blakngold4life

posted in the C4 gen to no avail, was told to come here.
I picked up a set of 96 sport seats and later decided that I want to be able to use a harness for track days. Is it possible/safe to get a harness bar and have the belts go over top of the seat? If not, how hard would it be to get a set of bolsters for the belts to go through and put them in the back seats? (i am getting the seats recovered anyway) Any pictures of how others have done this would be appreciated.

c4cruiser

It's not safe to just have the shoulder straps simply go around the seat back. If the straps fall down off your shoulders, you can be trapped in the car in the case of a crash.

While holes could be cut into the seat back, most sanctioning bodies also want the lap belts to go thru holes. And you still need a good anchor point for the sub belt (either a single belt or a pair like you would see for a 6-point harness).

If you intend on using a harness for autocross, track days or HPDE's, it will be better and safer if you have a true race seat. A seat like a Kirkey Intermediate seat and a set of Hardbar mounting rails, it doesn't take long to swap the seats for a race day. Corbeau, Sparco and others make good quality race seats.

AU N EGL

5 or 6 point routed through seat holes.

No 4 points

boltvette

If you plan on participating in several HPDEs and/or autocross events annually, then the racing seat and harness are the way to go. But if you are only going to do them occasionally, you may want to look into getting a set of Angel Pads from Angelwings Tech (www.angelwingstech.com). They work in conjunction with your current seat and belts and are a heck of a lot cheaper than the seat/harness option. I have a set and no longer come home with bruises on the outsides of my knees from trying to brace myself around corners.

blakngold4life

The Corbeau A4's that I was looking at don't seem to have holes for the lap belt to go through, am I missing something? What would make a "true race seat" safer? I know it will be lighter but this is still going to be a street car for the most part. How are the sub belts anchored on actual racing seats? Maybe it would be possible to fabricate something on to the seats I have now. Having an extra set of seats just for race days isn't an option at this point as I don't want to spend that much extra for something that will be taking up garage space 90% of the time. I do plan on doing multiple autocross and HPDE events a year.

what do you mean by that? I'm fairly certain there are 4 point harnesses unless I don't understand the whole "point" thing

Aardwolf

I have the A4's in mine (see my thread) and they work well for that kind of use. I attached the lap belts under the stock belt so both can be used.

jaa1992

Yes, there are 4 point harnesses available - don't use them for HPDE.
Number 1 issue is "submarining" where you slide out under the lap belt.

A 5 or 6 point isn't that much more and if you are going with after market seats you can get the anti-sub harness mounted using the rear seat mounts.

blakngold4life

I have been reading some on the 4 point, looks like I will go with a 5 or 6. Does the anti-sub belt have to go through the seat as well or could it just come up in front of it? I know that going through the seat would be "best" but if it is acceptable to go in front I may take that route.

Kubs

If the sub belt goes around the front of the seat it may cause more harm than good. It needs to be snug up against you angled backwards.

Bill Dearborn

Running the sub belt across the front of the seat doesn't work. The purpose of the anti-sub belt is to prevent the lap belt from riding up off your pelvis. If you read the instructions for installing a 5 or 6 point harness you will see where the sub belt has to pull in the opposite direction of the shoulder belts. Running it across the front of the seat actually pulls the lap belt away from your body making it more likely your body will slide down in an impact. It also adds the seat's foam to the equation where you can never really get the belt tight. The proper way to mount the sub belt is through the seat or the alternative is to mount it so you are sitting on it. This can be done by running it under the seat back to the seat floor mounts or by using seat belt mounts from Brey Krause. With the BK mounts your legs wrapped by the lap belts and the 2 point sub belt just like a fighter pilot would be. Whatever, you do you do not want the seat to intervene in the straight path from the harness mounting points to your body. If it does it becomes part of the restraint system and may not be able to stand up to the force. This is especially true with harness bars and shoulder belts. The bar has to be the correct height (not too high or too low) and the holes in the seat cannot interfere with the belts path to your shoulders.

Check this link to see Schroth Belt info: http://www.hmsmotorsport.com/store/s...6.5-profi#2451 At the right hand side of the web page there is a link to a PDF document ( http://www.hmsmotorsport.com/docs/Co...structions.pdf ) that gives all the correct info for restraint mounting. You can find similar but not as detailed info from Simpson and G Force. I pointed you to the Schroth info because their restraints are currently being used by all of the big name NASCAR drivers and the owner of this web page is a known safety expert who advises NASCAR Teams and the BMW and Porsche clubs on safety issues.

No matter which brand of harness you buy make sure you buy a pull up harness. Trying to pull down on pull down lap belts where there is no room to pull is a real problem. The Corvette's center tunnel will prevent you from pulling the inside belt and you may not have along enough arm to pull the outside belt which has to be pulled from toward the ground from a point near the rocker panel.

Bill

BrianCunningham

I've been running a 6pt for years with the stock seats

run the submarine belts between the seat back & bottom.

If you can get a harness with a sternum strap get one.

blakngold4life

Do you just have your shoulder straps go over the seat back then? If you could post some pictures that would be great.

Gearhead Jim

Someone else posted that sternum straps had proven to be a hazard and were not allowed by many organizations. No personal knowledge here.

BrianCunningham

around the seat back, base seats.



get a JetPilot then