00CaliforniaZ28

iTrader: (11)

Figured this would be a good place to ask, and didnt find much with the search... How many are using harnesses in a daily driving, or actively street driven at least, car? Are they liveable? Or Complete pain in the ***? Any other comments? Im sure they probably are not street legal, but thats probably the least of my worries. Just wanting to hear some thoughts! Thanks!

patred48

Do you have a rollbar?

Pat

dailydriver

It actually may be most of your worries, especially in Cali. If a cop sees you with these he can pull you over and give you a ticket. Not that they are looking for this, but they can. Also, state inspection, especially in stickler/naziland Cali WILL be a problem if you do not use eyelet bolts/clip ins and remove them before inspection.
Now I once heard that somehow a certain Schroth harness WAS street legal. No it was not the autocross/street one, it was a "Profi 5" or something, 5/6 point FIA/SFI legal deal, but I don't know how true this is/was.

00CaliforniaZ28

iTrader: (11)

Dont have anything as of yet, thats why Im looking for opinions first I do understand that rollbars are strongly encouraged in case of a rollover, since the harnesses wont allow you to move freely. However I dont really plan to do any track time in the car. Im mostly looking into the harness because I wanted to replace the steering wheel, and wasnt comfortable in losing the airbag, without going with a harness first. The most i do with the car is some canyon carving on occasion, but thats about it. Thats why I was asking if the harness is overly cumbersome, or if they can be live-able in a daily driven car.

And obviously I could be pulled over for the harnesses, but the same could be said of tinted windows, so lets just say that its a concern, but its not going to make or break my decision.

So are there any experiences out there from those using them on a regular basis? Thanks again

kidreno_21

Are you talking about a four or five point seat belt? If so, I have a four point harness. I don't drive it everyday, just when the weather is good or I have time to take the cover off the car and so on...
The harness can be a pain, but I do enjoy driving the car when I can. Plus the looks I get from people when they see me putting it on, and the guards at the gates (I live and work on a military installation), and the fact that my girlfriend is annoyed by them, makes it worth the extra time. I may not drive all that crazy, but it is nice to know that I have the extra protection if I would need it. I don't know if the harness is legal or not though. Does anyone know if they are legal? If they are not legal, what makes them illegal?

dailydriver

They (the REAL 5/6 point competition legal deals) do not meet the NHTSA safety ****'s regulations (I forgot the actual code #).
The one REAL bothersome thing I found when I had a set of Schroth ASM street legal/autocross harnesses (NOT competition legal, in ANY organization) was; once I was cinched down in those things, I could not reach ANY of the radio/HVAC/dash controls! Not too great for general street driving. Forget about backing into a tight parking space with that thing cinched down.

00CaliforniaZ28

iTrader: (11)

Thanks again for the reply. This was more along the lines of what I was interested in. Its obviously a bit of a pain having difficulty doing small tasks within the car, or not being able to reach over and grab a soda from the cupholder if you were just by chance thirsty! Ill have to sit in my seat, and see what I can reach without moving around to see what is within reach, and whats not. Another good point about not being able to maneuver yourself to look around while parking, thats something I didnt think about beforehand. Anyone else have any pros/cons theyd like to share? Are there any aftermarket retractable 4-point setups, ala the McLaren F1 restraints?

LSGunZ28

iTrader: (8)

I have a 5 pt harness , but also I have the oem seatbelt as well. and war the OEM seatbelt when I DD.

dailydriver

Schroth also made a retractable reel (both electrical with a switch, and inertial manual, I believe) 4 point into a single strap off of the 2 shoulder straps version of that same ASM street/autocross setup. I don't know if they still do or not. I guess you should look them up if you don't need SFI/FIA approved harnesses.

00CaliforniaZ28

iTrader: (11)

Thanks for the heads up, Schroth still does make the retractable system, and even better it uses the stock mounting points, so no need a harness bar if I went that way. I emailed them a few questions, so Im just waiting to hear back. They are street legal though, so thats a nice feature

Shock Hawk

4 point harness/belt = safer than shoulder belt

Does anyone understand why it's not street legal?

PA Z06

There are several reason why there illegal.
one is it restricts your visability, as mentioned before its tuff when your merging and need to move your shoulders a bit to see your blind side,
two is that the material is different and might hinder rescue workers if something were to happen.
three: the 5 and 6 point belt companys have not gotten approval for them to be deemed safe. I believe the gov regulations are too much trouble.
All of the above has been told to me as to why there illegal.
Now BOT
I have a z06, with a sparco evo race seat, Roll bar and teamtech 5 point harness. So do run belts safely you will need a roll bar or atleast a harness bar going across the back seat. The shoulder straps need to be mounted at shoulder height, so upon impact if the straps are mounted too low, it will cause your spin to compact." I will attach a couple pics of my car and my brothers car, he has a harness bar" I dont daily drive it, but I do several track days a year.
Everything inside my car I can reach, except the radar which im working on, it is a lil pain in the ***, when im running errands and such, but when im on the track or driving it hard I wouldent have it any other way.
Sometimes when im driving on the street I wont connect the lap belts and just run shoulder belts. With all of that being said, with the sparco seat the factory belts wouldent work, so I really didnt have much choice, and I first bought a G force 5 point belt, and sold it as fast as I bought it. Since I wasnt gonna run factory belt I went with a much nicer harness, the teamtech is 3 times the price of a g force system, but it is so much nicer.
The sub belt has a large paded area, and the shoulder straps are so thick and paded that its really comfy.
Hope I didnt ramble and that this actually helps.
Have fun and be safe Nando

dailydriver

The stock belts not working (properly, at least) with a one piece racing "shell" seat is the reason I went with a Recaro SRD.

00CaliforniaZ28

iTrader: (11)

So what do you guys think, am I being overly foolish in removing the airbag and relying on the schroth harness? Should a traditionally mounted 4-point harness be the bare minimum? I keep going back and forth with what I want to do. Obviously nothing is 100% safe, but I dont want to be asking for trouble... Id rather it have to work a bit to find me! As I said, this is a 99.999% street driven car, and its not going to see any open track running. Thanks for all the replies thus far, and for the pics PA! Any additional thoughts? I just dont want to fool myself into thinking that I'm relatively safe, when I'm actually not. Funny thing is, while my car is undergoing some work, Ive been driving a truck without an airbag for the past month, and havent thought twice about my safety. Weird how the mind works.

Shock Hawk

If it is a 99.999% street driven car, then Corvette C6 seats would be about as far as you could go before it's overkill. Stock seats are pretty good on these cars. Re-upholster it if it's getting old. Maybe get some fancy stitching, embroidery, or even make it two tone. Just don't do zebra skin.

BobP

iTrader: (1)

Definitely overkill for the street and a hassle. BUT, if you do it anyway, don't miss the point about the harness bar - add in the cost - it's your spine. No floor mounting. The stock belt and bag are safer than an improperly mounted harness.

Have fun.

BobP

Teutonic Speedracer

iTrader: (20)

Exactly!!!

LT1wannabe

iTrader: (2)

Ummmm. NO. What happens in a rollover when the belts hold you upright and the ceiling collapses and owns your head? 4 points are safer in front and rear collisions, but in a rollover, they're pretty much a death trap.
Here's my setup:

Shock Hawk

Isn't this why you get a roll cage/bar? So the bar stops the ceiling?

dailydriver

This is EXACTLY why everyone is saying, "DO NOT use 4/5/6 point harnesses without at least a good solid rollbar, if not a full 8-14 point cage"!!