Seat Belt PIA$$

[DarkSideJeep]

Originally Posted by PeterFTH

How's this for a problem that solves yours - as my 2002 Travel Supreme did not come with an integrated shoulder harness, although I found endless captains chairs with this feature no one would sell it to me. My VIN didn't indicate it came with one, so the assumption is the seat mount wouldn't take the extra stress of a body belted both lap and chest. I tried many venues - same answer. DOT said it was a safety issue but I maintain were I in a crash so severe as to rip the seat off the floor, I'm already dead. In a lesser, more likely situation, I'll end up crushing my ribs on the steering wheel with only the lap belt. There is no structure over the driver's left shoulder to attach an aftermarket shoulder harness, so because of this inane safety rule I am at risk every time I drive. Get a pad for your shoulder and stop whining.

My 1996 Tiffin Allegro had a shoulder harness. It was anchored to the coach structure just behind the passenger and driver seats.

[Jim_HiTek]

Originally Posted by PeterFTH

How's this for a problem that solves yours - as my 2002 Travel Supreme did not come with an integrated shoulder harness, although I found endless captains chairs with this feature no one would sell it to me. My VIN didn't indicate it came with one, so the assumption is the seat mount wouldn't take the extra stress of a body belted both lap and chest. I tried many venues - same answer. DOT said it was a safety issue but I maintain were I in a crash so severe as to rip the seat off the floor, I'm already dead. In a lesser, more likely situation, I'll end up crushing my ribs on the steering wheel with only the lap belt. There is no structure over the driver's left shoulder to attach an aftermarket shoulder harness, so because of this inane safety rule I am at risk every time I drive. Get a pad for your shoulder and stop whining.

Oddly interesting and if that RV were mine, it would be a cause for concern. Since it's your personal property there's nothing stopping you from installing your own seatbelt arrangement. They used to make, and probably still do, generic seat belts for race cars both lap and shoulder, or there are many seat belts available in RV salvage yards and junk yards.

I can imaging attaching a steel plate under the floor for a floor mounted seat belt.

[rggarrott]

Please consider a sizeable con for seat belt extenders: you move that steel buckle over your abdomen. I was once in an auto accident where I hit the belt hard enough to break ribs. It would have been a lot worse if the steel buckle was up over my lower abdomen instead of the smooth nylon seat belt.

[DarkSideJeep]

Originally Posted by rggarrott

Please consider a sizeable con for seat belt extenders: you move that steel buckle over your abdomen. I was once in an auto accident where I hit the belt hard enough to break ribs. It would have been a lot worse if the steel buckle was up over my lower abdomen instead of the smooth nylon seat belt.

Please see the first post in this thread.

https://www.irv2.com/forums/f278/sea...ml#post6832058

The extender moved the buckle alongside my hip. The length of the extender must not be so long that the buckle ends up in your lap. It is also very important that the lap part of the belt be across your lap and hips, not across your abdomen.

[hdgoldie]

Originally Posted by DarkSideJeep

Please see the first post in this thread.

https://www.irv2.com/forums/f278/sea...ml#post6832058

The extender moved the buckle alongside my hip. The length of the extender must not be so long that the buckle ends up in your lap. It is also very important that the lap part of the belt be across your lap and hips, not across your abdomen.

I like the idea of your extender that keeps the belt in the proper position. The shoulder pads can irritate my neck also. But I would warn those of you using the chip clips and similar on your belts. When we decided to test the roll cage in our Aspire a few years back, the harness and seat belt immediately pinned each of us tight against the seats. Without those pulling us back, I seriously doubt we would have walked away from that wreck with only a couple of bruises. Interesting enough, the bruises were caused by the arm rests when we finally came to a rather abrupt stop. The seat belts and harness did their job. You won’t find either one of us blocking the tension on the belt or tucking it under an arm. They work as designed if you let them.

[mwwessels2]

Originally Posted by DarkSideJeep

Ok, not really pain in your bottom. How many out there are annoyed by the Seat Belt shoulder strap riding on your neck like the first photo? Sorry Angie it was much simpler to Screen copy from one of your video's than trying to take selfie of my seat belt neck. Besides you are much more attractive than I.

I do not think this problem is exclusively an Entegra problem. I have owned three Class A motorhomes from Tiffin, Thor and now an Aspire. All three have had the same issue with the seat belt shoulder strap riding on my neck. I am an average sized guy at 5' 10" so I think this problem affects everyone my size and smaller. The problem is that the female side of the buckle is too far back and too far down. This results in the shoulder strap coming up on the right side of my rib cage and across my neck. My 5' 2" copilot has the same problem but mirror image in the Copilot seat. Ideally coach manufacturers could move the buckle up and forward by using a longer stalk in the female buckle. I doubt anyone would get on board with a retrofit. So to solve the problem I got a set of these.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09TL1CWSQ...roduct_details

The length is around a foot which puts the male buckle end up on my hip instead below and behind my butt. That allow the shoulder strap to cross my torso and rest across my shoulder instead across my neck as it should.

You are correct in that this needs to be changed. We have a clip that we attach. We pull the belt to the desired length to get it off our neck and attach it to the top where the seat belt comes out. Not the desired solution, but it keeps it off our neck, giving it a little slack.

[MRUSA14]

I have used this clip for more than a dozen years. It completely solves the problem.

[DarkSideJeep]

Originally Posted by DarkSideJeep

Ok, not really pain in your bottom. How many out there are annoyed by the Seat Belt shoulder strap riding on your neck like the first photo? Sorry Angie it was much simpler to Screen copy from one of your video's than trying to take selfie of my seat belt neck. Besides you are much more attractive than I.

I do not think this problem is exclusively an Entegra problem. I have owned three Class A motorhomes from Tiffin, Thor and now an Aspire. All three have had the same issue with the seat belt shoulder strap riding on my neck. I am an average sized guy at 5' 10" so I think this problem affects everyone my size and smaller. The problem is that the female side of the buckle is too far back and too far down. This results in the shoulder strap coming up on the right side of my rib cage and across my neck. My 5' 2" copilot has the same problem but mirror image in the Copilot seat. Ideally coach manufacturers could move the buckle up and forward by using a longer stalk in the female buckle. I doubt anyone would get on board with a retrofit. So to solve the problem I got a set of these.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09TL1CWSQ...roduct_details

The length is around a foot which puts the male buckle end up on my hip instead below and behind my butt. That allow the shoulder strap to cross my torso and rest across my shoulder instead across my neck as it should.

The original link I posted for the seat belt extender on Amazon has changed. It now points to an entirely different product. If you search for ' 9" Seat Belt Extenders ' it should have the correct items show up at the top of the list. This link does that as of this update.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=9%22+seat...f=nb_sb_noss_2

[Magic-carpet]

Originally Posted by hdgoldie

I like the idea of your extender that keeps the belt in the proper position. The shoulder pads can irritate my neck also. But I would warn those of you using the chip clips and similar on your belts. When we decided to test the roll cage in our Aspire a few years back, the harness and seat belt immediately pinned each of us tight against the seats. Without those pulling us back, I seriously doubt we would have walked away from that wreck with only a couple of bruises. Interesting enough, the bruises were caused by the arm rests when we finally came to a rather abrupt stop. The seat belts and harness did their job. You won’t find either one of us blocking the tension on the belt or tucking it under an arm. They work as designed if you let them.

Even though I use a chip clip on my to loosen it up just a bit, I'm with Goldie and Rick on this one. The seat belts need to be allowed to work. In my opinion, the extender puts the belt in position that it will not hold the right side of your torso if its asked to work. The chip clip has just always been a nice reminder to put the clip on the brake knob when I stop so that the dog, or even I don't accidently push in the knob and roll silently away at a fuel stop.!! I suppose now I will hear from the folks that tell me I should be pumping the brakes down to engage the parking brake when I make these stops...

[DarkSideJeep]

Originally Posted by Magic-carpet

Even though I use a chip clip on my to loosen it up just a bit, I'm with Goldie and Rick on this one. The seat belts need to be allowed to work. In my opinion, the extender puts the belt in position that it will not hold the right side of your torso if its asked to work. The chip clip has just always been a nice reminder to put the clip on the brake knob when I stop so that the dog, or even myself don't accidently push in the knob and roll silently away at a fuel stop.!! I suppose now I will hear from the folks that tell me I should be pumping the brakes down to engage the parking brake when I make these stops...

Without the extender the belt rests across the neck of shorter seat occupants. In an accident that could result in a broken neck. Using an extender with a correct length will keep the belt snuggly across the shoulder where it belongs. Using a clip to add slack into the belt is asking for more severe injury in an accident.

[brobox]

Originally Posted by DarkSideJeep

Without the extender the belt rests across the neck of shorter seat occupants. In an accident that could result in a broken neck. Using an extender with a correct length will keep the belt snuggly across the shoulder where it belongs. Using a clip to add slack into the belt is asking for more severe injury in an accident.

One of our forum members totaled their Aspire with a blowout with stock seat belts. Both walked away unhurt. The coach rolled into a ditch. Not all accidents are the same. I'll go with experience.

[Doman48]

Mfg need to supply adjustable height mount like my 2019 GMC Denali has. Easy to adjust the height of shoulder belt and make it ride comfortably.

[DarkSideJeep]

Originally Posted by Doman48

Mfg need to supply adjustable height mount like my 2019 GMC Denali has. Easy to adjust the height of shoulder belt and make it ride comfortably.

My point exactly! Seat belts ARE NOT one size fits all. We know this from seat belt tests on cars. Individuals who are not "average" sized often do not fare well in accidents because the seat belts do not fit correctly. Now we come to motorhomes. I have owned 3 class A motorhomes from 3 different builders. In all three cases there were problems with how the seat belts fit. While the Entegra has the best fit it could benefit from adjustability to let the seat belt fit properly so it will work best to restrain differently sized occupants in an accident. A poor fitting seat belt become even less effective when the occupant wears the shoulder strap behind the shoulder or adds a clip to prevent retracting and yes, a too long extender will compromise seat belt effectiveness.

[Jim_HiTek]

Originally Posted by Doman48

Mfg need to supply adjustable height mount like my 2019 GMC Denali has. Easy to adjust the height of shoulder belt and make it ride comfortably.

My '02 Winnebago Journey has an adjustable height shoulder harness and even though it has 6" of range, it's still not enough to make it comfortable for my 5'7" frame. Lap belt is fine, but the shoulder harness rubs and saws my neck with every sway of the RV. Even a soft belt surround irritates and heats the neck after an hour or two. Making for an uncomfortable drive that takes my mind off the road.

Usually I'll concede and use the belt clip to add some slack (after adding vinyl tape to hold it together), and I consider myself 'average height and weight'. Naturally, I try to find the perfect position that gives comfort but allows less than a fists worth of slack at the middle of the chest. And usually that's all it takes.