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Educate Me on Harnesses

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539
687
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
3-5 Years
SoCal
Looking for knowledge and advice.
Finally getting all the big-boy safety equipment in the car. Roll bar is done, HANS ordered, next is seat and harnesses. I live close to a Sparco store and was planning to get a seat and harnesses from them. Granted, I could ask them for all this info but I wanted to have some knowledge going into this.
I did some research on belts and learned about pull-up vs pull-down belts and that 2" belts are better for a HANS but I still have some questions.

1. Sparco has 3" / 2" hybrid belts....is this better than a 2" only belt? I don't see any gain from a 3"
2. Sparco has aluminum or steel latches. Obviously the aluminum would be lighter weight but as it's such a small piece, does the weight difference even matter / noticeable?
3. Sparco also lists a "PRIME H-7" option. Steel, pull-up, but I don't see anything special about it. Am I missing something? Maybe it attaches in a different way?


If there is a better brand than Sparco belts, I'm open to that as well. Thanks in advance
 
6,361
8,184
IMO, try to go with the wider belts as long as they will fit the HANS device, The reason is that any time you can spread force out on your body, the better it is. Think of it like this, you get hit with the point of a cue stick, or you get hit with a basket ball, you'll prolly be better off with the basketball, because that ball is a bigger diameter, and will spread across more of your body than the cue stick at the same velocity, a lot of this goes into the design of body armor, it spreads the force out over a larger area,, any time you can do that, it will prolly be beneficial, you do have a few important pieces around your chest, the heart is pretty well protected but the descending aorta.. not so much. This is also a good reason to buy the chest strap. I would recommend the steel buckle, but I'm starting to get used to the "button" style release. As far as the shoulder straps go, you will want to pull down on then after the warmup lap as they always seem to get loose, and .. again IMO finding the "tale" of the strap and pulling straight down is a lot easier than hunting for some apparatus. In real life, the best way is to get someone else to strap you in, even in IMSA, the guy getting out straps the new driver in during driver changes.
 

TMSBOSS

Spending my pension on car parts and track fees.
7,529
5,245
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
10-20 Years
Illinois
BS-1
I agree that spreading out force is better than concentrating it. Schroth had a video showing the advantages of a 2" lap belt over a 3". Spreading the force outside the pelvis =was what they were trying to avoid. Can't find the video now.
Anyone remember, seeing this video?
 
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I researched this a ton as well and came to the conclusion that without a full cage that includes seat and harness mounts the weak link will be by far the lap and sub harness anchor points.

So I chose a reasonably priced FIA harness (Racetech) with 2” shoulders to make the HANS fitment as comfortable as possible. Also mounted up my seat without sliders as there are no FIA sliders. Would I prefer sliders absolutely but if nobody has been able to get any to meet FIA safety standards there is a reason.

For seat brackets check out Procar International. Really like mine, much much nicer than sparco or planted brackets and has the sub belt mount and lap belt mounts integrated. Safety wise it’s best to have seat and harness mounts divorced but without a full cage that’s hard to do in a way that you can guarantee will be safer than shared mounts.

Also are you planning on a full containment seat? If you’re serious about safety it’s a must.
 
1,119
1,110
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
5-10 Years
Lenoir City TN
Schroth makes a good set. I have these in my GT350r

+1 on the Schroth flexi 2x2 harnesses. They can be configured as either pull up or pull down. Also current wisdom is 2" lap belts are safer than 3" due to where the load is placed on the body.
 
1,119
1,110
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
5-10 Years
Lenoir City TN
BS-1
I agree that spreading out force is better than concentrating it. Schroth had a video showing the advantages of a 2" lap belt over a 3". Spreading the force outside the pelvis =was what they were trying to avoid. Can't find the video now.
Anyone remember, seeing this video?
I have seen the video, but don't remember where. Here is a good read on the 2" vs 3" debate.


Also, I would stay away from latch link and spend the money on cam locks. I was in a friends car a couple of weeks ago with a latch link harness on the passenger side. I forgot what a hassle they were to use.
 
531
364
sfo
For tintop cars:
2” laps pull up
2” Hans shoulders pull down
T shape subs
total 6 points
get fia belts longer expiration date code.
if 2 fia belts one is cheaper check the expiry date…that often the reason

skip sfi belts and Sfi Hans because of shorter dates and need for recert on the Hans. Fia cert Hans never expire But user should change tethers every 5 years.

today in safety everything is about retention starting with containment seats.
 
539
687
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
3-5 Years
SoCal
I researched this a ton as well and came to the conclusion that without a full cage that includes seat and harness mounts the weak link will be by far the lap and sub harness anchor points.

So I chose a reasonably priced FIA harness (Racetech) with 2” shoulders to make the HANS fitment as comfortable as possible. Also mounted up my seat without sliders as there are no FIA sliders. Would I prefer sliders absolutely but if nobody has been able to get any to meet FIA safety standards there is a reason.

For seat brackets check out Procar International. Really like mine, much much nicer than sparco or planted brackets and has the sub belt mount and lap belt mounts integrated. Safety wise it’s best to have seat and harness mounts divorced but without a full cage that’s hard to do in a way that you can guarantee will be safer than shared mounts.

Also are you planning on a full containment seat? If you’re serious about safety it’s a must.
Great info, Scoots! Appreciate it.
I'll look into harness brands and seat mounts more rather than hitting the easy button and bulk-buy from Sparco.

Containment seat: I wasn't planning on it but maybe I will now 😆
My car still sees occasional street miles so my first thought was a halo type seat was out of the question. Does any brand make a halo seat where the halo portions are removable?
 
1,161
2,116
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
5-10 Years
SoCal
Well, I'm in the rabbit hole now....

Does the Sparco Seat Base even come with attachment points for a 6 pt harness? I emailed them to ask but waiting for a response.
Has anyone tried the Vorshlag seat base? Seems perfect for the job but $600 is insanity.
The Sparco base only has one d-ring mount on the console side and no sub mounts. I used these conversion brackets made by a TMO member. He also makes a mount for the lap belts that attaches at the rear factory bolts.


Thread 'Bolt on sub belt mount for sparco base'
https://trackmustangsonline.com/threads/bolt-on-sub-belt-mount-for-sparco-base.16147/
 
Great info, Scoots! Appreciate it.
I'll look into harness brands and seat mounts more rather than hitting the easy button and bulk-buy from Sparco.

Containment seat: I wasn't planning on it but maybe I will now 😆
My car still sees occasional street miles so my first thought was a halo type seat was out of the question. Does any brand make a halo seat where the halo portions are removable?
Yeah I drive mine to and from the track too and while its not ideal on the street a containment seat is the only thing that will keep your head attached to your torso when you go sideways into a wall. HANS only works for frontal impacts.

About the bases and harness attachment points, that's why I chose the PCI. Its truly chassis specific and has the harness mounts built in. I was a bit concerned about the steel being thinner than sparco and planted, but its still thicker than OEM and with the 3d forming it seems quite sturdy. I run with a lot of S2K guys and they all swear by the PCI bases.
 
539
687
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
3-5 Years
SoCal
Yeah I drive mine to and from the track too and while its not ideal on the street a containment seat is the only thing that will keep your head attached to your torso when you go sideways into a wall. HANS only works for frontal impacts.

About the bases and harness attachment points, that's why I chose the PCI. Its truly chassis specific and has the harness mounts built in. I was a bit concerned about the steel being thinner than sparco and planted, but its still thicker than OEM and with the 3d forming it seems quite sturdy. I run with a lot of S2K guys and they all swear by the PCI bases.
I hate do be that guy, but do you have a link for this Procar mount? I Googled them but I couldn't find any for S550 mustangs. The latest model I found was 2014.

Or the member @67GTA linked seems like a great option
 

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