I want to run lapbelts on the trail. Has anyone added lapbelts and how did you mount them? I have seen the mounting kits from mastercraft and others and not sure if that's a good solution. I will keep the regular belts for the road so I can't use the same mounts. What have others done?

Drill a hole in the floor and use a nice size grade 8 fender washer and grade 8 hardware and you should be good to go. If you are really paranoid you could weld in some plate into the body but I don't think that is really necessary. I would not use the stock mounts, I would reserve those for the stock belt system.

That is what the mastercraft mounting system is. Can the floor board really handle the stress load? I am sure it would handle flops but what if some day i really take a tumble? Or is that where i need to upgrade once again. Does anyone have experience with just lapbelts and taking a tumble?

Just my opinion, but that's what the stock belt is for. If you are going to modify a belt for wheeling, why not go with a 5 point harness? Get upside down in a roll over and that two peice won't keep your torso in the cab. I've seen some folks killed in HMMWV rollovers wearing a two piece lap belt. Just my .02

Are you kidding me? How many times do you get in and out of your truck when wheeling and helping others. I don't do competitions. I am just tired of the stock belts getting in my way. I have heard from others that the stock belt doesn't do jack anyway when on your side or upside down.
thnx any other thoughts?

Been following this thread all afternoon, and the thing that kept creeping into my mind was...why not mount them with the stock belts. Stack them. Get a longer bolt to compesate for the lap belt bracket and there shouldnt be any risk to the integrity of either restraint. Am I missing something here? Think about it, the stock belt mount locations are already in the ideal location to do their job, shouldnt the lap belt be put in the optimum position as well?? Learn me something here guys!

~Darin <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/baby.gif" alt="" />

I have been thinking about that as well. I have to take a better look at the current belt setup. The nice thing about the floormount kit is the belts are removable so you could quickly pull them out when your back to DD.

Just for the record, the lap belts are illegal on the street, they are not DOT approved, and even a five-point is illegal. I would not rely on a bolt with a washer. I would take a 4" X 4" x .250 piece of steel, drill a hole in the center and use that in place of a washer on the bottom of the pan!!!! Radis the corners, that will help it from shearing the sheet metal if it is stressed (rollover)!!!!!!

Ok. Maybe a 5 point is overkill. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/pfft.gif" alt="" /> Of course, it's your call. I've driven a M998 (HMMWV) at work with 2 piece lap belts for two years. They recently switched to 3 points. Yes, two piece were slightly more convenient to put on, but on the other hand, I have gotten used to latching the three point with one hand, something you can't do with two points. I've seen two fatal roll overs with two piece lap belts. Both times the occupant's head was crushed by the pillar (cab) as the vehicle rolled. Two things that are different about these situations than yours 1) no doors on the vehicle 2)occupants were wearing kevlar helmets. Doors may help to keep you in, but all the force that is rolling your vehicle is also trying to shove you out the window. Personally I am glad to have a three point.

I've been thinking about this a lot lately too. Safety for my family and I is paramount. The problem I see with the stock belts is that, in a slow speed rollover or crash the belts don't lock up, so they wouldn't hold you firmly in place. Still a chance of flopping out the window or something and getting crushed. I was planning on going with jsut a lap belt for the time, but the 4-point harnesses they have look pretty good and don't look like they would take too much time to get in and out of. The other thing I was thinking about was window nets to help keep your arms and head inside in case of a rollover. Just thoughts I have as I keep thinking about this.

4-point harness, everything gets buckled at the same time:


Here is a 3-point retractable that can be locked in place once you hit the dirt, maybe the best of all worlds?