Has anyone installed these upper seat belt mounting plates in their cab, either the 48-50 or the 51-52?

1948-50 Ford F-100 Shoulder Belt Upper Mounts 48-50

I bought these for my 48 F-1 and I am trying to figure out how to get them into place.




The left side of this picture is supposed to go behind the door jamb and the right side of the part is supposed to go behind the rear window metal frame. This picture shows the passenger side part. The welded in metal boss with the threaded hole is the bolt hole for the upper mount of a three-point seat belt.

My dilemma is that it appears the part will not go into place without cutting the part and re-welding it. OR cutting the cab sheet metal, then placing the part in place and re-welding the cab parts.

My question: Has anyone here installed this part or a similar part in their truck and how did you do it?

I will inquire with Mid-Fifty here tomorrow on the phone on their recommended method of installation. I wanted to see if anyone here has experience with this type of mount.

Thanks ahead of time for you help.

Philip

 

I will be paying attention to this as I am about to buy these for my '52. I hope you'll get a few pictorials of how they managed.

Doc

 

I haven't done any installs on F1s but have done a few on F100s. Even on the F100s you have to hold your mouth just right and drop the plate down from the top to get it to seat behind the body flanges. Have you checked the website to see if there is a .pdf installation file in their library?

 

I got my mechanic to install mine in my 56. I did not see the installation, but he told me he had to "massage"the parts to fit readily. They fit well now and hold the seatbelt in a better position than they were previously mounted. With the first position, (mounted lower) whenever I moved a little to adjust position or look out a side window, they would lock up, very annoying. Now the belts function smoothly and no lock ups.

 

I've installed them on mine. I ordered ones for a 51-52, (I have the 51-52 big back window in my 48) and they sent me the ones you have above. I just cut them to fit, clamped them into place and then welded them.

 

Here is a pic of what I did


It's 1/8" steel
I added a bracket from a spare cab I didn't like the upper bracket but you could make up your own just use a straight edge to keep it inside so that the liner lays flat on the wall
The nut is from the sportsman seat belt kit

 

Phillip

I bought mounts for my 51 F1 from Classic Haulers (now Mid-Fifty). They sent me two right side mounts but I didn't realize it until I went to install them a few years later. I didn't like the way they fit and the shoulder belt mount was too far towards the back of the cab. I wanted the shoulder belt mount more towards the door opening much like a modern vehicle.

So, I cut them up and reassembled them to fit the way I wanted. I welded in reinforcements to the back of the mounts and welded the mounts to the cab.

If I had to do it again, I would buy the mounts and modify them to fit.

Hope this helps

Dan

 

Here's my '51 F4 pics for the narrower brackets. This may not help you since the back window is wider. My buddy welded them in for me as I had not yet learned to weld back in 2012.

 

Here are mine from my 49 F1 (painted to match the patina of the rest of the truck). They did need "massaged" but overall I like them very much.

 

I fabricated mine but they are probably much thicker and stronger than most modern cars. I've looked at many in the wrecking yard and they tend to be pretty flimsy - like 18 ga metal with 6 or 8 spot welds along each edge. I think most of us here make them much more stout than they need or should be. Our trucks have no crumple zone, the frame rails extend all the way to the front bumper, some of us box the frame rails making them even stronger and stiffer. In a head on collision my whole truck will stop instantly and the shoulder strap is going to slice me in half like a cheese slicer. But still I suppose that's better than hitting the all-steel dash.

 

When you say "massaged" how much and what specifically did you do? I will have to trim them, but once that is done, How did you get them to fit into place. The window side needs to go behind the frame and the door side needs go behind the door frame. How did you fit them in?

Philip

 

You just drop it in from the top......

 

is anybody else offering a solution for this other than mid-fifty?
contemplating trying to make my own or just buy a kit.

also, would be interested to see where/how attachment points are mounted in the floor.

 

I made my own. To me an important part to the installation is to be sure that the forward edge of the plate is firmly jammed into the B pillar such that the load is resisted by the stronger pillar. My plate is inserted behind the horizontal supports and then tacked in place. I could not find a picture of my lower mount. I used an angle bracket which is thru bolted through the floor with large thick washers (I made my washers out of 1/4 inch plate 3"in diameter.

 

I, too, purchased these seat belt brackets about ten years ago for my '53 F500. When I received them, I tried every which way I could to get them positioned, but NOTHING worked. I put them on a shelf and forgot about them until last summer. I was walking past the shelf and decided to see what I'd have to do to get them installed. I picked up the driver side bracket and slid it into place without a hitch. I tried it several times to see if it was a fluke, but it fit every time. I then tried the passenger side and it fell into place, as well. Dunno.

My only complaint when installing them is that they thought they would help us out by pre-drilling and tapping the brackets. That helpful step caused a lot of measuring and remeasuring and remeasuring again to have the holes align correctly. It would have been better to let the end user align, drill and tap the brackets in one swell foop.

Because I was trying to make it work as fabricated, it took me the better part of a day to install them, but the end result was fine.