Rear bench seat belt fitting

[weetchus]

Hi all.
Happy New Year to you all.
Wondering if anyone has fitted rear bench seat belts (side facing not forward facing) and if so, please share a pic of the brackets / fittings you used.
I have one central large bolt with a rear backing plate. The plate is slotted under the rear wheel arch just like the captive nut plates for the tub time down brackets. But there is only one. This would work for one half of the belt, but then there is nothing for the other half of the lap belt.
The below pic seems to be a good way to achieve what I want, but some pics from you could be great guidance.

Screenshot_20230129-085949.png (1.02 MiB) Viewed 1250 times

[AR4412]

Hi Alex,

I haven't fitted seatbelts to a Series with bench seats, but at work I have fitted a few inward facing seats and lap belts to Defender vans for customers who can't afford real Station Wagons.

The seatbelt plates that come with the kits we use look like this.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/282747113478

When fitting a pair of seats to each side there isn't enough room to centrally fit a pair of these plates to the underside of the wheelbox as there is a strengthening rib in the way, so I tend to fit both stalks to the inside of the seats using one central mounting plate, with the belts fitted to the outside of the seats. It looks like the belts marked 2 in your pic, but reversed, and mounted like those marked 3, using just three bolts and plates. You could, I guess, do this with the belts on a bench seat instalment if using lap belts.

Regards,

[weetchus]

Thanks Neil. Good info.
So nobody in the group rides with anyone in the back?
Surely it's not legal to drive with passengers with no rear seatbelts?

[AR4412]

Hi Alex,

The most I've had in the back of mine was six.( Shhhh! Don't tell anyone!) Oh, and a barbeque, and with the aid of camouflage poles jubilee clamped to the canopy frame, three canoes on the roof. Well, it was a sunny weekend, and Steinhuder Meer was calling.

I don't think the MOT law here has changed, but there was no requirement for side facing seats in a Series to be fitted with belts. Haven't had rear seats in my Lightweight for about a decade, so not 100% on the rules these days and would need to check.

Regards,

[Ridgy]

Definitely not a requirement in the UK Neil, my 90 is a van converted to bench seats and it's never had seat belts in the rear.

[AR4412]

Because I'm posh I've got a proper CSW. But, I don't think that the seatbelts in the rear have ever been checked on the MOT, as they're always where I leave them stowed behind the seats when I pick it up from the test.

Regards,

[Loulou]

Hi Alex

"Thanks Neil. Good info.
So nobody in the group rides with anyone in the back?
Surely it's not legal to drive with passengers with no rear seatbelts?"

Strictly prohibited in France if your vehicle only has 3 seats on the owner's documents, which is the case with my FFR (and even if seat no. 3 of an LWT FFR is in the back, etc.) and so the placement of my 2 batteries in the back and seat n°3 in the central position, bureaucracy, bureaucracy…

For GS in France, they are registered at the MoT as a utility vehicle and therefore 3 seats in the front, bureaucracy, bureaucracy...

If not respected, it is refusal to the MoT and in the event of an accident it is 20 years to break stones at the bottom of the mine...

Regards.
Looloo

[weetchus]

Thanks all.
When I used to travel in the back of the Lightweight as a younger boy/man there were never any belts. I obviously want to enjoy using the truck safely with my wife and two kids (9 and 5 years old). Making it safer for them is a priority. I imagine inertia belts in the front is the best bet, but the middle seat will probably only take a lap belt. I worry about this middle passenger impaling themselves on the gear stick!
The rear, fitted with a belt, even if sideways must be safer than without? I don't want to install forward facing rear seats unless I have to.
I'm thinking my wife can ride in the back while the kids sit upfront.

[stanfonj]

From the government website:
When a child can travel without a car seat
A child aged 3 or older can travel in a back seat without a child car seat and without a seat belt if the vehicle doesn’t have one.

and:

If your vehicle doesn’t have seat belts
If your vehicle doesn’t have seat belts, for example it’s a classic car, you aren’t allowed to carry any children under 3 years old in it.

Children over 3 are only allowed to sit in the back seats.

These rules only apply if your vehicle was originally made without seat belts.

This last paragraph is interesting. My GS was registered as a 7 seater. The four seats in the back don't have belts. However, if your lightweight was only registered as a 3 seater and you then add 4 seats in the back, then what? I would imagine in that case you would have to get it registered as a 7 seater, and get belts fitted.

And another section:
Fitting a child car seat
You must only use a child car seat if your car’s seat belt has a diagonal strap, unless the seat is either:

specifically designed for use with a lap seat belt
fitted using ISOFIX anchor points
You must also:

deactivate any front airbags before fitting a rear-facing baby seat in a front seat
not fit a child car seat in side-facing seats

[weetchus]

Thanks for this info Stanfonj.
I'm going to see what I can do to fit lap belts on the benches.