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Factory 87 k5 rear bench

BEEBOB

BEEBOB

1/2 ton status
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Jul 23, 2012
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Location
Athens,al
Has anyone ever removed the fabric and foam from the rear seat
Does it have any substantial frame that I could weld mounts to attach a
Car seat for my kid. Would love to just replace it. But not finding jack locally.
Thanks in advance.
 
Tired it before and will not work! Best think to do is find a burb seat and swap brackets etc over and use K5 arm rest. Ask me how I know! Burb seat has a real frame and springs in it. Don't get rid of your old seat till your 100% happy and got any and everything of use off of it. Brandon
 
Whats wrong with using the belts?

It's how I've secured the car seat in the K5 in the past. I'm pretty sure sitting in a car seat in the K5 is safer than sitting in the car seat with anchor points in an econobox.
 
I wish I could. The car seat I have is made where when I put the seat base in the buckles hit right where the seat snaps in. Tried using just the seat but my belts won't lock and hold it tight.
 
Ahh, I see. On the one I have the design allows a lap belt to go through the seat, so I was able to use the middle seatbelt. She really likes riding back there, as opposed to many cars, the K5 rear seat puts an infant/toddler up far enough that they can see out the side windows.
 
How safe you guys think this really is? Is the fiberglass top safe? I have a newborn boy and was thinking about this a bit.. Im sure a cage would help just curious though.
 
I've never seen one of these things rolled, can't really comment on how the top holds up. I would assume being fiberglass it will tend to splinter, and that would probably only happen if the rear support in the top failed. It probably would IMO, since they seem to rust pretty good, what little you can see of it.

Based on the roof design and bed length, were it to go upside down, particularly for an infant, the angle between tailgate and roof wouldn't allow impact (on relatively flat ground) for the rear seat, even were the top to completely fly off.

Driving habits are going to be far more of a concern than the potential repercussions from rolling it IMO. Not saying you drive bad, but having to react last minute is OFTEN a result of poor driving habits. Not always of course, others do stupid things, but tailgating, speeding, etc., are things we can control. No matter what we are driving, we can't control what others do.

I had my Daughter out twice with the top off, and many times with the top on. Safety never really factors into my decision to drive the truck. Crumple zones are great, but if I and my Daughter were cloned, one pair in the econobox, and one in the K5, and there was a head on collision between the two, I know which occupants I'd wager on surviving with the least injury. Things start to get messy when the mass of each vehicle is more evenly matched.
 
On the few pics of k5s I have seen online flipped on the lid. The cab was crushed, and the topper looked just fine..


Just an fyi the tops have a lot of steel in them that runs at the b and c pillar. And IIRC there is even steel that runs front to back from b to c over the window.
 
Deuling said:
Just an fyi the tops have a lot of steel in them that runs at the b and c pillar. And IIRC there is even steel that runs front to back from b to c over the window.
Click to expand...

This hasn't been my experience. The couple that I've cut up only had steel in the very rear, around the back window. No steel at the B pillar, none over the windows. I have no idea what years these toppers were from, but I think both were from the 80s.
 
Rear "hoop" would be the only place with enough structural integrity to possibly have any hope of doing any good in a rollover. Even stripped down the truck weighs far too much for the top to be able to withstand the weight, if it's not evenly distributed between the cab and the very back of the top. Even that assumes a very slow rollover, which isn't real likely on the street.

Only place I've seen metal is the rear "hoop", and even up here where rust isn't as big a problem as it is back east, I've seen enough falling out as I have dealt with the top that I suspect it's not likely to do much good if real weight was put on it.

In any case, if you are looking at SUV rollover statistics, if you strip out the idiots who weren't wearing seatbelts, fatality numbers are far, far less than some would have you believe. Might be reassuring to review vehicle accident statistics, you will most likely find that not wearing seatbelts is far more of a problem than vehicle design. Since you and I would buckle our child in, ejection is not going to be a factor, at all.
 
colbystephens said:
This hasn't been my experience. The couple that I've cut up only had steel in the very rear, around the back window. No steel at the B pillar, none over the windows. I have no idea what years these toppers were from, but I think both were from the 80s.
Click to expand...

I thought mike (beast) said that it had steel at both pillars... Maybe I'm wrong it was a while back.
 
Like I said, I don't know what years my toppers came off of - so I can't necessarily compare to his. Maybe he thought the electrical wires for the courtesy light were steel rods... :D
 
I am by no means wheeling my K5 like some of you do. Just need to get some car seats locked in. I fell safer in my K5 than I did in the corolla I used to have.
Found some 01 silverado 40-20-40 front seats. Just have to find the rears now.
 
colbystephens said:
Like I said, I don't know what years my toppers came off of - so I can't necessarily compare to his. Maybe he thought the electrical wires for the courtesy light were steel rods... :D
Click to expand...


lol it was mike :whistle: jk :haha:


I know I have seen pics of them flipped and the cab being flattended and the topper area looking completely fine...
 
I have had 3 child seats in my K5 rear bench at once, all using the factory seat belts. Other than being jammed together side-to-side, no problems. The center seat belt is like the center in any other car. If the child seat doesn't have a slot in the back for the belt to pass through (seat belt goes out and around the child), it is hard to use in any vehicle - just replace it (after you've double-checked since it probably actually has one). I have also used "latch system" straps wrapped around seat frames to accomplish the same thing.

I don't think a K5 is any less safe than any other SUV. In rolled ones, it looks like the back seat passengers probably fare better than those up front. Typically they hard top still looks intact. Whether or not it's still structurally intact is another issue. I have heard of cases of them breaking apart, but on the several I've seen in junkyards they look ready to just bolt on another truck. Sometimes the full-steel roof SUVs look much scarier.
 
Instead of trying to weld tabs on the seat frame why not run eye bolts through the floor behind the seat, thread the car seat straps through the crevasse in the back and strap it down? You could also run an eye bolt in the front of the seat and strap it down off the front.

I imagine that would be the most solid way to mount it. And I wouldn't worry about the rear shell. It's not like it's Corvette thin. That fiberglass is pretty stout.
 
i was thinking about just using an old engine lift bracket and bolting them down in the stock seatbelt mounting location with longer bolts. i figured if its solid enough to mount a seat belt, then i should be able to mount a car seat bracket. but untill then i just strap it threw the back of the car seat. only complaint she has is its to bouncy
 
this is part of the reason why I have the newer style rear seats. they have the shoulder belts built-in.
 
75K5 said:
this is part of the reason why I have the newer style rear seats. they have the shoulder belts built-in.
Click to expand...

I love when people get in the back of the blazer and grab the male end of the belt and just pull and pull on it going wtf!!?? :haha:

That enough is a reason for me to keep them lol
 
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