# Retrofit 3 point seat belts for 1988 Hymer B544



## 123945 (May 26, 2009)

Hello,

Can anyone advise me on how to retrofit 3 point seat belts arountd the 4 seater dinette of my 1988 Hymer B544? I would like to seafely carry a child and baby seat. Anyone who could advise on where I can get these fitten in Scotland, or how I could do it mysef in order to pass the MOT when they are fitted?

I have read past threads on the UK law etc, however I need something to secure the child seats.

Any ideas?

Kind Regards,

Shane


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## 108717 (Dec 12, 2007)

Shane,
This is covered many times on here because I looked at the same idea when we got ours.

The problem with motorhomes is they don't have many good areas to (legaly) bolt even lapbelts so fitting an upright section for the 3 point version is a major task. When I enquired I was told that in most cases it will involve a metal plate below the floor and some serious custom fittings to be MOT legal. I've seen photos of it and I know many of the serious specialist dealers offer it but it'll be expensive (cue the discussion about how much a life is worth - and I'm not being dismissive there, just that it might be cheaper to invest in a van already fitted with them than retro-fit).

My MOT guy said that the rules are very strict. Also if your van was never fitted with them it will pass without belts whereas it will fail if you retro-fit but do it wrong. He did however say that the old Hymers are built like tanks so you could actually get away with bolting through the floor in the right place. His advice was to fit lapbelts which I could remove for the MOT then refit afterwards! But I would be worried about how much damage I'd do in the process and whether MY interpretation of safe was correct.

The rules do make sense though when you think about it. A badly fitted three point belt could result in the impact sending passengers forward still attached to whatever the seatbelt was attached to or shearing off whatever and multiplying the potential injury.

Peter Hambilton would be my first call. There doesn't seem to be much he doesn't know about Hymers old or new. http://www.friendlyhippo.co.uk/hymerdirect/aboutus.html

If you look in the conversions section he shows customisation with seatbelts included or retained so he obviously has experience of it and I can't imagine he'd fit anything that didn't keep it legal whilst increasing safety.

Edit by Jimbo: Hambiltons is in Preston which is hardly in Scotland! I'm sure someone will be along to help or you could make it part of a break en-route to somewhere else.


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## olley (May 1, 2005)

jimbo_hippo said:


> Shane,
> My MOT guy said that the rules are very strict. .


My Brother an MOT tester disagrees, all he has to do is check for wear, and security; he has no way to test their strength apart from giving them a tug.

Olley


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