Harness advice Needed!!
Harness advice Needed!! What do you guys recomend for 4pt. harness?
Brand / Style?
Sponsor to get them from?
How to mount sholder harness?
I do have a cage that I can mount to for the sholder straps, but I am not sure how. I was going to use the original bolt holes for the lap belt portion, but I am unsure about the sholders. Any advice & / or recomendation on what belts to get is appreciated.
I do some dirt track racing and have always used Simpson, but I don't see too much about them in the searches here and I was wondering if there was a reason.
Brand / Style?
Sponsor to get them from?
How to mount sholder harness?
I do have a cage that I can mount to for the sholder straps, but I am not sure how. I was going to use the original bolt holes for the lap belt portion, but I am unsure about the sholders. Any advice & / or recomendation on what belts to get is appreciated.
I do some dirt track racing and have always used Simpson, but I don't see too much about them in the searches here and I was wondering if there was a reason.
as long as its a reputable company, any big name will be fine. itll come down to price, personal preferance, and features (adjustability, latch types, etc). many people say not to use the lap belt holes. i did on mine, and it works just fine. depending on what you use, you can even keep the stock belts in original position and functional. i used something from work: a heavy piece of galvantized steel bracket, bent 90 deg, with two holes in it. bolted one through the original torx bolt to the body, and used an eye bolt in the other hole. my harness clips in and out.
for the shoulder, i had my harness bar made so that i could install eye bolts for the clips. you will either need proper brackets welded on your cage, or just used the wrap around method. perfectly safe, and i think thats whats called the 'porsche' style.
latch & link or camlock is personal pref. latch will be cheaper, but camlock will be easier and faster to lock in. personally, i like saferacer.com for any kind of safety gear. best prices, wide selection.
for the shoulder, i had my harness bar made so that i could install eye bolts for the clips. you will either need proper brackets welded on your cage, or just used the wrap around method. perfectly safe, and i think thats whats called the 'porsche' style.
latch & link or camlock is personal pref. latch will be cheaper, but camlock will be easier and faster to lock in. personally, i like saferacer.com for any kind of safety gear. best prices, wide selection.
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 381
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From: Oshawa (Home of the 5th-gen)
As mentioned, you don't need anything other than an available bar to install the shoulder belts 
. Here's a picture of my '93 Z28 race car's seat / belts ... you can see how the strap is simply wrapped around the bar behind the seat, and the lap belts are bolted in at the factory belt locations 
:
. Here's a picture of my '93 Z28 race car's seat / belts ... you can see how the strap is simply wrapped around the bar behind the seat, and the lap belts are bolted in at the factory belt locations : Unless you mount them to a bar right behind your seat that is level to slightly higher than your shoulders, then they will only provide you a false sence of security. I personally don't like shoulder harnesses that require tabs or brackets welded to your cage. The wrap around ones are much better. I have also used the origonal seat belt mounts many, many times with no issue.
Unless you mount them to a bar right behind your seat that is level to slightly higher than your shoulders, then they will only provide you a false sence of security. I personally don't like shoulder harnesses that require tabs or brackets welded to your cage. The wrap around ones are much better. I have also used the origonal seat belt mounts many, many times with no issue.
The bar should be a few inches below shoulder height and the belts should not exceed a 30* angle from the shoulder down to the bar.
I have trouble using the lap belt mounting points. The factory bolt shoulder is too big to go through the belt tab and I can't find strong enough bolts that have the metric thread and pitch to replace them.
I have begun using grade 8 bolts, typically supplied, and drill out the factory threads and put a nut on the back side. On the outside, I cut a small access panel in the bottom of the rocker panel to get a wrench on the nut. I then seal the hole with a patch panel, silicone and rivets.
Curious if I'm missing a simpler alternative.
Thanks for all the info guys, I was planning on using the wrap meathod but wanted to see if there were any other good solutions as well. Every other car I have ever mounted belts into has always been a fully tubular open wheel car, and they are real easy to mount to the left rear coilover mount. I was a little stumped by this. When I bought the cage the description said that it had harness mounts, and I was expecting some tabs....... But I am fine with wrap around as long as it is just as safe. My dad taught me when I started racing go-carts at 14 that "If you can't afford the best safety equipment, you can't afford to race."
I was going to try to keep the stock belts in place mainly for insurance purposes, but the car is just a weekend / track day car to play with, so I don't think I will have much problem with the inconvenience of the harness, but is the cam lock that much more convenient than the typical latch? That is all I have ever had.
I was going to try to keep the stock belts in place mainly for insurance purposes, but the car is just a weekend / track day car to play with, so I don't think I will have much problem with the inconvenience of the harness, but is the cam lock that much more convenient than the typical latch? That is all I have ever had.
cam lock is easier and quicker then the latch type IMO. we use Crowe Enterprises on most of our race cars and thats probably whats going in the camaro as well. what type of open wheel racing have you done?
Trending Topics
NASA CCR.
The shoulder harness shall be mounted behind the driver and above a line drawn
downward from the shoulder point at an angle of no more than twenty (20)
degrees with the horizontal.
Most people around here want their shoulder harnesses level or above their shoulders slightly. If you land on your roof you don't want your shoulder harness holding you down, you want the lap belt to do that. If your shoulder belts where to be bolted to the floor behind your seat then it would probably hurt your back a bit.
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Last edited by McNord; Jan 9, 2009 at 02:19 PM.
One thing I forgot to ad was look for an FIA rating instead of an SFA rating. Most sanctioning bodies allow FIA rated equipment to go 5 years rather 2-3 for SFA. It's a few dollars more for FIA, but you get a couple extra years use.
As mentioned, you don't need anything other than an available bar to install the shoulder belts . Here's a picture of my '93 Z28 race car's seat / belts ... you can see how the strap is simply wrapped around the bar behind the seat, and the lap belts are bolted in at the factory belt locations :
. Here's a picture of my '93 Z28 race car's seat / belts ... you can see how the strap is simply wrapped around the bar behind the seat, and the lap belts are bolted in at the factory belt locations : i failed tech that way, you need to put something on the bar to limit that straps from moving side to side...if the seat bracket breaks your head could go outside the car window...you can weld a couple 1/2" steel blocks to the bar, or i've seen people using hose clamps.
-Thanks 
