[200q20v] Re: [BIRA] 3pt Seatbelt harness

[JShadzi at aol.com]

In a message dated 4/24/2001 8:46:30 PM Pacific Daylight Time, 
tedebearp at yahoo.com writes:

<<  no they don't.  replace the lap seat belt mounting bolts with eye bolts 
and
 use snap-in belts, so you don't have to sacrifice the regular seatbelt.
 if you use a six point harness, you can attach the ends of the 
 antisubmarine strap to the seat mounting bolts.  the shoulder harness
 is the trickiest part.  one solution i've seen is to attach to the rear
 lap belt anchors,>>

Then this is no different than a Schroth installation... in my car the angle 
is less than 45 degrees, since I have short legs, my seat sits up close and 
there is an acceptable angle to prevent spine compression problems.
 
 <<a good solution from a driver protection standpoint is to bolt a 
 beefy bar between the b-pillars using the stock shoulder belt
 anchors.  this ensures that the shoulder harness doesn't compress your 
 spine.  you need to make sure this bar is stiff, so it won't bend and
 put a big bending load on the mounting bolts.>>
 
Ok, this supports my extremely impractical point, though a good idea, but a 
lot of work for a street car ocassionally driven on the track in "dirving 
events".


 << you may regard proper safety equipment as overkill, and that's certainly
 your prerogative.  IMHO, if you feel you need safety harnesses, you 
 should do the job right. >>

I never said I regard "saftey" as overkill, it is of your opinion that the 
Scroth harnesses are "unsafe", my experience tells me otherwise.  I know of 
countless cars track driven, some have even been in severe accidents (Ken 
Bennett's Coupe GT comes to mind, complete rollover at Sears) with very 
"safe" results using Schroth harnesses.

 
  <<i'm not convinced of that, javad.  i know schroth belts are very pretty
 and make a nice and clean installation, but i'm not convinced they
 are an improvement over stock from a safety standpoint, primarily 
 because of the shoulder harness issue.  spinal compression is very 
 bad, and that's why football players aren't allowed to use their 
 heads to ram other players.>>

Correct, see above, spinal injuries are very serious, but your suggestion of 
installing a race harness using the rear mount points does not support the 
above...it then seems a matter of installation, not belt design.  And it has 
nothing to do with being "pretty"...
 
 << you will never see a schroth harness in a real race car (because it isn't
 going to pass tech)>> 

Correct, but because a particular mod does not pass tech inspection at SCCA 
does not mean it is not safe or effective for driving a street car on the 
track...then should we all install roll cages too?  It is clear that for the 
GREATEST level of safetey, a race harness should be used.

<< mostly, i see them in riceboy cars.  not that i'm calling
 you a riceboy, javad.  i do feel that if you are going to spend money
 and effort installing a harness, you should do the job right.>>

Oh boy, now you are heading towards fisticuffs!!    =)  Without reference to 
mudslinging, "riceboys" have taken many good products and ruined them with 
their ignorance...I blame riceboys for their motives and ignorance, not the 
products they use, nuff said...
 
 <<we may have to agree to disagree on this one.>>
 
Yes, I think if you refer back to the original post that started this, you 
will see where I'm coming from.
Javad