Seat Belt Age?

~$300. Are there any other cheaper ratcheting seatbelts out there?

There are some things in this world that you just should not be judged only on
price.

Among these are your:

Personal defense pistol
Body armor
Parachute
Fire extinguisher
Lasix surgeon
Climbing rope..............

Your safety restraint system is in the same class. When you need it and it
fails you really wish you had bought the better one - at least for a few
seconds. While anything is better than nothing sometimes there is no
substitute for the best.

I would definitely suggest a replacement.
Here in Arizona we have had problems with seatbelts on the older cars
breaking. Mostly the thread that holds them together rots out and the
whole shooting match falls apart when you try to put it on.

For Racing purposes the belts are only good for one year due to stress
and if your involved in a roll over or other major incident you must
replace them as well. I figure in a airplane the belts get more use and
a bit more wear and tear due so I'd definitely replace them more often.

That said, our local upholstery shops make up replacement belts and sew
them together with kevlar thread on industrial sewing machines. They are
probably stronger than the original belts.

--
Bart D. Hull

Tempe,Arizona

Check http://www.inficad.com/~bdhull/engine.html for my Subaru Engine
Conversion
Check http://www.inficad.com/~bdhull/fuselage.html for Tango II I'm
building.


VTflyer wrote:

I have a seat belt and shoulder harness that was made in 1958. Should I
replace it based on age? The webbing feels somewhat hard in the places
where it is looped through the fittings and sewn to itself. Must harder
than other seatbelts I've seen. It was made by Atchison Leather Products
and is a Standard V Type MS 6068-V383(17) 52951 A. Could anyone suggest a
modern equivalent?

I was thinking about a ratcheting Hooker but the cost is a little steep at
~$300. Are there any other cheaper ratcheting seatbelts out there?



--
Bart D. Hull

Tempe,Arizona

Check http://www.inficad.com/~bdhull/engine.html for my Subaru Engine
Conversion
Check http://www.inficad.com/~bdhull/fuselage.html for Tango II I'm
building.

45 years is WAY too old for a harness. Cessna calls for a 10-year
limit on the harnesses in the 172; this is a recent change to the
service manual, and I expect they'll demand it for the rest of the
fleet before too long. Further, 1958 belts likely have the
metal-pinching-fabric type of buckle which has been known to slip at
high loadings or to cut the belt off altogether. They're illegal in
Canada.
If you have metal-to-metal buckles and they're in good shape, some
aircraft upholstery shops can re-web and test them for you. Much
cheaper than new belts.

Dan