1g Stock seats and Harness's

[Coup D E'Tat]

Here's mine. I used garage door trim from Home Depot, because eventually these seats will be replaced with nice ones.

 

[Tsi_User]

please....pictures.....with people in the seats....

 

[mavisky]

please....pictures.....with people in the seats....

Sorry I forgot, I've been taking pictures of my gun lately

 

[MyEclipse5]

Sorry I forgot, I've been taking pictures of my gun lately

Take a picture of you holding the gun.....in the seats!

 

[Tsi_User]

Take a picture of you holding the gun.....in the seats!

there ya go kill 2 birds with one stone!

 

[NitrousBob]

My family has been building tube frame and other chassis for over 20 years. That seatbelt attached to the strut bar will get someone killed. I haven't seen much concern over this. It is a bad idea and drilling a couple of holes in it just weakened the cross sectional strength besides all that the force it will pull is in the wrong direction for strength with the way it was designed. most of the harness we install in cases like this we mount the shoulder harness to the floor. I know they make two types of harness usually one that terminates right behind the seat on your cross bar on the cage or one that goes to the floor. you will be a lot happier when your face is in one peice. At that point you might as well use the stock shoulder because it's at least safer.

 

[Coup D E'Tat]

Not real sure who you were referring to there, but my shoulder belts bolt directly onto the strut tower, no new holes, and my two front bolt into the stock locations. I would like to know why bolting it to the strut tower is a bad idea, or maybe you meant "strut tower bar," since that's what you said

Not starting a knowledge battle, just looking for some info.

Thanks,

 

[mavisky]

My family has been building tube frame and other chassis for over 20 years. That seatbelt attached to the strut bar will get someone killed. I haven't seen much concern over this. It is a bad idea and drilling a couple of holes in it just weakened the cross sectional strength besides all that the force it will pull is in the wrong direction for strength with the way it was designed. most of the harness we install in cases like this we mount the shoulder harness to the floor. I know they make two types of harness usually one that terminates right behind the seat on your cross bar on the cage or one that goes to the floor. you will be a lot happier when your face is in one peice. At that point you might as well use the stock shoulder because it's at least safer.

While I appreciate your concerns the tests I've put mine through have proven to me that it's as strong if not stronger than the stock attachment points. At no point did I ever say that the way I'd mounted the belts was optimal. Obviously a short harness tied to a rollcage directly behind the seats would be a far better solution, but in no way do I see this current setup being any less safe than the stock 3 point belts.

The harness bar I use is designed with 4 holes in it, I did not drill holes into the bar, that would be stupid. the bar I use is an I beam style design and this proves far superior to a normal round bar in structural rigidity.

 

[devlish]

Can't wait to see pics, you'll hafta let us know how much you want for them, too!

Here they are, in the basement. sorry i don't have an "in-car" pic, too much work to take out the seats in there now just for a pic. you get the idea though. I just thought of something though... this is my old harnesses... which are only a 2" strap, and they are a tight fit. email or PM me with your email for more pics if interested. i can have them redone to fit a 3" strap, or if someone wants the seats and my one harness as a combo, cool.

pic #1: Harness Installed on one seat

Pic #2: Close-up of looped fabric

Pic #3: Looks stock once you tuck the fabric back inside.

hope this helped explain my setup, and sorry it took so long

~Kurt

 

[NitrousBob]

If you feel safe thats cool, I have reviewed some of my rulebooks SCCA, IMCA, NASCAR, NHRA and that wouldn't fly thats all i'm saying. There is a couple of other things too, IF the shoulder belts are too long and you take a lateral hit you can slide sideways out of the seat and get your neck hurt. Optimally they should be going over a bar directly behind the seat. I don't have the math in front of me, but there is no way your strut bar is as strong as the stock mounts. NHTSA wont approve that. I didn't mean to make anyone mad just to keep them from getting hurt. As for yesterday someone sued a tobacco company and got awarded 20 million because they didn't know it was bad. You might not realise how many people might think this is ok. Too much liability for my blood. Peace

 

[jott5555]

heres a sweet lil tid bit of info.. my engine is ####ed.. whoever wants to come buy my seats and harness's they are for sale..

 

[Tsi_User]

damn dude what happened?

 

[jott5555]

http://www.dsmtuners.com/classifieds/showproduct.php?product=19021&sort=1&cat=500&page=1

 

[Coup D E'Tat]

Does anyone have any info as to whether or not attatching the shoulder straps to the rear strut towers is dangerous?

 

[MyEclipse5]

Does anyone have any info as to whether or not attatching the shoulder straps to the rear strut towers is dangerous?

Read a couple pages back, I belive on 3 it tells about this.

 

[mavisky]

I'm still not totally convinced on this whole thing being un-safe. I spent some time last night really considering the physics behind a frontal impact crash and the types of forces put forth on the harnesses. With the lap belts holding back alot of the movement all the shoulder straps would have to restrain is the upper half of your body from rotating forward. The amount of force would only be in a rotational movement from your hips (which are held in place by the lap belt) and it seems to me that this force wouldn't need an extreme amount of strength to keep it in control especially if the belts are already tightened and holding you in your seat.

I'd really like to have the free time to work out the physics behind this rotational force and see just what kind of numbers we're talking about. My guess is that the actual force applied to the shoulder harnesses is going to be small compared to the job that the lap belts have to do.

 

[Coup D E'Tat]

Read a couple pages back, I belive on 3 it tells about this.

There is talk about attatching them to strut tower bars, but not to the strut tower.

 

[jott5555]

the strut tower is where the stock seat belt attaches at. also where i have mine at. i believe its is the best area to bolt down to.. when i did mine i actually usedall the stock mounting point. for the stock belt. including inside the center console.

so to answer your question coup that would be the optimum mounting point.

 

[mavisky]

The only reason I didn't put mine in the strut tower position was the angle of the belts from the seat to the mounting point. While I never measured the angles, the inner belt (one closest to the center of the car) looked like it was at a greater angle than what this diagram prescribes. Also by mounting my lap belts to the seat frame as opposed to the stock lap belt locations I kept the belt from rising up to my stomach when tighening the shoulder straps (wouldn't happen with a 5 point) and stayed closer to the range they show for the lap belts as well.

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[Coup D E'Tat]

the strut tower is where the stock seat belt attaches at. also where i have mine at. i believe its is the best area to bolt down to.. when i did mine i actually usedall the stock mounting point. for the stock belt. including inside the center console.

so to answer your question coup that would be the optimum mounting point.

They need a "smacks head" smiley. I completely forgot how I bolted them in, aside from knowing that they went to the strut tower.

Thanks

 

[Blizz92tsi]

Hey guys,
I thought I'd bring a thread back from beyond the grave. I recently got my stock seats recovered and had grommets installed for my racing harnesses. I'm currently hoping to change my entire setup however. The black Tenzo R Rally seats are history, replaced with stockers redone in black vinyl with grommets, old black Sparco Clubman 4pts (lap and shoulder belts sewn together) are being sold with the Tenzo seats, and being replaced with a new set (probably Sparco) 4pt cam lock style (4 individual) harnesses. I've been looking at harnesses and was wondering what width you guys are using with those grommets. I was thinking about going with a 3 inch full race type set up, but the grommets aren't quite 3 inch. I'm sure 2 inch belts would be more than adequate especially for me, but I didn't want to upgrade again later. I plan on buying a very nice racing seat for the driver side eventually. It will only be used during nice weather months however. Anyway I was wanting to get a set of harnesses that will work well with both types of seats (stockers with grommets and racing seat) and not regret my decision unlike last time. Last time I cheaped out on the Tenzo seats and started hating them. I also started not liking the Sparco Clubman's because of them being sewn together and being a pain for using in normal around town driving. Anyways, I'd greatly appreciate your thoughts and your current setups. Thanks.

Oh yeah, I'll post some pics of my interior to show you how it turned out (just to show it off ) as soon as I'm done doing some work to it this weekend. Everything was redone. New black vinyl for the seats, new black carpet, and all of the other misc pieces were redone in vinyl or carpet.

 

[mavisky]

A 3" would fit, but it might bind just a hair at the slots, shouldn't be too bad though. I'm planning on ditching my setup on the driver's side for a sparco speed/sprint seat as the stockers just plain suck. I don't mind the belts much anymore myself.

 

[Blizz92tsi]

I'm pretty sure I'll go with 3 inch harnesses. I was really surprised at how the stock seats felt after the Tenzos. They don't have a lot of bolstering. They are more comfortable and easier to get in and out of. I plan on getting a really nice seat just for driving though. I'll probably put it in in the spring and take it out in the fall. It'll probably see 6 months of use at a time. Also with the harnesses it'll be really easy to switch out seats. I haven't decided on what seat I'm going to get yet, but it'll be a name brand. I haven't decided on a fixed back actual racing seat or a reclinable racing bucket. That'll probably be left to my budget next spring. The Tenzo driver seat that was in my car broke from everyday use. I'm a big guy, 6" 230, and the Tenzo couldn't handle it I guess. The person who did my upholstry work said it was broken in two places. They were able to fix it however.

 

[Blizz92tsi]

I think I found my new driver seat!!!
Now if I just had $2900.00!
Sparco S-Light Seat (Carbon Fiber):

 

[loweperf]

Looking through this thread I don't think the grommet trick will work with all seat styles. Devlish seems to have the same style I have and I had to take the cover off and cut the metal underneath to get the belts through. Here's a link to mine.
click here