Stock Seat Belts VS Race Belts; What is safer?

[my_precious]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2X-R...33725QQitemZ8030717901QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

There is a link to a pair of Ralliart 4 pt harnesses. Here is my question:

I've read up on this a little bit, and I havn't been able to reach a solid answer. As far as I know, any type of aftermarket raceing harnesses are meant for track use only. Due to whiplash and whatever else, they are not suitable for street use. They are designed to be used with a Helmet and Haans device.

HOWEVER, I've seen a lot of dsmers on here with race belts and I've had people tell me that as long as the belts are mounted above your sholders you're good. Another thign I've heard is that the stock seat belts can also give you whiplash and brake your neck etc.

OK, that being said....I can either buy racing harnesses now, or I have some canadian belts lined up already that I can use. Either way, I need belts because the previous owner of my car has removed all of the electric belts and pieces. I DO NOT want unsafe belts, but then again I am going to use this car for track days and possibly rally raceing, as well as my daily driver. So, harnesses would be nice. I dont have a mounting bar, or a roll cage yet, and wont for awhile. I just want to know if I should wait and buy some harnesses (possibly those ralliarts) or buy the Canadians.

To make this even more clear:

Which is safer, standard car seat belts (3pt), or 4pt-6pt Raceing Harneses for STOCK aplications (no roll cage, helmet, haans, etc...could get a harness bar though)

 

[mavisky]

I've got by at our local place running low 13's with the 2"ers mounted to the strut tower bar. Then again I can't really remember the last time I was even teched there. Hell I made the last run of the night sans helmet since my buddy was borrowing it. I've also passed tech at all my autox's last year with it mounted to the strut tower bar.

On a street car I'd look into a setup that's easily set aside for daily driving such as a camlock 5 point where you could leave the rear shoulder straps out of the way for most of the time as well as the lap and sub belt. Then you could use your 3 point to comfortably drive to the track and once there let it sit out of the way and bring the 5 point in to play.

 

[99gst_racer]

The general consensus here is that mounting your harness to the rear seat belt mounting points is ok, but from elsewhere I've heard you'll never pass inspection at a drag strip, anyone have any experience on this?

I got through Tech at US131 last year. As did Dale with his 1G and he was running the same belts mounted the same way as mine. But I have a feeling that it will depend on who is inspecting and which track you're at.

 

[SBstar]

Thanks, I'll probably end up going to mid michigan mostly so I guess I'll find out. I just don't have the cash to put in the roll bar yet.

 

[my_precious]

Simpson cam lock harnesses are arround 150 iirc from summit racing. so 140 is not bad for DOT approved harneses. Simpson is used in all forms of motor sports raceing though, so i think i will just get them when i have a cage.

 

[99gst_racer]

Simpson cam lock harnesses are arround 150 iirc from summit racing. so 140 is not bad for DOT approved harneses. Simpson is used in all forms of motor sports raceing though, so i think i will just get them when i have a cage.

Well, Camlock style harnesses can be considered a hassle to some people for daily/street driving. As well as having 3" lap and shoulder straps instead of 2". And on the other end of the spectrum, you have the latch and link style. Although they are cheaper than a camlock style, the locking mechanism is very heavy and could be considered time consuming to "latch" it everytime to get in and out.

This is why the regular "buckle" style like Kyle's Sparco's and my Schroth's are so popular for vehicles driven on the street. And being that the Sparco's are half the price of a Schroth, it goes to show how much a DOT rating can cost.

 

[mavisky]

Remember though that the schroth belts are only dot approved for those cars which are on the approved list which can be viewed at Schroth's website. I've never looked to see if dsm's are on that list or not.