Topic: Racing belts- where is a good place to order them?
I was wondering of I could get input on where to order a 5 point racing harness "inexpensively" ?
The 24 Hours of Lemons Forums → Lemons Tech → Racing belts- where is a good place to order them?
I was wondering of I could get input on where to order a 5 point racing harness "inexpensively" ?
I was wondering of I could get input on where to order a 5 point racing harness "inexpensively" ?
Right here at LeMons-mart... http://yhst-14891464457018.stores.yahoo … sfiha.html
What's with the girlie beverage? Mikes? MIKES???
I am a huge fan of crow enterprizes, prices are good quality is excellent.
That being said the purple crow harness is going with one of our other Lemons rides this year because I just picked up a used Sparco 5pt camlock off of a ricer that did the drifty into a curb before he could install it for $80 yay me.
We got a good, inexpensive 6-point harness from G-Force. It's a latch & link buckle (which is kind of a pain to buckle) but it was about $80 I think. I prefer a 6-point to a 5-point because the anti-submarine strap on a 5-point can be sometimes more indelicate with one's "gentleman's region," as James May put it so eloquently. And the 6-point harness is usually about the same price as the 5-point; the few dollars extra are well spent for comfort down there.
I'd recommend getting a new harness from a known retailer rather than eBay or CraigsList. Once a harness has been involved in a wreck, it should either be scrapped or sent back to the manufacturer for re-webbing. You never know what an eBay harness went through before it got to you. Good luck.
We got our initial harnesses from Summit, RJS Latch Link 5 points for $60.
Later I found 5 point Nismo Camlocks on eBay for around $80. The harnesses were new and seem fine, 12/08 date when I bought them early this year. However, one of the SFI tags unraveled on the edges and came off the drivers belt. There are several more but it bothers me.
One big issue is determining how you will install them. I think most cage failures in Tech at MSR recently were for improper harness mounting.
Our first set of harnesses were bolt in and did not offer enough adjustability since they only adjusted in the front at the latches. This can be more of an issue with various sized drivers and a sliding seat.
Available adjustability may depend on manufacturer. So those got swapped for wrap arounds which adjusted in the front and back. Again, the adjustability factors may vary by manufacturer and many bolt-ins I have seen can be adjusted in the front and back. This is way more versatile and the bolt in tab can be easily removed and the belt wrapped around a harness bar.
Our Cam Locks are clip in which are nice and came with the mounting hardware. Tech likes to see locking pins of some form in the clips if you have those.
+1 for RJS, we got the 3" wide webbing 5pt model for $65 from our cagebuilder, and they were dated being made the same month i got them.
We got Latch & Link for consistency between this and our other car.
Troy's right though that how they're mounted counts the most. there's still talk floating around that improper harness mounting is what got Dale Earnhardt 6ft under.
Thanks all, I bought a 5 point harness.
Now I have another question. The cage is built and we have decided on a seat placement but it is now about 2-3" away from the horizontal cross tube on the cage. I was hoping the seat would be flush against the cage but it isn't. So how do we brace or connect the Kirkey seat to the cross tubing? Any idea's?? One team mate suggested putting a wood block between the seat and cross tube. the wood will be securely connected to the tube via U bolts and the seat will be attached to the wood blocks. There will be no gaps and it will be secure, would that pass tech?
We got Peak Harness' for one of our last racers and the quality is pretty good for their 3" belts. Price is reasonable too.
Yeah, all Lemons racers get the link to the Pyrotect store--they give our racers a break on the pricing so we definitely like to plug them.
As for this...
What's with the girlie beverage? Mikes? MIKES???
...I don't know what to tell you.
Thanks all, I bought a 5 point harness.
Now I have another question. The cage is built and we have decided on a seat placement but it is now about 2-3" away from the horizontal cross tube on the cage. I was hoping the seat would be flush against the cage but it isn't. So how do we brace or connect the Kirkey seat to the cross tubing? Any idea's?? One team mate suggested putting a wood block between the seat and cross tube. the wood will be securely connected to the tube via U bolts and the seat will be attached to the wood blocks. There will be no gaps and it will be secure, would that pass tech?
Since you're within 6" of the bar, you probably are within the rules and don't need additional seat bracing. However, Kirkey makes a solution for your problem:
http://www.kirkeyracing.com/index.php?l … amp;type=3
In case the link doesn't work right, it's product 99202, the aluminum rear seat mount. It bolts to the back of the seat and then you can bolt it through the cage bar and then the seat is attached to the cage. I think that mount would get you a lot less scrutiny in tech than u-bolted 2x4's.
If you're using seat sliders then there are plenty of other options, but from your post I'm inferring that you're going with a fixed seating position. Cheers and good luck.
Thanks all, I bought a 5 point harness.
Now I have another question. The cage is built and we have decided on a seat placement but it is now about 2-3" away from the horizontal cross tube on the cage. I was hoping the seat would be flush against the cage but it isn't. So how do we brace or connect the Kirkey seat to the cross tubing? Any idea's?? One team mate suggested putting a wood block between the seat and cross tube. the wood will be securely connected to the tube via U bolts and the seat will be attached to the wood blocks. There will be no gaps and it will be secure, would that pass tech?
I responded to this off-list but I'll double it up for everyone's benefit--as long as the harness bar is within six inches of the seatback, it doesn't need to be braced. Purpose-built braces are better than homemade ones--I/O Port makes a unit that our chief tech inspector particularly likes...
Nick, now if only those harnesses were installed properly, you'd be all set.
Hmmmm. Well no one piped in with what wrong with the belt installation above, so here it is:
1) The 3-bar buckles are not adjacent to the harness bar. In an incident, these will be subject to many times your torso weight, and the slack will pull through the buckle, causing it to slide to the bar. With many belts I can demonstrate this by simply yanking the belts and pulling slack with hand force.
In the above picture it appears that the buckles are 2-3" from the bar, so the harnesses will length by 4-6". This is like going out with 4-6" of slack in your shoulder belts. In a front impact, your head is going to strike the wheel or even windshield (remember, belts stretch quite a bit) or a-pillar cage bar.
2)There is no side-to-side restraint on the harness bar wrap. The seat brace does prevent the left belt from going right and the right belt from going left, but there's nothing to prevent the left belt from going left and the right belt from going right. This is important in impacts that aren't head-on, such as the dreaded 1 o'clock impact. In a double impact (common when the car strikes a wall -- first the front hits, then the rear), it's easy for the belts to spread and come off your shoulders. The usual solution for this is collars bolted to the bar or bar padding held in place with tie wraps or a loop of steel rod welded around where the harnesses wrap.
Even though the seat has grommets, the seat, and driver will move quite a bit in an incident and the should anchor needs to stay fixed.
Hmmmm. Well no one piped in with what wrong with the belt installation above, so here it is:
...
Thank you for that explanation. More experienced teammates have been responsible for belt setup in our cars, and I've been shown the what to do but never heard the why.
+1 THANKS
The 24 Hours of Lemons Forums → Lemons Tech → Racing belts- where is a good place to order them?