I was looking back into the collision injury reports for our 4th gen cars.
I noticed a lot of leg injury problems and this can occur if the front end is pushed in or the seats don't hold to the floor in an accident. I pulled the seats and noticed cheap spot welds holding the nut flanges to the floor by the doors. The floor sheet metal itself is very thin. I took the car to a good speed shop where they have cars with national drag records. The welder said the situation with my seats was very unsafe as he pointed out the cheap welds.
I left the car and he tig welded the nut flanges all the way around and when I tried out the car the seats actually felt tighter.
Just a heads up to check your cars seats for safety reasons.
So in summary,
The method the factory used to hold the sliders to the seat seemed very safe, it's the way the sliders attach to the floor that is not very reliable.
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Bolted connections do not rely on the nut being welded to the material. The tack weld on the nut is simply to keep the nut from turning when you install or remove the bolt. The friction in the properly torqued bolt/nut is what keeps things secure.

Welding the nut all the way around might seem like a wise idea, but in fact the extra welding in that thin base metal could weaken it signficantly.

As for the accident results, as long as the seatbelt mounts don't break loose, the bolts holding down the seat are pretty insigificant. If the seat broke loose in an accident, it would only push against your butt a little bit. I think most broken legs come from the cabin crushing in on you.

Dave

 

Yeah consumer guide reported the same thing let me find it here quickly.....

here check this out:

http://autos.msn.com/research/vip/sa...n&model=Maxima

From the dummy pictures its pretty evident how the dash under the steering column collapses onto the dummy's legs, poor dummy!
95 and 96 models are even less safe, they don't have the side metal bars in the doors and the steering column is not designed as a crumple zone, 97 and up the American safety asossiation mandated that all cars have those side door metal bars installed.

 

I'm not talking about welding the nut, it's the metal bracket the nut is attached to that is spot welded to the floor sheet metal. This is the weak point and proper welding won't weaken this area.

As far as the seat separating from the floor in an accident. The spaces between ones legs and the dash, doors, steering column and center console are so small any movement from a loose seat could cause significant injury in a serious accident. I'm not talking fender benders and the traditional 3 point seat belt systems still allow too much occupant movement in an accident.
Eventually all cars will be mandated for 4 point seat belts like racecars without the lapbelt between ones legs.

 

Yeah, I misunderstood. I'll have to go out and look at it. But I really, seriously doubt that a connection like that would be made insufficiently.

Dave

 

hmm that's interesting. i know the rear center bolt attaches the seat in such a way where it screws into the middle tunnel area and the way that bolt runs (it's more parallel to the ground than perpendicular), that would have to be sheared or broken if the seat were to lift up. it screws all the way through, i know b/c when i took it out and looked through the hole i could see my exhaust.

 

I didn't mention the inner mounting points by the center console because they screw into much thicker metal. The only thing you can do here is go to much stronger graded bolts like 10.9 especially if your car has seen many salty winters.

 

You may be right if your car is a grocery getter but I doubt car companies do not save money by skimping.

Now for guys like us who build fast cars, I don't think nissan had in mind their buyers doubling or tripling the stock horsepower when they built these cars.

 

i just picked up a parts car for its leather interior, and i noticed that on the front driver side seat, that weld you talking about came apart, and seat moves around, when i was sitting in it it felt fine, but when taking the seat out i noticed it wasnt connected in one corner.

 

I got in a frontal collision in my 98 maxima, a tree at about 60mph to be exact, and the seats seemed like they came 'down'. I noticed this when i sat in the car at the junkyard. Almost like the supports broke....hmmmm.....

 

its a maxima man, theyre all FWD grocery getters. i dont care what the horsepower is. just call it a faster grocery getter. they were never meant to be more than that. i read a quote from a guy at nissan that said "if maximas were meant to be race cars, nismo would make more parts for them" which is a pretty good/true quote IMO.

as for the topic, i agree with the guys who said its the cabin that crushes and breaks your legs, not the seat coming loose. although it's potentially good info that some people may want to take the time to check out.

 

Dumbest ****ing statement Ive ever heard. Any car can be a performance car regardless of what kinds of parts are made for it. WHo wants nismo crap anyways? Its all over priced.

 

It's not a dumb statement at all. We're talking about a 3100lb, FWD car with macphersons in front and a single beam in back. Hardly the characteristics of race cars.

Dave