pistolpete817

I drive HPDE events and open road race events where 5/6 point seat belts are required. I had Brey-Krause harness bar and lap belt equipment in my C5 and C6. They don’t make the same equipment at this time for a C7. This is a street car so I needed to keep the OEM belts. So I ordered a Sharkbar harness bar and lap belt attachments. I spoke with Dan at Sharkbar. He was always very patient and very helpful.

Shipping was slow but I didn’t need it quickly. The lap belt attachments went in easily. You must remove all four mounting nuts that hold the seat in place. But you do not need to disconnect the wire harness or remove the seat. Just move it around a little. The lap belt attached easily. I have GForce belts and there is easily enough length. Everything worked well as the set moves around.

The crotch belt looked like a problem. I have completion seats. I thought I might have to cut the webbing between the two parts of the seat. However I found the webbing is not continuous. You can thread the crotch belt through with no problem. My GForce belt is about at its maximum length but it too works well as the seat moves. I am using stainless steel chain repair links to connect the belts to the anchor points. They are easier to use than the spring loaded clips from GForce.

The harness bar installation was not easy. I have installed 6 bars before. The City Motors video on installation of their bar was very helpful in understanding how all the C7 trunk pieces come apart. But my pieces didn’t just fall apart like theirs did in the video. The small interior tools set from Harbor Freight was very helpful. There is a lot of pulling and prying. Everything came apart with no damage.

The bar installation should have been simple but it wasn’t. The wire harness in the 2015 seems to be different than the 2014. I traded pictures back and forth with Dan. There is a large wire bundle in my 2015 right where you want to connect the harness bar mounts to the OEM belt anchor. It is an interference fit. Dan walked me through how to gently move the bundle enough to get the mounts installed. After that it was easy.

You must cut a 2 inch hole in the sail panels. You can buy replacements for about $25 for when you take the bar out. The bar installed with no further problems. Reinstalling all the trunk panels was much quicker than the dis-assembly. If you do this, remember to look at each of the mounting clips to make sure it is line up correctly. They frequently get turn around during removal.

The shoulder belts installed easily and worked correctly as the seat moves. The belts work correctly with my HANS device.

The bar and belts have been through one track day. Everything worked as intended. The belts were easy to remove afterwards.

So far this seems to be a very good product. I just hope I never have a situation where I have to find out how well this stuff really works.

Rob Willis

Any pictures?

RapidC84B

Pictures!

peter pan

///ADMAN

Never happened...

flaagan

Good to hear that other than the panel removing being the slight pain you would expect it to be the bar went in well. Since I'm already planning on doing a sound deadening install in the next couple of months I think I'll look into ordering a Sharkbar and predrilled panels and put that in while the interior's apart. If nothing else it'll be a good mount for the GoPro.

HighTeq

Maybe we can do ours together? I will definitely want one in mine, especially since I have the comp seats. -Greg

dvilin

pistolpete817

Here is a series of 6 pictures showing the lap belt mount and harness bar install. The following post will have the last 4 pictures.

pistolpete817

Here are the last 4 pictures showing the harness bar install.

Steve_R

Nice looking install. That harness bar is better than the one I had in my C6.

I thought the anti-submarine belts had to come up either through or in front of the seat, not from the back with you sitting on it.

Like this:

pistolpete817

I found installation images and instructions showing the crotch belt wrapped around the legs and up through the center of the seat. I ran for years with the Brey-Krause setup that has the belts coming from the outside underneath your legs. I don't think the Sharkbar mounts can be used that way.

I used the through the seat, through the legs crotch belt on one track day so far. Several of us talked about it while waiting the next run. The consensus was that both belt locations provided the same anti-submarine protection.

I am always open to new ideas on this since it involves my safety.


"https://www.google.com/search?q=6+point+racing+harness+installa tion&client=firefox&hs=rv7&rls=com.yahoo :en-US:official&channel=sb&tbm=isch&tbo=u&so urce=univ&sa=X&ei=9rVyVKe_A4WwyQTF2YCQDQ &ved=0CDYQsAQ&biw=956&bih=445"

Steve Garrett

Nice work! I really want a set of red seat belts to replace my OEM seat belts. I need a 3 point or 5 point harness-just an OEM replacement.

Rob Willis

You probably should have real clip-in hardware on the end of belts, instead of the screw carabiner or quick link you used. Just IMHO.

Thanks for the pictures.

Had a sharkbar in my C6 and will get one for my C7.

Steve_R

It may work fine. I know that at some of the events I did in my C6 that setup wouldn't have passed tech inspection.

///ADMAN

I would not want to be "pinned in" like that without a roll bar. But, to each his/her own.

Vegas Panton

The C7, along with C5's and C6's, have integral roll bars that are part of the frame. Several racing venues accept the factory roll bar. The next step up for protection is a roll cage.

Bill Dearborn

Not sure where that diagram came from but that is the first time I have ever seen one that recommends running the sub belt over the front of the seat. There are several reasons for not doing that: First, the purpose of the sub belt is to pull down on the lap belt and counteract the forces of the shoulder harness. Mounting over the front of the seat doesn't allow the belt to do that. It actually pulls the lap belt away from the pelvis permitting submarining. It is probably worse than not using a sub belt at all. Second, since it is mounted over the seat cushion you can't pull it tight as the cushion resists that operation. The tigher you pull the more the cushion compresses but you can't pull as tight as the force applied in a crash which can exceed several thousand pounds. When that happens the belt permits a lot of movement while helping pull the lap belt away from the pelvis. The Schroth installation instructions specifically state that you are in danger during a crash if you route the sub belt over the front of the seat. Most organizations I instruct with wouldn't let you run with a setup like that. From the Schroth instruction sheet.







Most incidents do not involve roll overs. They involve hitting a wall or some other type of barrier with a major shortening of the vehicle as the result. Much better to be pinned than have your head splattered on something as the front of the car becomes 4 ft shorter. As mentioned in the OPs post the next step up from a harness bar is a roll cage. A roll bar will provide no added protection over the stock halo. In a roll over the weak point in the roof is the A pillars which crush down into the cockpit and only a roll cage can prevent that from happening.

Bill

Steve_R

A year ago at BBORR during practice a C6 ZR1 lost control on a fast curve, ended up backing into a raised railroad bed at very high speed, endoing backwards over the track and landing on its top. The driver walked away without a scratch. When you're racing at high speed you absolutely want to be "pinned in" like that.

RapidC84B

Nice install... bar looks a bit on the low side, but that's the only place for it given the speaker and trim panel setup. Also, I agree that you should get proper clip-in belt ends and not use those turn buckle things. The g loads in a crash can be huge.