Re: Improved Seat Belt/Racing Harness

[Richard Beels <beels@technologist.com>]

>  research you will find that Schroth says the ur-q/4000q/coupe 
>  seats are not strong enough to support the harness on the seat
>  back. And when you go deeper into the harness issue, you learn 
Virtually all seats fit this category.  The big problem with seats
collapsing is in an accident and you'd behosed: seatbelt or harness in that
case.  If you can see the little tab of metal toothing that keeps the back
upright it sould scare you.  And most people who start out in PRO Rally use
their stock seats; luckily we now have regs that specify and seat back
anti-collapsing brace.

>  that you don't want the harness to rest on your shoulders, as this
>  could lead to a spinal compression problem. I think you want the 
>  belts to rest/bend on an object above your shoulders, which implies
>  a harness bar shoulde be installed across the B pillar or 
>  aftermarket/race seat which will support the belts above your 
>  shoulders.
You want the attachment point 0-15 degrees below horizontal (I don't have
my rulebook in front of me with the diagram); imaginary line running from
where belts come off shoulders to attachment point.  You DO want it
relatively horizontal.  If the attachment points are higher, you've got a
"coming out of the belts" problem.  I see cars all over the place
(including at SportsCar races and in pix at this years 24 Hrs. of
Nurburgring) where the belts just wrap around the rear bar and attach at
the floor.  Doh!  That's no good either.  You also want the belts SHORT.
The longer they are, the more they stretch.  UV radiation weakens the
webbing. Direct exposure for 6 months can reduce the tensile strength 50
percent, 24 months - 80 percent. A new harness will stretch up to 6 inches
in a 60mph frontal with a tree. Imagine what a 5 year old harness will
do...  Oh yeah, wear them tight. If you wear them even a little loose,
you'll pay the price in very sore muscles or a cracked sternum or collar
bones in the event of a frontal.

>  BTW, the 5000//200 seats along with the later 
>  80/90/coupe Q are rated as having a strong enough frame to 
>  support the harness.
I'm sure.  They are.  I've seen people attach them to the frame underneath
the rear seat.  A better place would be something in the rear hatdeck, but
then the belt it looong.  :-(  Something purpose built is needed but they
thend to be permanent....

>  91 200 TQW, maybe Jeff can add more about it. It was a 
>  custom built triangular metal frame which installed behind the
>  drivers seat and  it passively supports the seat back from the 
>  rear and is tall enough to support the harness at seatback level.
>  It bolted in the seat rails and under the rear seat and Jeff said
>  it can be installed/removed in <5 minutes. I am thinking of
Hmmm, interesting.  (Jeff: Got pix?)




Cheers,
	Richard
	88 90Q - <insert pithy witticism here>
	88 Golf GTi - PRO Rally