Date: Tue, 29 Nov 2005 13:48:28 EST
Reply-To: Oxroad@AOL.COM
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Jeff Oxroad <Oxroad@AOL.COM>
Subject: Re: Help! No Seat Belts!
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
In a message dated 11/29/2005 8:07:57 AM Pacific Standard Time,
sartin@GMAIL.COM writes:
Seeing as I have three kids and a wife, I really need more seat belts!
Or..........
OK, more seriously, here's my advice. And mind you I tend to err on the side
of caution.
I'd be careful about retro fitting seatbelts from a different vehicle such
as a Volvo into your Vanagon for two reasons, both equally important in my
opinion. Because you don't have the luxury of real world testing of the seat
belt retrofit the outcome could be tragic. The time you'd find out if the seat
belts worked properly would be in the event of a collision. Finding out they
didn't work as you hoped--tragic. (I suppose lap belts wouldn't pose an issue
because the mechanics are simple. And I understand the "locking mechanism" in
a shoulder belt could be universal, I wouldn't want to be the guy who waited
for the real world test to find out.)
The next thing, and equally important in my opinion, is in the event of a
collision involving passenger injury it is likely your insurance company would
not accept liability for the injured passenger because, they would say, you
did not notify them that the safety features of the vehicle were modified. This
obviously if they found out seat belts from a different manufacturer were
installed. And that's why they have inspectors. And of course if you DO notify
them they will not insure the vehicle. Insurance companies love not to pay.
In short, for a relatively small amount of money when compaired to what you
pay in insurance and the value of the lives you're potentially protecting, I
would go with genuine VW seat belts. And, I dare say, I would go with brand
new belts. I think it cost me about $200-$300 to replace my front 3-point belts
and buckles when the buckles failed. The old style buckles (1983) I had
weren't available so an upgrade (later 80s) was in order unless I wanted to
install used parts. And really with what's at stake, why do I want to save a few
dollars by buying a used part with unknown history if the downside of the
gamble is a lifetime of guilt.
That's my two cents.
Best,
Jeff
83.5 Westy
LA,CA
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