• From: Minneapolis
  • Registered: 2009-06-26
  • Posts: 20

Topic: Things that make me want to punch babies: Rear seat brace

ARGH. The official rules are a bit hard to follow on this seat brace ordeal. And searching around on the forum just further confounds it.

We have a fixed back Corbeau race seat (same seat we ran last year with no seat brace), on sliders, in a Saab 900. If I had to guess the angle down cross bar and the harness bar come within 8inches of the back of the seat (for the shortest driver).

I'm seeing posts that say, no seat brace is needed on fixed back seats. And still others saying it's required.

Please someone, please give an end all be all explanation or hard and fast rule.

Everything we've done to this car is light year's better than what we did last year, yet now we're all fretting about certain tech items, namely the rear seat brace.

/whining

Team Cougar Bait

2 Reply by NDGeist (edited by NDGeist 2009-09-21 11:11 AM)

  • From: Cedar Rapids, IA
  • Registered: 2009-05-01
  • Posts: 89

Re: Things that make me want to punch babies: Rear seat brace

The only bit I find in the rules is copied below verbatim:

3.2: Driver's Seat: Driver's seatback must reach above middle of helmet or higher. One-piece SFI- or FIA-rated competition seats very strongly encouraged. All seats must be very securely mounted to the floor or cage to avoid separation during a crash. All seatbacks must be securely attached to the seat base and braced or otherwise restrained against rearward failure.

I know it doesn't help, and a lot of people are adding little non-rule rules like "seat must be <6" from harness bar. etc.  But per the rulebook, if your seat meets 3.2 you *should* be ok.

-Chip

Free Candy Racing
www.freecandyracing.com

NDGeist's Website

  • From: Minneapolis
  • Registered: 2009-06-26
  • Posts: 20

Re: Things that make me want to punch babies: Rear seat brace

Yeah,

This is what seems to be tripping myself (and other teams up):

All seatbacks must be securely attached to the seat base and braced or otherwise restrained against rearward failure.

It doesn't sound like all teams are running this

http://www.ioportracing.com/images/product/sbb15.gif

Team Cougar Bait
  • From: Cedar Rapids, IA
  • Registered: 2009-05-01
  • Posts: 89

Re: Things that make me want to punch babies: Rear seat brace

I don't read that you need that kind of brace if using a 1pc seat.  A 1pc seat should be considered restrained against rearward failure.

-Chip

Free Candy Racing
www.freecandyracing.com

NDGeist's Website

  • Mulry
  • Mulry
  • Ayatollah of Rock-n-Rollah
  • Offline
  • From: Dallas, TX
  • Registered: 2009-05-01
  • Posts: 4,607

Re: Things that make me want to punch babies: Rear seat brace

We are running that brace. At some points, our Kirkey seat is <6" from our harness bar, at some points (shortest driver in car), it's >6" from the harness bar.

I guess the way that I look at it is this: will adding that io port brace (or a similar one) compromise the seat? If not, then installing it seems to be cheap insurance for being certain to pass tech. I would hate to get to tech without one and be told we can't race because we didn't have it.

Hopefully that helps. Cheers.

Pat Mulry, TARP Racing #67

Mandatory disclaimer: all opinions expressed are mine alone & not those of 24HOL, its mgmt, sponsors, etc.
  • From: Cedar Rapids, IA
  • Registered: 2009-05-01
  • Posts: 89

Re: Things that make me want to punch babies: Rear seat brace

Where's the cheapest/fastest place to find that brace?

-Chip

Free Candy Racing
www.freecandyracing.com

NDGeist's Website

  • From: Minneapolis
  • Registered: 2009-06-26
  • Posts: 20

Re: Things that make me want to punch babies: Rear seat brace

Here: http://www.ioportracing.com/Merchant2/m … _Code=IOPP

Team Cougar Bait

8 Reply by Bender/StickFigureRacing (edited by Bender/StickFigureRacing 2009-09-21 12:02 PM)

  • Registered: 2009-05-01
  • Posts: 526

Re: Things that make me want to punch babies: Rear seat brace

We put in the rear support on our car. Our seat is the Kirky all aluminum one piece racing seat.  Our reasoning was that we had one short driver that had to have the seat all the way forward, leaving a 14" gap behind her.
We used the stock seat slider and brackets adapted to fit the seat.
After reading forum reviews where there is the possibility of seat bracket failure on stock seats we base our decision solely on those two factors.

Team: V-Ram/Altamont Team: Knights of the Round Track/Reno/Buttonwillow/Thunderhill Team: Death Mobile/Sears 2010/Thunderhill/ChumpCar  Spokane/ MSR Houston/Buttonwillow/Sears. MRolla Project /Reno
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9 Reply by bongle (edited by bongle 2009-09-21 12:09 PM)

  • bongle
  • bongle
  • Ripened Lemon
  • Offline
  • From: Waterloo, Ontario
  • Registered: 2009-05-04
  • Posts: 232

Re: Things that make me want to punch babies: Rear seat brace

Note: I am in no way saying that this might pass tech, but I saw a team add an adjustable seat brace by welding an adjustable trailer jack horizontally from their harness bar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xr4ctDRvo24 (7 seconds in).

Car to Pit telemetry (OBD2, GPS, and analog inputs) with little more than a phone, router, and laptop.  It's not MacGuyver, it's WifiLapper (forum | facebook)
  • From: Minneapolis
  • Registered: 2009-06-26
  • Posts: 20

Re: Things that make me want to punch babies: Rear seat brace

Your link fails.

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  • bongle
  • bongle
  • Ripened Lemon
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  • From: Waterloo, Ontario
  • Registered: 2009-05-04
  • Posts: 232

Re: Things that make me want to punch babies: Rear seat brace

topher wrote:

Your link fails.

Damn commas sad

Fixed now.

Car to Pit telemetry (OBD2, GPS, and analog inputs) with little more than a phone, router, and laptop.  It's not MacGuyver, it's WifiLapper (forum | facebook)
  • From: Detroit, MI
  • Registered: 2009-05-16
  • Posts: 1,594

Re: Things that make me want to punch babies: Rear seat brace

Our seat is a Sparco FIA fixed back seat, and there is no way to use a support like that.  The seat has zero structure below the harness holes.  It has nothing but some soft foam and the fabric cover down the center of the seat.  A seat brace would be nothing more than an impaler.  We do have provision in our cage for an adjustable brace, but we measured everybody and we are all within 6" of the cage, so we don't have to insert the brace into the sleeve.  If we did, we would have welded as big of a plate onto it as we could fit to spread the load out over the whole seat back.

BRE Datsun (Broke Racing Effluence) formerly Dawn of the Zed Racing
'74 260Z
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13 Reply by MagnumPI (edited by MagnumPI 2009-09-21 08:24 PM)

  • From: St Catharines, Ontario
  • Registered: 2009-07-16
  • Posts: 142

Re: Things that make me want to punch babies: Rear seat brace

We went with an aluminum race seat on a adjustable base, for different driver size.  We had our cage guy design one similar to the one above that you can buy.  It is bolted to the back of the seat and moves with the simple removal of a pin.
See below pic... you can just see it behind the seat.. not yet bolted to seat though..

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v498/middlemiss/IMG_0614.gif

Team Magnum PI ness  #357  -

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  • From: Minneapolis
  • Registered: 2009-06-26
  • Posts: 20

Re: Things that make me want to punch babies: Rear seat brace

Cage looks great.

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