gohawks

Well I finally got around today to installing shoulder belts for the rear seats of my 1988 4Runner. Thanks to Waskilly for advice and help. He promised that even an idiot like me could do it and he was right!

Pretty simple to do, with the exception of starting to crossthread one of the bolts . The instructions say you have to take the seats out and take the side panels off but its not necessary. You can access everything by just flipping the bottom of the seat up, loosening the bolt, popping a couple of panel rivets off and sliding old lap belt out, putting new lap belt in, replacing panel, tighten bolt and you got it made for the new lap belts. The shoulder belts come with new lap belts because the lap and shoulder belts have to latch together and the original lap belts do not have the necessary notch in them for this to happen.

The shoulder belts are even easier to install, they are a no brainer.

The part # is 73003-89101 I think I paid $75 a piece. I had several dealerships tell me they don't make one of the sides anymore, but that is not good information. The parts for both sides are EXACTLY the same. So if they try to tell you that you cannot get one of the sides they are mistaken.

I know most of you won't worry about shoulder belts for the back seat because you have other family vehicles. I take my two young kids from time to time in my Runner so its a little more piece of mind for me, even though I know it isn't as safe as a new vehicle.

If you got any questions give me a shout.

Thanks again Waskilly!

waskillywabbit

iTrader: (-1)

You are most welcome!

1985 4Runner

Great info, I have plans to install them on mine as soon as I can get the parts, Thanks!

gohawks

Maybe I can get a couple of pics up tomorrow, but I have dial up at home at it takes a loooooooooooooong time mess with pics. I'll see what I can do for those interested in the rear shoulder belts.

86Original

Have those pics yet?

gohawks

No I don't yet sorry. I had a busier weekend than planned. I flushed the radiator, changed the oil, and finally got around to taking the grill off and putting the "V6" and "Toyota" badges back on and ran out of time. For me all those things take more time than they probably take most of you.

Let me see what I can do in the next couple of days. Track practice has also started so I am busier than usual during the week.

V_Runner

i should do this becuse i always take my bro and firends in my 89 with top off to go to the beach alot during the summer time...maybe i should invest in these....also living in MA where seat belts are the law, cops like to pull me over just to check for that...so if i do that they won't stop me...yay...can you get pics..plz...

RustBucket

iTrader: (1)

does the shoulder part attach to the roll bar or what? I can't quite envision how they would work with the top off...

waskillywabbit

iTrader: (-1)

The shoulder belts for the 1st gens are the lap belts too...you remove the original lap belts and replace them w/ a new lap belt that has a slot in the end for the shoulder belt to attach to. The shoulder belt bolts into the TOP inside hole on the roll bar on each side. They are simple to install and work just fine w/ my boys car seats.

I'll try and take some pictures tonight as I put mine in the 87 now that I have it to daily drive and can just use the 85 as a trail rig. I think they are like $80-100 each at the dealer...and yes, it is (2) of the same part number as they will swap from side to side...they are not side specific.

If you want some, contact strap22 on here (Toyota of Dallas)...he'll do you right.

Like I said, I'll try to post up some pics tonight.

gohawks

sorry I didn't get to the pics guys, I'm on dial up at home (hard to upload pics on dial up) and had to re-install windows last night, not to mention that I coach track and we have started practice so I haven't had much time.

My apologies.

86Original

Did either of you get pics yet? Sounds like if you have a DLX it won't work, since the lap belts are not in the side panel. Anyone know if there is a blue SR5 getting parted out???

waskillywabbit

iTrader: (-1)

I don't have any inside panels in right now, so I can get some pics. The lower belt is just like the original one but with a special slot in the end for the should belt part to clip into...so I imagine if your lower belts now attach and retract, it is the same mechanism, just mounted in a different spot.

I'll try to remember and take some pics, but it won't be tonight.

Gonzo4Runner

I changed the seat belts in the rear of my 88, and like others said, it was easy to do.

The Toyota lap/shoulder combo for the 1st gen 4runner seems to be a secondary thought on their part. I bought them, but did not like them. The shoulder strap has to be manually adjusted, and will not allow much movement (if properly adjusted). Only the lap belt section has an automatic retractor.

I bought some others from www.gotbelts.com. There were a little cheaper than the Toyotas, but work like the front belts, the buckle will slide on the belt and both lap and shoulder tensions are set by a single retractor. They bolt directly into the mounting locations for the existing lap belt and the extra locations on the roll bar. (Federal regulations specify the bolt size for seat belt mounting, so they are all the same) The retractor goes behind the back seat mounted on the lower part of the roll bar. The color (gray in my case) matches well. This is the page for the specific part: http://www.gotbelts.com/re12pubuendl.html

I like them better, not for the price, but because they are easier to use.

PS.
If you try this vendor, the belt comes with everything needed to mount it in an SR5. The extra hardware is not needed.

86Original

Hey Gonzo,

Awesome beta (as they say in the climbing world)!!




I'll be buying them and posting pics if they work w/o having to have the SR5 panel for the retractor. !!!

86Original

Looked at my rig some more and realized that the retractor mounts on the lower roll bar, as you said. Thus I could just order one like you did. So I ordered a set. A LOT cheaper than getting it from Toyota, if you can get it from them. I'll finally feel like the back-seat passengers are as safe as the front seat passengers!!

86Original

Installed the rear shoulder belts from "GotBelts.com"/ "Seatbeltpros.com" on Saturday. Ended up taking the "electric blue" belts instead of the "blue" because the "blue" is backordered until after I go to Moab. I got the 12" buckle piece and removed the plastic sleeve. The 20" would be waayy too long.

Had to cut off 2ft of webbing and re-sew on the stop pin (inside the winder) so the belts wouldn't be way too long. Took about an hour to figure out that I could just use regular thread on the sewing machine and just run it back and forth about 10 times. Ended up taking 2.5 hours instead of 45 minutes.

They work nice now! Pics to come.

Gonzo4Runner

That is a good tip for dealing with the extra slack. I was wondering what I could do.

I just left that slack in. After installation, I put my kid in the back seat and fastened him in. Without him in the seat that extra looked bad, but once he was in, there was tension on the belt (no slack), so I figured that I should not mess it up.

Again, I think this is a better setup than the factory setup. Only take care with crowding things in the back around the retractors.

Gonzo

DudeBud

old thread i know... any pics though? looking at putting shoulder belts in both my 1st gens

4runnerx3

Not mine, saved as a reference.

4runnerx3

Here's mine, did it today. It took about 30 minutes. These are 4runner front seat belts, the original bolts screwed in the roll bar.