I've been a ford nut for ages, have had a few of these trucks over the years and I always come back for another after my bank account has had a chance to recoup from the last one :P BUT- I have never had one with shoulder belts. What year did they put shoulder belts in? I've had a 73' F250 4x4, a 73' F250 2x4, a 74' F250 4x4, and 3 75' F250's 4X4 and I never had shoulder belts.

Soooooo, I just bought another 75' 4x4, went to license it and it was then I realized that the VIN plate was removed from the driver door, also the cowl tag was ripped off. This led to my needing our local mounties to do a vin investigation. The state trooper found my Vin on the frame (matched vin on title, YAY) But there was no trace of the Vin on the cab or any of the factory safety plates. It wasn't until after I left the cop shop that I realized my truck has shoulder belts. So this got me thinking that somebody has put a later model cab on my truck and removed the Vin because it didn't match. What year did they start putting them in? And is there a way to have the factory plates remade? IE Cowl tag, vin plate etc...

Frameoff

 

I believe they came in at 77. That seems to be the cutoff for a lot of things, gas door, new engines, grills, etc

 

It was actually Aug of 75, at the beginning of the 76 model year, they started installing them.

mike

 

Aren't there pre drilled/threaded holes in the earlier years '73-'75??

 

I have a 75' without shoulder belts and a 76' with them. This leads me to think that 76' was the first year since all the Vin numbers on both of mine match.

I don't know about having factory Vin tags made but you could get a door tag made at your local trophy shop.

 

Talk to the DMV or local equivalent about the title and VIN tag situation. I have had a VIN tag issued for a trailer b4 but I don't know what the situation is for vehicles.

 

Nope, nothing...

Marty

 

I have a 73 and a 75 without shouder harnesses. I have had a 76 with shoulder harness. I would say they came out with them sometime in 75 or 76. I was pulled over by Cal Hwy Patrol in my 73 as it had the 76/77 grill mounted on it. The officer thought he would give me a citation for not wearing my seat belt and was surprised to find a lap belt with no shoulder belt. Hmmmmmmmm Yup, I'd say 76 was the first year.
Hope this helps, Tim

 

How are the shoulder belts bolted on? Could they be added to an earlier model?

I have a 74 F100 I'm rebuilding from the frame up and I would like to install a set.

 

my 74 owners manual lists them as an option

 

Any one got any Ideas for N69MF I also have a '74 f100 i would like to get shoulder harnesses in but just bolting em to the inside of the pillar doesnt seem to secure. The metal is not very thick. The last thing I want is to get in an accident and yank the shoulder harness bracket out and have it nail me in the back of the head or elsewhere.

 

Could you not get a heavy piece of properly contoured sheet metal and weld it into the inside of the pillar creating a large holding surface to mount a solid anchor point? And do it esthetically?

For instance, conceptually, they way "eyes" are bonded onto inflatables (zodiacs).
. . . just a thought.

 

I was wondering about the pre drilled holes also. I have seen in the owners manuals, optional shoulder harness. In my 73 crew there is protrusions in the pillar right where a shoulder harness would go.

 

My 74 F-250 4x4 has holes drilled in the pillars on both sides. I would eventually like to install the shoulder belts as well.

 

Thats interesting...My 74 F100 shows no signs of being ready for shoulder harnesses. I even double checked to make sure there was not just a plate over 'em and to make sure im not crazy lol.