this and what they really would rather see, does not much matter what we would like to see done when johhny law stops you because something in your local ordinance was not done. That is exactly how I would make it,to the law. Ford,Chevy,Dodge and all other Manufacturers make their vehicles according to the law, this way if something goes awry,they can legally state they were built within the confines of the safety limits of the law. But aftermarket products sell so well because they meet or exceed OEM spec's.

Only other thing I have to say is,if you are not married,have no kids,then take the most precious thing to you...say your G\F, do you feel confident enough to go cruisin down the highway with her (or your kids if you have any) riding back there? If you have even the slightest bit of doubt, then take it apart and be done with it.

 

[ryan]

i was thinking of deleting this whole topic, but decided to save it for the civil claims that are certain to follow from this.

instead i'll lock it

 

[samsonitesamsonite]

Ryan, sorry but I have one thing to add, as a firefighter I see wrecks with people that were riding in the back of a truck all the time. These wrecks are usually critical, and the driver always says he "was being careful because of the people in back." I can only imagine the body count in a wreck when the driver thought that the rear passengers were "safe" by some cobbled mess he calls seatbelts. save your friends lives, sell your truck.

 

[Jim Oaks]

Here's my opinion.......

When I was in high school I had a Datsun pick-up and use to drive people home from school in the bed of my truck. We lived in the suburbs, so speeds were usually no higher than 25-30 MPH. Probably not the best idea, but I was always careful when I had a couple of friends in the back.

If twitched used a bench seat out of a truck/car and;

1) All (4) seat legs were secured to the bed and the sheetmetal reinforced with plate so it doesn't tear from the load....

2) The seat belts (lap belts) were DOT approved belts and were properly mounted to the bed with reinforcement....

Then I don't see what the big fuss is here!

Twitch sounds like he's sought advice to do this so it would be safe. He sounds like he's aware of the dangers and doesn't sound like he going to take his friends hill climbing in it.

I think the idea is possible and safe if you realize it's limitations.

I don't understand why some of you guys jumped on him and started the name calling instead of trying to offer helpful information instead. Sometimes people are to quick to make others look stupid.

I don't understand the uproar around headrests. My '83 Ranger came with a bench and no headrest protection to keep me from hitting my head on the back window.

I don't understand why you guys think the seatbelts are going to cut or people are going to get cut off at the knees.

I don't think those little compact convertible cars are all that much safer either.

Personally if it was me and I really wanted to do this, I would have shelled out 65-80 bucks for a pair of race buckets from Summit Racing and got them mounted with harnesses....but I realize you're still in school with a limited budget.

I commend you for making an effort to properly mount the seats and use seatbelts and get outside advise. I'm sorry people here couldn't be more supportive and offer ideas on how to improve it instead of telling you your some stupid kid that's going to kill his friends.

I would ensure that the rear legs of the bench are mounted as well and only let people ride in the rear at slower (in town) speeds. No highway speeds. Remember that you can't control the other drivers on the road that could hit you, so don't think you can drive at highway speeds with people in the rear because you're a safe driver.

I'm opening this discussion back up......

 

[Twizzler09]

+1 Jim.

As long as this is done safely and with as much research and help from outside sources as possible (which it appears hes done both), then I say go for it.

Personally I think this is a pretty friggin neat idea, I know there have been times I wish I had a bench seat or something of that effect in the back of my truck on nice summer nights. Take the significant other out somewhere and hang out in the back of the truck.

 

[pillen140]

haha my father used to do that for me when i was younger!!

he converted his '83 nissan 4cyl5sp4x4 to buckets and put his bench in the bed!!

sorry MAKG, but guess what we used for a seatbelt.. a ratchet strap!

ROb

now that sounds like an idea!!!, was the ratchet strap held by using deck screws to the bed liner.... i mean drywall screws would just be unsafe.

 

[Mutant Pony]

When I first looked at the pics, It looked like the belts were sticking up through the bed floor, up against sharp metal. Then I look a little closer and noticed that it is up through a rubber bed mat.
I would have either bolted the seatbelts down with the box bolts or made brackets come up from the frame to bolt the seat belts.
From what I can see it is probably safer than the front seats.

 

[koda6966]

Thank you Jim, finally someone sees it from our point of view.

This was a thread that was very informative. Twitch brought up a subject that many of us have thought of, extra seating.

 

[Jim Oaks]

now that sounds like an idea!!!, was the ratchet strap held by using deck screws to the bed liner.... i mean drywall screws would just be unsafe.

How about eyebolts screwed in to the bed at each end of the seat with a long bungee strap hooked in to each eyebolt? That would work right?
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no, I'm not serious.

 

[Evan]

You won't catch me riding in that seat anytime soon.

If you do any serious offroading, that setup is pretty dangerous. Get a DOM cage or rollbar back there ASAP.

For road cruising, any forward collision would snap the necks of anyone riding in that seat, as MAKG said.

If you use that seat for very mild offroading and very slow speeds, it's probably safe.