Safety issue: S14 seat belts on S13

[BGdude]

As many of you have done the conversion, the installation requires the make of a bracket. How safe is that in case of an accident? I'm really sceptical that a simple bracket may hold the belt in hard crash. Has anyone have any input on this? Thanks.

[whiterps13]

its nice to know other people think about the safety aspect of modifying a car. i was in a bad accident when i was a younger, and dont trust cheap safety equipment. im not going to use ebay racing seats or "nismo" patched harnesses for the simple fact that i want to live if i get in an accident.

[skydragoness]

From what I understand, Canadian market S13's use regular seatbelts. Perhaps it would be easier to source the parts needed from Canada? The automatic belts are annoying, but at least they are lifetime warrantied from Nissan.

[BGdude]

I would love to get a hold of a S13 Canadian spec seat belts, but I dont know how and where. I have the S14 seat belts, but when I though about the installation, I became very sceptical of the bracket deal. As far as Nissan and their life time warranty, yes it does exist, but the dealers are messed up. My driver's side seat belt is stuck, which I actually dont mind because its like manual now, but when I went to the dealer they changed the relay and it still didnt work. The mechanic and his manager were not too happy to serve such an "old" POS in their opinion and blamed that because I have an engine swap that we messed up the electrical system and that he wont work on it any longer. If any Canadians are reading this and can help me locate S13 seat belts, please let me know! Thanks!

[Jookmasta]

i wasnt aware of this lifetime warranty........from where was this sourced?

[One_Love]

ask right herehttp://www.son240sx.ca/forum/

[BGdude]

Thanks mate, will sure do!

[BGdude]

Nissan warrants your seat belts for life time. It's in the owner's manual.

[BGdude]

I'm with you on that one! I dont care how much speed and looks I have if I dont make it in one piece in case of an accident. I still wonder if anyone that has done the S14 conversion has had a hard accident and if the bracket held up.

[tonynalli]

personally i love the automatic seatbelts. i have the timing down just eright from when i turn the key and open the door so i wont get nailed by the clip. thats another reason why i love teh 240's. you dont have to waste time worrying about the seat belt.

[KDashy]

personally i love the automatic seatbelts. i have the timing down just eright from when i turn the key and open the door so i wont get nailed by the clip. thats another reason why i love teh 240's. you dont have to waste time worrying about the seat belt.

Arent you supposed to clip the bottom belt part anyways?

"Motorized shoulder restraints require active latching of a lap belt which often is unsecured because of misplaced confidence in the role of the automatic shoulder belt. Testing of Japanese cars showed that drivers readily and routinely forget to latch the lap belt. On impact the occupant "submarines" the belt and the g load on the body is focused on the neck as it contacts the belt."

[SeVa-S13]

personally i love the automatic seatbelts. i have the timing down just eright from when i turn the key and open the door so i wont get nailed by the clip. thats another reason why i love teh 240's. you dont have to waste time worrying about the seat belt.

Thank you! Finally, someone who appreciates something that facillitates laziness and doesn't b*tch about something so trivial.

[BGdude]

If automatic seat belts were such a great invention, they would be still available in today's cars. Frankly, I think they were made to appeal to the "lazy" buyer. I mean, its just so hard to reach with one hand and waste a second or two to clip on the belt. They are annoying and do not serve the purpose, that is to make it convenient.

P.S. If you were referring to me, no I am not bitching and I think the safety issue of swapping belts should be brought under attention.

[BaliLover]

I called my local dealership trying to get my auto seatbelts fixed under the lifetime warranty and they claimed they didn't know of any such "lifetime warranty" and reffered me to a Nissan of America phone number. I called it and was once again told there was no such thing, and after taking my VIN told me my car also didn't have any service recalls available.

[BGdude]

Dude, that's a major BS! Trust me, the seat belts are under lifetime warranty as I went to the dealer and they changed pretty much the whole driver's assembly for free. If I was you, go back there and speak to a manager because they shouldnt be giving you the run around. If that doesnt work, I would call Nissan of America and talk to a manager as well and complain about the dealer. If you have your car's manual, its right there in black and white. I'll try to scan it for you to have it as reference.

[BGdude]

P.S. If you want to wait a little while, I'll swap my belts to manual soon and you can have the whole driver and passanger side assemblies, they are practically brand new. I won't charge you anything, just pay the shipping.

[vvaffle]

I don't really mind the automatic seatbelts that much, but they don't really save time. You still have to reach over and buckle the lap belt. I have no idea about the whole s14 belt thing.

[nab911]

My friend at nissan said there is a recall on the s13 auto seatbelts that will get replaced with manuals for free if you bring it in... may just be certain years though.

[skydragoness]

I think the idea is (and why Nissan did away with them in 94/95) is *because* they are so troublesome and have issues they are under that lifttime warranty. I always chuckle when i see a b13 for sale on autotrader and they say one of the belts does't work. It's a free fix because Nissan goofed with them. Balilover, i hope you have your owner's manual, perhaps you can get a scan of it online.

[phuphyter]

My friend at nissan said there is a recall on the s13 auto seatbelts that will get replaced with manuals for free if you bring it in... may just be certain years though.

Can you provide more info on this auto-> manual recall? I found this recall information, but has no mention about manual seatbelts. http://www.autosite.com/conten.../4047
Modified by phuphyter at 8:56 PM 10/21/2005

[doainwpg]

easiest way to get canadian seatbelts might be to talk to a canadian (like me) and get them to pull & ship them. or you could order them from a canadian dealer, i can't find the address right now but there's one in vancouver that's pretty cheap & free shipping's always nice. or try contacting a wrecker and see if they'll ship to you, http://www.teamauto.mb.ca is a local wrecker and i know they've shipped stuff out in the past.

[BGdude]

Thank you for the information, I have also posted on the Ontario 240SX forum, but no one has for sale at this time. I'll try the link you forwarded, however is there anyway perhaps that you can locate some? I'll would greatly appreciate it!

[slipnfall]

I made no sort of bracket to install S14 belts into my S13. The lower fixed portion of the belt bolted right where the original retractor was. I don't feel any less safe: the belt is snug with no slack in it, so I don't see the problem. I did have to mangle the carpet a little, but it's not immediately noticable unless you look right at it. If I'm involved in a crash with enough force to pull that bolt out, I have bigger problems to worry with(like their bumper kissing my left arm, or rear end!). I left my C-pillar cover off to avoid using a longer bolt, so no problems there either. If I can pull on the belt and have it engage, then it surely will in a crash.

Just my 0.02... Obviously I don't know what/where this bracket is used for...

[BGdude]

Can you post pics of your installation, just curious how you have done it. Thank you!

[slipnfall]

Sure, I'll have 'em to you later tonight, possibly tomorrow(I'm at work, and they're on my home PC). You have an email address I can send them to?

[slipnfall]

Well I take that back: I *did* use a brack of sorts. I took the original retractor 'box', and removed the spring mechanism(you have to drill out the rivets). Then I removed the belt guide(the plastic part), and slid it over the belt. Then I bolted the end of the belt to the bracket(and to the car), and the bolt on the other side. The below pic's should help explain what I mean.

Below is the original retractor with the belt still installed. Drill out the rivets, cut the belt, and remove that plastic shrowd: you'll re-use it.

[slipnfall]

Pull the S14 belt end through the shrowd... You don't *have* to do this, but it cleans it up a bit. You'll noticed I used a screwdriver and mechanic's wire to pull it through, because it is a very tight fit.

[slipnfall]

Lastly, remove the retractor box, and keep the bracket. You can see the belt isn't 100% straight, but if it should rotate any, it would only result in about 1/4" of slack in the belt.

[slipnfall]

I suppose the main reason I did this was because otherwise it looks like below(just a hole in the carpet. I know this probably isn't the best method, but like I said I don't feel any less safe. It would probably be worse if you just bolted it straight to the frame. I would think that bolt on the other end of the bracket would help distribute *some* of the load(obviously not 50%, but it's some).

Perhaps a better way would be to drill and tap a hole in this bracket, for the seatbelt end?

::edit:: doh, forgot the picture...::edit::

[slipnfall]

I forgot to add, I'm pretty sure I used the bolt included with the S14 belt end: just because it was longer than two ones for the retractor bracket.