seat belts with beards?

[rdc]

im looking into getting some beard type bucket seats for my 2000 ranger. is it possible to keep my stock seat belt or do i have to buckle in a 5 point harness everytime i go somewhere. i want to have the 5 point harness for offroading but not when im driving around town or long trips to the desert.

[firedog]

I would think that you could unbolt your stock seatbelts and run them through the slots provided in the seats and then bolt them back up. My buddy did it this way on his Toy.

[John_Bitting]

I run beards in my bronco with the stock belts in the stock locations and it works fine.

[klaus]

Keep in mind that it is illegal to remove the stock seatbelts even though you may replace them with much safer 5 points....

[Jimmy8]

When I had my Ranger, I just had the stock belts with my seats, and It worked fine. You can run the female end of the belt through the slots on the seat for the 5 points, and everything works fine. I never had a problem and it was a lot easier than 5 points, but keep in mind you probably only need 4 points for your uses and it makes it that much easier.

PMC Racing

[jeff]

For those of you wondering why Klaus said it is illegal to replace your stock belts with a 5-point style belt... here's why.

The stock seat belt in your vehicle has been approved by the federal governments Department of Transportation. It's similar to the helmet law... you must wear a DOT approved helmet to be legal. The reason most racing style harnesses are illegal is because they are not DOT approved. Most of the manufacturers don't want to spend the money to get their products DOT approved. If you want to run a legal racing style belt in your vehicle you must use a DOT approved belt. I can only think of two manufacturers, both european I think, that offer a DOT approved harness. How they got it approved is beyond me.

Now here is the hot illegal tip of the day... and I don't want to know if anyone does this or not. If you do I cannot be held liable for whatever happpens. If you are handy with a sewing machine or can make a hand stitch look somewhat professional, you can take an OLD set of belts from a junkyard, remove the little tag on the belt saying that it's a legal seatbelt, and sew it onto your new racing style belts... that way when you get pulled over you can show the cop that they have the mandated DOT safety rating and are thus quite legal. The trick, if asked about your belts, is to quote the State of California Vehicle Code book... item 27302 - "No person shall sell or offer for sale any seatbelt or attachments therto for use in a vehicle unless it complies with requirements established by the department."

That's when you point to your little sewn on tag on your belt. If you want to lie that's up to you, I always let the officer assume.

Usually I am pretty firm on maintaining a legal vehicle... but the whole stock seatbelt being safer than a harness is ridiculous. If the stock systems were safer you'd see em' in NHRA right? If those guys going 320mph are secure than I outta be ok too.

There, that's my last long ass post for 2001.

Aloha

[scott]

In my F-150 my stockers are fine. I run the buckle through the slot, and just pull it over the seat and across yourself, and buckle up just like your driving off the showroom floor.

[Jimmy8]

How do guys that have those trophy truck pre runners like Mark post get there trucks to pass inspection in CA, with 5 points and no stock seat belts to be found? In our pre runner, we have 5 points, and no regular belts, and the truck passed easily with no questions asked, although we live in AZ. I was just curious as to how it works in CA when getting a truck like that registered with no belts being that it is illegal, and the truck was built that way to begin with and had no prior registration? I know it was owned by RG previously, but he had it registered in CA didnt he, and I know Herb Reno had one of the stock fulls he owns registered over there as well with no regular belts. Just wondering if it really doesnt matter, or are they just lenient?

PMC Racing

[ntsqd]

They're not lienient, they just don't inspect for much of anything except smog over here in CA. If it's registered as a "Special Construction" then it might get a one time inspection for belts. The only inspection I know of in that instance is for lights and brakes.

As to the not DOT legal issue, DOT requires any manf. of a part that needs a DOT cert. to certify their products meet the standards via a private testing firm. They don't usually question that the testing was actually done until somebody has a problem, then DOT goes to the manf. and asks to see the cert. and the documentation that shows all of that product's production is within the acceptable varience range. If they don't have that documentaion, the IRS at audit time probably looks pretty friendly in comparison.
The German TUV uses a lot of the same standards as DOT, I know they are exactly the same for flex brake lines. The difference is that the TUV tests for compliance and issues a cert. for products that pass. So if a part has a TUV cert., it automatically has a DOT cert. assuming shared standards. Schroth would need TUV certification if they wanted to sell seat belts in Germany, and that is too big of a market to ignore. So most likely their belts are DOT legal.

TS

"Teach you all I know and you're still stupid"
-- Howdy Lee

[rdc]

ok i have been looking at the beard street series seats and the only downfall i see is that they dont have the shoulder slot, only the lap slots. this means i could only use my stock seat belts. do i really need the 4 point harnesses? this will be a daily driver, weekend play truck.

[Jimmy8]

No, not at all. Use your stock harnesses. i know a lot of people who do and have no problems, and you will never have to worry about getting in trouble with the law. Go for it dude.

PMC Racing

[rdc]

ok here is a new question. i just checked out my seat belts and the female end of the belt does not bolt to the floor board, it bolts to the seat itself. so when i remove my stock seats the female end of the belt will come out with it. to use the stock belts with the beards it will have to be attached to the floor board, correct? are all ranger seats like this or is it just the new ones? mine is a 2000.

[Tyson]

Well I'm not sure if its like that on other Rangers, but my '94 Toyota was set up like that. I unbolted it, put in my new seats (stock bucket seats out of a corolla or somrthing) and bolted it back in.

You may beat me in the flats, but watch out in the whoops.

[toddz]

Yota_602: Did those seats from a Corolla bolt right into your pickup without serious reworking of the seat brackets? I'm looking for some good bolt-in buckets for my '91 and I'm not having much luck finding nice ones from other Toyota pickups.

Thanks,
Todd Z.

[Jimmy8]

It will either need to be attatched to the floor board, or I have also seen the stock belts attatched to the stock seat bracket as well. You are using the stock seat brackets arent you, and not making your own? I don't know which is better, but when I had my ranger it was attatched to the floor, only because it was that way from the factory. I guess if you did not want to drill holes in your floorboard you could make a tab on the stock brackets like I have seen in the past and bolt your female end to the tab.

PMC Racing

[rdc]

i would like to keep my stock seat brackets so i can still use the slider. i have never installed a beard type seat in a truck, basically i just have to use some angle iron to attach the beards to the stock seat bracket, right? does anyone have any other advice that will be useful to me?

[Tyson]

TODDZ:
No, I thought that it would, I guess my measurements were just slightly off (side to side). But I fabbed up some brackets as a temporary fix until I throw in the cage and I'll mount the seats to it. I figure even though they didn't fit quite right you can't go wrong if you only spend 40 bucks for both seat outta pick your part. :-)

You may beat me in the flats, but watch out in the whoops.

[Rallyrick]

Toddz
I had Cressida seats in my Toyota, they were plush as hell and all I had to do to make them work was
drill out the 8 rivits mounting the seat bracket to the slider, bolt them in to the truck, set the seat where you want it and tack the bracket to the seat, it's off by about 1" side to side. It's easy, you could do it in less than two hours.

[klaus]

Getting back to the German TUV test....it makes the CA smog, Brake and light test and your driving license test combined look like an easy walk in the park.

Every registered vehicle has to pass the TUV test every 2 years. Its an all out safety test that includes brake test on a wheel dyno. Noise level test, brightness and angle of your lights. Check for cracks or rust in structural parts of your vehicle. Condition of your tires among other things. A ten year+ old vehicle usually needs some minor repairs prior to the test.

A typical bumper sticker found on the back of beater cars reads ' Biss der TUV uns sheided...' translates to something like ' Until the TUV will separate us...'

Then there is the smog test similar to what we have here in CA.

Also. Every vehicle's registration card contains specs about the vehicle and all extras that got approved by the TUV. So installing a lift kit and larger tires would require a trip to the TUV station. Every component installed has to be pre-approved by the TUV (need to have decals or paperwork). If the installation was done proper an entry will be made in your registration papers that its ok to be 6 inches taller, 120 pounds heavier and to use 35x12.5x15 on 15x8 wheels. Speedometer will get tested of course. Its basically a big pain to do anything aftermarket. So not to many do and its easy picking for the cops if your tires stick out, or you sound 10db too load etc.... But the advantage is that I have never seen mufflers laying in the middle of the freeway, or broken of wheels etc. Turn signals and headlights work at 100% of the motorists. Perhaps that's why you have open speed limits on some parts of the Autobahn. Most vehicles are capable of slowing down from triple digit speeds. So perhaps its safer there but it certainly is no place for Hot-Rods and Prerunners.

[twillis]

Does anybody have experience lowering a Tacoma seat? My 2001 extracab has the factory seats, which sit pretty high off the floor. I have about 2" between my skull and the roof. I need to find a way to lower the seat (at least on the driver's side) about 2 more inches. After owning an f-150 and a Blazer, I feel like a giant inside the yota.

[scott]

In California, they don't care too much about belts unless you get pulled over by you know who??? The only thing California inspects is emissions....( Smog ). Its funny all the smog laws over here, all the emissions they put on vehicles, additives in fuel, and its smoggier than ever here. Its just a racket for the state to make $$$$$$$$$...

[JasonHutter]

If you think that doesn't make sense. I live in Pitkin Co. Colorado. It's the county that Aspen is in. We are the only county in the state other than the Denver Metro area that requires smog inspections. Try smoging your vehicle at 8500 feet of elevation. Sucks!

Jason

[TRDshaunTRD]

lowering your seats? have you thought about what that will do to your point of view? And if you liked the size you get with a full size, why did you get a tacoma? In my opinion, you should get used to it, or get something else. But, if you really want to, as far as I know the only way is to have new seats and custom mounts made.

[Tom]

put yourself in the washing machine, wash yourself several times in hot water, (don't add
bleach, trust me), then put yourself in the clothes dryer on "hot", you should shrink about one dress
size (i mean 2 inches). Your Welcome.

[Ryno]

Shaun-

First, let me lead off with, don't take this personally. I have alot of friends that have gotten new Tacomas, from having fullsize Chevy and Ford Trucks. Insurance is cheaper, along with gas, and they are easier to build. Yes, the price isn't up there either. When I bought my 94 K1500 Z71 new in 94, I paid 19,500. Now, I couldn't buy the same truck (new model year) for under at least 25k. That to me is rediculous. When you're 20 something, and trying to buy a house, etc....A truck is for usage. Or at least that's how it works with my circle of friends. We use them for hauling our toys, playing around, and our daily drivers. Ever see the gas bill for a Chevy towing a trailer? You might as well have just brought a gas station with you. I understand that you work for/ with your Dad doing custom homes. I build them. Believe me, I know the $$$ that is made, and can be lost in the business, but at the same time, the general contractor and builder always make it up. I'm not saying your spoiled, I'm just thinking that you might tend not to see things from the other side of the fence.

Ryno

Build it like a Rhino, and Leave it be.

[DPpatrol]

Scott,

I certainly don't enjoy getting my car smogged, but it is a fact that cars put out emissions which harm the enviroment. It is also a fact that with the creation of the EPA in the 70s and their efforts to reduce car caused pollution through ways which include forcing car manufactures to make cleaner burning more efficient cars and (gasp) smog checks, the amount of car related pollution being dumped into the air has been reduced. Also the amount of smog in high traffic areas has also been reduced. Don't get me wrong, I hate getting my truck smog checked as much as any one else, but all motorists have the responsibilty to make sure their car is running as clean as possible. Sadly, most motorists don't take this responsibilty upon themselves, making smog checks neccessary to insure we don't destroy our enviroment. I don't mean to preach, but your statement that it is smoggier than ever here is just not true, it is in fact much better than it used to be, and we have (gasp again) smog checks and emission regulations to thank for that.

jason

[drtdevil93]

what i dont like about smog law, is my truck put out a 0.0 hydrocarbon, 0.0 co, and 1/4 the nox limit, yet i had to pay extra, because my motor wasnt close to passing the visual inspection. i say get rid of visual inspection, if it passes, it passes.

erik

[rdc]

I agree!!!! IF IT PASSES THEN IT PASSES!!!!!!

Tony

[BIG_FAT_LOSER]

Seat belts to Vehicle inspection to Gas prices to Smog to The Enviroment. How many more posts till Kevin Bacon?

<font color=red>PAT KAPKO</font color=red>
<font color=yellow>Fab by travolta</font color=yellow>

[twillis]

In response to trdshaun: The Tacoma is a good truck, but it has it's problems. First off, the clock was installed in a stupid location, I think everybody agrees with that. I'm 6'-1", and my head is about 2" below the roof line. That means building even a single hoop within the cab is difficult, a cage is impossible. Taller guys have to lye in it sportscar style. The transmission shakes and twists on acceleration on all the automatic models I've driven, the armrest/junkbox is too close to the driver, it has TEN cupholders(?), their cd players are notorious for failing, the turning radius should be tighter than the factory sets it, (my 4wd ranger turned WAY tighter). Toyota went overboard in making that delightful buzzer impossible to disconnect without rewiring it. The owner's manual says the locker is not to be used over 5mph. WTF? And why does it have so many warning stickers glued to the door and roof? My handguns don't have warning stickers like; "Do not shoot while driving", "Avoid using the gun as a hammer", "firing into homes is not recommended". BTW new Toyota replacement parts are seriously overpriced, while the Tacomas still use drum brakes and leaf springs, which is 150 year old technology. Lately Toyota's investment in desert racing is less than one five-hundredth of one percent of their gross even though their truck and SUV division makes most of their profit. I chose it because it was the least ****ty new truck on the market.

[TRDshaunTRD]

and a good choice at that!


"Those who risk nothing are nothing."

[Mike_McCluskey]

Tom, tell us how you really feel!! No, really don't hold back...

See you at the start line!!!

[toyoter91]

From what i have heard is that toyota cut back on all forms of racing that they were involved in because of the start of there F1 team that i think they started to put together last year or the year before that so they could begin racing this season. i may be wrong though.

"Its still good!!! Its still good!!!"