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Rear shoulder belts

Cornflake

NAXJA Forum User
On my '89, it only has rear lap belts, which with the kids don't make me the most comfortable. How easy/hard is it to do rear shoulder belts? Any write-ups or pics of this being done on someones rig? Thanks...
 
From what I hear, the dealer used to carry a conversion kit, but it has since been discontinued. Even when they did carry them, they would only sell them to "authorized installers".
All the rear shoulder belt setup consists of diffrent is a nut welded onto the body where the top anchor goes. I gave my wife the option of me doing that of getting an HO several years ago.....her DD is now a 94 and the 89 is my new trail rig.

You should be able to find a custom shop somewhere local that can do it, but I got her rig alot cheaper than any shop wanted to do the conversion. Whenever I checked around most places wanted $1000+ and I got her rig for $500.
 
My rig is a '89 also. I got a set of shoulder belts from a newer XJ and put them in mine. The tab for the upper shoulder belt mount was there but I had to weld a nut on a long piece of flat bar to secure it on the back side. And I had to cut a hole in the trim for the recoil part of the belt.

Has worked great and wasn't much work.

Michael
 
How old are your kids?

I know that shoulder belts are safer, but if they are to big to sit in carseats, you will just have to make due.....

My 4 year old daughter is too tall for a carseat, even though she is still okay weight wise. I talked with a representative from WSP and she said that it would be fine for her to ride the back seat of my Jeep with just the lap belt.

If I had shoulder belts back there I would have here in booster like we do with our 94 Chrylser Town & Country.

My son still has to ride in a car seat, but the one I have will fit with either lap or shoulder/lap combos.....

I may end up putting newer XJ belts in mine here soon as mildew has discolored the webbing. Plus newer belts would allow me to run the extender that my wife has for her van, in my Jeep....
 
poorboy_616 said:
How old are your kids?

I know that shoulder belts are safer, but if they are to big to sit in carseats, you will just have to make due.....

My 4 year old daughter is too tall for a carseat, even though she is still okay weight wise. I talked with a representative from WSP and she said that it would be fine for her to ride the back seat of my Jeep with just the lap belt.

If I had shoulder belts back there I would have here in booster like we do with our 94 Chrylser Town & Country.

My son still has to ride in a car seat, but the one I have will fit with either lap or shoulder/lap combos.....

I may end up putting newer XJ belts in mine here soon as mildew has discolored the webbing. Plus newer belts would allow me to run the extender that my wife has for her van, in my Jeep....


What does there age/height have to do with a lap or shoulder belt?

When I did this mod my youngest kid was in a rear facing car seat (less than 1 year old) now my oldest is well out of any car seat (11 years old).

I can't see any reason why I would want my kids in a lap only belt instead of a shoulder belt? And no matter what anyone from WSP says I want my kids in the safest seatbelt car seat combo I can find!!

Michael
 
I have the dealer installed rear shoulder belts. I could take pictures of the setup for you, but pretty much what 2xtreme says covered it.
 
anyone know if the tabs are present in an '86?
 
Thanks for the replies. It's my almost 2 almost 3 year old son that I was thinking about. His current car seat, he has outgrown the restraint sytem that it had and most booster seats use your vehicles seat belts as the restraint. I just think a lap belt won't cut it. It sounds like an easy conversion, I'll have to look into what parts cost. Thanks again for the quick responses.
 
2xtreme said:
What does there age/height have to do with a lap or shoulder belt? It has to do with carseat fitment more than the child wearing the belt. After a certain age/height, the child should be in a booster seat, which requires a shoulder belt.

When I did this mod my youngest kid was in a rear facing car seat (less than 1 year old) now my oldest is well out of any car seat (11 years old). My daugher should be using a Booster in Jeep, but without the shoulder belt, she must sit as far back in the seat as possible, with the belt snugly across her hips. BTW, she uses a Booster seat while riding in mom's van

I can't see any reason why I would want my kids in a lap only belt instead of a shoulder belt? And no matter what anyone from WSP says I want my kids in the safest seatbelt car seat combo I can find!! Thats why I am going to put shoulder belts in my 87 when I get the money to do so. Right now, the lap belt will have to do

Michael

Comments in Bold
 
poorboy_616 said:
Comments in Bold

I TOTALLY miss interpreted your first post. Sorry.

I have no idea when the tabs were first introduced in the XJ. It would be relatively easy to remove both the upper and lower inside panels on either side of the cargo area and verify that they are there before getting parts.

I got my seatbelts from the junkyard. But you can also get seatbelts or harnesses aftermarket as another alternative if either you don't have a local junk yard or you don't have the mounting points for the stock 3 point belts.

Michael
 
I did the mod on my 89 a few years back......same as described. Someday I'll finish my writeup......
 
2xtreme said:
I TOTALLY miss interpreted your first post. Sorry.

I have no idea when the tabs were first introduced in the XJ. It would be relatively easy to remove both the upper and lower inside panels on either side of the cargo area and verify that they are there before getting parts.

I got my seatbelts from the junkyard. But you can also get seatbelts or harnesses aftermarket as another alternative if either you don't have a local junk yard or you don't have the mounting points for the stock 3 point belts.

Michael

Mistakes happen.....

I wonder if the 2dr. has the same tabs??

I guess I will take the trim out and see......
 
I know at least in TN any child under 8 and 80 lbs has to at least be in a booster seat. The problem with the XJ rear seat (in the US) is no headrest, so in just a base booster there is no head support. My 7 year old rides in a carseat with a full height back and a 5 point harness in my 89 and uses a diffrent seat in the wife's 94, which uses the stock shoulder belt. Carseats can be found that use a 5 point harness and is compatable with only a lap belt.

In my view, the major flaw in the overall design is the lack of head support on the rear seat of not on renix, but all US XJs....not the lack of a rear shoulder belt.
 
The 2 door rigs don't have a door pillar behind the rear seat like the 4-doors have, so if there's a tab, it's going to be on the roof. Try to find a 2-door with the belts and see where they're connected from the factory.

Entertainment: I've pulled 2 '70 Dodge Coronets and a '69 Charger apart. All of them had mounting hardware for a rear seat shoulder harness, yet I have never seen rear seat shoulder harnesses in ANY car built before about 1980.
 
tbburg said:
The 2 door rigs don't have a door pillar behind the rear seat like the 4-doors have, so if there's a tab, it's going to be on the roof. Try to find a 2-door with the belts and see where they're connected from the factory.

Entertainment: I've pulled 2 '70 Dodge Coronets and a '69 Charger apart. All of them had mounting hardware for a rear seat shoulder harness, yet I have never seen rear seat shoulder harnesses in ANY car built before about 1980.

Foward thinking??
 
Yes, it can, and should be done. I did the same for the same reasons, the lap belts are worhtless.

Just read an article on child injuries and they concluded that many times injuries are fatal because they tend to be internal, lower abdoemn type, which dont immediately present, and thus are not treated until late in the event. These injuries are the result of lap belts that are too high on the child.

There are some booster seats that have thier own, 5 point, belt system rather than using the vecile belts. I dont like the seats that simply realign the belts because it is a kluge. It is not the best possible solution and error prone. Nothing will perform like a good 5 or 6 point harness. I am in the market for one of these boosters now.

The lower mounting tabs are in your vehicle, a simple bolt-in. Go to a junk yard and buy some good looking belts, check for cuts, scratches, stretching, mold/mildew. The upper mounts are tack welded in, and could be drilled at the welds to remove. The alternative to removing the ones in the junker, is to make your own. You can measure whats needed because your vehicle has the holes already there. The belt mounting hole with threads, and two bolts holes forward and aft. Note that there is no mount in the C pillar in the 4 door, as someone said. It is in the sheet metal along the upper horizontal piece along top of the window. Then all thats needed is some cutting along the bottom of the rear window to feed the belt through, and some cutting in the plastic trim. You might want to get the two plastic trim pieces that feed the belt up to look nice.

Easy job, maybe a couple hours with the tools. Hardest part is the upper mounting plate, either fabricating one or removing the donor part.
 
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