Hi All,

Now that I'm home and driving my truck again, I have a question about a couple of safety upgrades:

1. Door handles. Is there anything wrong with flipping the interior door handles to face up? That way, you'd push them to open the door and if a passenger grabbed it during an "OH $%#^" moment, they'd be less likely to open the door unintentionally.

2. 3 point belts. Point 1 (retractor) and point 3 (female buckle) bolt to the floor in the stock seatbelt locations. How would I anchor the point 2 (shoulder strap) to the cab with enough strength to hold up in a collision?

I'm also thinking of a way to remove the drop bracket for the steering column and pushing the column tight against the bottom of the dash. This is more for comfort than safety as my EMT background tells me that being impaled through the head is not measurably better than being impaled through the chest. I would like to get the wheel out of my face though.

 

3-point seatbelts: This is doing it right:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-complete.html

There are other, similar threads in the archives, use the search function.

 

Thanks! I found a few results through searching, just looking for the agreed "best way". This looks like it. Much appreciated.

 

You’re on your own with the column issue, afraid there’s no easy solution. Though I have a large gut, it’s somewhat ameliorated by the fact that I’m not a tall person, so I can live with the stock wheel and column.

Where in Cali are you? A few of us are planning (tentatively) on a mini get together in Oakhurst, above Fresno close to Yosemite. Absolutely nothing firmed up at this time, we don’t even know how many other members may be close enough to attend/make it worthwhile.

 

I'm in Los Angeles but I'm recently retired and always up for a road trip.

 

Even though it wasn't mentioned, I think an overlooked safety item is the lack of a light for driving in reverse at night. I added an LED lamp to the rear bumper and put it on a switch so that I can see at night and so people know I'm backing even during the day time. The switch has a light on it that tells me when it's switched on so I'm not driving around all day with a light on the back.

 

Dumpster....lots of information is here on all of your questions. Before I give my opinion, keep in mind that I am in Bakersfield, on the road to the northern reaches. Let me know if you come up this way....and IBuzzard, also please keep me in the loop regarding a get-together. I enjoy driving the F and you never know whether we might join you!!
1. You can place the door handles any way you like, however, my opinion is that they are more likely to get pushed in an emergency as to get pulled. Maybe take them off? Actually, I think its a far-fetched scenario.
2. Seat belts...I like mine that I got from Juliano's. They are also helpful with information. They sell reinforcements that bolt under the floor pan (I welded mine in). The reinforcements are radiused at the edges and, as a result, less likely to tear through the metal under stress, which I think is wise. The shoulder point bolts to the B-pillar metal behind the door. That metal is radiused and embossed so I suspect that its pretty strong....certainly stronger than having no shoulder restraint. However, I did have a "spare" cab that I was able to rob those pieces from and spot welded it over the existing B-pillar metal in my cab, thereby doubling the thickness and strength of the metal. The belts, mounts and retractors work well.
3. It certainly is possible to shorten your steering column. Research it here or ask questions if you're not familiar with how to do so. You've got to shorten the column tube, the shift tube and the steering shaft...all equal amounts so it can be tricky. I don't believe that its safe to cut and weld a steering shaft so I cut mine off at the end and had it re-machined to a "double-D" profile and used a matching U-joint and eliminated the rag joint. I swapped my column for a '78 tilt column and was able to eliminate 4 inches, moving the steering wheel much closer to the dash. Consider a dished steering wheel to move the hub further away from your internal organs, however, you will loose some of the space you gained if you go with a deep dish wheel.
Let us know if you need more information and keep us posted on your progress.

 

You can sure shorten a 1965-66 2WD steering shaft that way. Any 4WD though - other than 1966 F100 4WD - is quite a bit different from the 2WD trucks. Gemmer the Impaler is designed so that everything from the threads that hold the steering wheel on to the worm inside of the steering gear is all one piece. Not sure if it would like to be pushed a few inches closer to the dash, either, without altering the mount location of the gear at least slightly. It seems by just moving the column upward it would put the steering shaft in a potential bind and the bearings would probably not be lovin' it. Look at 3524 both before and after the box itself. It's all one piece.

 

FWIW, I switch my door handles to where you push on the handle, then push out with your elbow on the door, maybe it's unsafe... idk, but in the 10-15+ yrs I've had it, it never opened by accident, and first time passengers get a quick class on pushing the door handle THEN pushing out with their elbow. I also clocked my window cranks to where they are in the slightly forward position when closed, and not hitting my knee or vice versa..

Oh, and yes, open to any and all for a get together if it works, maybe the 21st or 28th?

 

is should give an approximate location

With the seat all the way back the retractor is a close fit.