# Fitting rear seat belts



## 113284 (Jun 13, 2008)

Can anyone give me any advice on what to do about fitting a couple of seatbelts into the back of my IH Irmao please? The sets are bench-type as they fold down into a bed, and face the middle.

I can't find any info on how legislation applies to this or info on suitable belts for this. I would like to fit adjustable 3 point restraints if possible.

Has anyone else done this?

Thanks


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## gaspode (May 9, 2005)

Hi MEANDERER

You should never fit diagonal seat belts to side facing seats as they can cause severe injury in a frontal impact. The general view seems to be that even lap belts on side facing seats are of little use and could exacerbate injuries in a collision. You would also be unwise to fit any belts unless an approved anchorage point is provided by the manufacturer.


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## Steamdrivenandy (Jun 18, 2007)

Hi Meanderer,

I completely agree with Gassy 8O .

I'm not sure if using sideways facing seats is illegal yet, but it's well on its way I'm sure.

Current advice is that seat belts in such a situation are positively dangerous. A few converters are now producing rear lounge vans with belts across the rear of the lounge see http://www.motorhomechooser.co.uk/featured-freetec598-b.php but they look a bit odd and the rear passengers end up a long way from the pilot.

One of the biggest problems these days is that the belt mountings have to withstand set test pressures and if you look under any manufacturers rear seats you'll see a very substantial frame of welded box section steel to which the belts are attached. Long gone are the days of drilling a hole just anywhere in the body and fixing your belts to it.

You'll also notice that nowadays where a manufacturer fits a sideways bench seat they do not claim it as part of the vehicles seating capacity. Hence the Mondial RL/Autocruise Tempo are shown as 3 seaters. These seating capacities are declared to the DVLA I think and both the police and your insurance company may cause you problems if you exceed the number of people quoted.

SDA


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## GerryD (Sep 20, 2007)

Totally agree with everything that has been said. If the seats dis not have seatbelts when the vehicle left the factory then they are not designed to be used as passenger seats.
Gerry


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## 113284 (Jun 13, 2008)

*Thank you all for your advice*

Thanks for all the advice guys, I've researched it further and decided that the only way forward (!!!!!) is to buy a double seat for the front of the van, which will go in in place of the single passenger seat, making 3 at the front in all. We've already removed the swivel mounting from that seat as it made it so high that I (at 5'1) felt like Humpty Dumpty with my feet dangling, and my husband (at 6'3) was looking at the roof lining.

We've therefore already replaced the seat mounting and think it will be easy to swap the double into it when we need it. Has anyone else tried this?


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