Short seat belts

roblwhitney · 05-13-2020, 07:40 PM

Our 2011 Sightseer has 2 lap belts coming up through the sofa/hide-a-bed. But by the time the belts weave up from the floor through the bed mechanism and the cushions, they are too short to be usable. As a test, we had a 5-yr old neighbor boy try to latch one of the belts. He couldn't.

Is this normal? Is there a remedy (some after-market super-long belts, for example?). My wife and I would like to take the grandkids along on some jaunts, but want them buckled in.

Thanks!

**ThomB** · 05-13-2020, 08:43 PM

Do you have a cabinet under them that you can look up under the sofa? Ours has a metal bar under there. They could be wrapped around that causing them to be short.

akeagle · 05-14-2020, 01:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roblwhitney

Our 2011 Sightseer has 2 lap belts coming up through the sofa/hide-a-bed. But by the time the belts weave up from the floor through the bed mechanism and the cushions, they are too short to be usable. As a test, we had a 5-yr old neighbor boy try to latch one of the belts. He couldn't.

Is this normal? Is there a remedy (some after-market super-long belts, for example?). My wife and I would like to take the grandkids along on some jaunts, but want them buckled in.

Thanks!

I've seen seat belt extenders for sale recently, I think it was WalMart, but surely Amazon has them too. Its a simple extension about 6" or so long that clicks into one side and easily clicks into the other side.

Ok, I just looked up "seatbelt extenders" on Amazon and they do indeed have many to choose from. Prices less than $20 for singles, and over $20 for sets of two.

roblwhitney · 05-14-2020, 07:31 AM

Thanks for looking at this.

I'm able to get to the floor under the couch (I pull out the hide-a-bed and lay on it with a flashlight ... ain't pretty, but it works). The belts are anchored to the floor. They go into the couch from there. There's no "slack", and they aren't wrapped around anything.

RE: belt extenders - yup, I see them. Thanks for that. But to make these belts usable, I'd need several extenders on each belt.

Guess what I'm hoping to find are complete replacements, so that I remove the old belts, and install longer ones. Didn't know if this problem (too short seat belts) was a common one. If so, figured someone may have found a neat fix.

BobC · 05-14-2020, 08:14 AM

I don't see any solution other than replacement. How about something like these?

https://www.seatbeltsplus.com/catego...Seatbelts.html

**creativepart** · 05-14-2020, 08:29 AM

My answer is probably cynical, but here goes.... Seat belts are required by regulators for manufacturers to claim the number of people that can ride in the vehicle. But routinely these sofa belts are never used by anyone. So they are installed but no effort is made to make them usable.

Mostly they are kept under the sofa and not even pulled out at any time, except maybe to sell the RV. I know I have some, but I’ve never seen them.

If you wish to use them, you may need to purchase some new longer belts.

theSane · 05-14-2020, 08:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by creativepart

My answer is probably cynical, but here goes.... Seat belts are required by regulators for manufacturers to claim the number of people that can ride in the vehicle. But routinely these sofa belts are never used by anyone. So they are installed but no effort is made to make them usable.

Mostly they are kept under the sofa and not even pulled out at any time, except maybe to sell the RV. I know I have some, but I’ve never seen them.

If you wish to use them, you may need to purchase some new longer belts.

Could this be pressed into a recall type of issue?

**creativepart** · 05-14-2020, 09:32 AM

I should stress that I have no idea if my cynical response is true in any way. Just wild supposition based on the real world experience I've had where it seems that no one uses the seat belts on sofa's, dinettes and lounge chairs on RVs. I'd guess some people do, but I've not encountered it.

A while back someone asked why Class A RV Headlights were so poor and my response was because no one drives their Class A RV at night. I was instantly corrected and learned that plenty of people drive late into the night and arrive at their campgrounds in the dark. Who knew?

roblwhitney · 05-14-2020, 09:42 AM

Using the link that BobC provided (thanks for that!), I'm able to order longer belts. The ones in the MoHo are about 90" long. Here's my plan (promise not to laugh) ...

I'm going to buy 2 more sets of 60" seat belts. Then I'll tie each end to an existing (too short) seat belt, which should give me the length I need.

**creativepart** · 05-14-2020, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roblwhitney

Here's my plan (promise not to laugh) ...

I'm going to buy 2 more sets of 60" seat belts. Then I'll tie each end to an existing (too short) seat belt, which should give me the length I need.

"Tie them...." so you want them long enough to use, but not safe enough for them to be effective in a crash?

And, you also want us to "promise not to laugh," too?

BobC · 05-14-2020, 09:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roblwhitney

Using the link that BobC provided (thanks for that!), I'm able to order longer belts. The ones in the MoHo are about 90" long. Here's my plan (promise not to laugh) ...

I'm going to buy 2 more sets of 60" seat belts. Then I'll tie each end to an existing (too short) seat belt, which should give me the length I need.

Before you do that, check out this site. It has bus seatbelts up to 140" long:

https://www.wescoperformance.com/bus...UaAsrsEALw_wcB

Morich · 05-14-2020, 10:17 AM

The problem I see with seatbelts in motorhomes is the way we see a serious crash. When a car crashes the belts definitely help as it keep folks from flying around. But when I see a serious RV crash along the road, I see the rear end comes forward and hits the folks inside. Not seeing too much help if a microwave hits you from the rear over you hitting the driver in the rear? Just kind of the difference in when a car crashes versus when a house crashes.