Which Belts?

[apr67]

So the SCCA is now only reccomending 6 or 7 point belts.

In a pretty much upright car, with the 5 point belts properly installed, do 6/7 point belts help?

Does anyone know of 6/7 point belts that are FIA rated and available for less that the cost of a first born. The only inexpensive FIA belts I can find are the G-Force 5 pt with pull down lap belts (I prefer pull up).

[Geo]

Six point belts control the pelvis and allow the shoulder belts to load on the shoulders instead of the ribs which are able to absorb much less load before breaking.

G-Force has a new 6 point FIA homologated harness in this month's Sports Car.


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George Roffe
Houston, TX
84 944 ITS car under construction
92 ITS Sentra SE-R occasionally borrowed
http://www.nissport.com

[Knestis]

6-point harnesses carry the load on the insides of your thighs, like a climbing or parachute harness, rather than right on top of the naughty bits. If you've never used one, you should - they are a huge improvement, in my opinion.

I'm pretty sure that there are drivers out there with single crotch straps who are compromising the tightness of their belts while on-track, due to "comfort issues."

K

[Geo]

Originally posted by Knestis:
6-point harnesses carry the load on the insides of your thighs, like a climbing or parachute harness, rather than right on top of the naughty bits. If you've never used one, you should - they are a huge improvement, in my opinion.

This is a secondary advantage. I cannot for the life of me remember where I read about controlling the pelvis to load the shoulders properly to keep loads off the ribs. However, I'm 99% certain it came from Dr. Melvin.


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George Roffe
Houston, TX
84 944 ITS car under construction
92 ITS Sentra SE-R occasionally borrowed
http://www.nissport.com

[JLawton]

Originally posted by Knestis:
right on top of the naughty bits.
K

Are you kidding?? After being married for 14 years, I look forward to it!!

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Jeff L
#74 ITB GTi

[This message has been edited by JLawton (edited December 15, 2004).]

[apr67]

Originally posted by Knestis:
6-point harnesses carry the load on the insides of your thighs, like a climbing or parachute harness, rather than right on top of the naughty bits.

The only thing a croch strap is supposed to do is keep the belts from rising. Its not to restrain you testies.

[whenry]

It is difficult but not impossible to properly locate the crotch strap on 5 point system. Six points generally attach at the same point as lap belt so the locating point is behind the driver and makes the belts less likely to rise in the event of belt-testing incident. Never seen any real numbers on the need but this seems to be the theory. Just another insurance/risk driven decision by SCCA.

[HBennett]

The new G-Force Pro Series harnesses probably will not be available until sometime in January, probably later part. The 5 and 6 point harnesses will be FIA/SFI approved. They are made with polyester webbing instead of nylon.

Howard Bennett
Racer Wholesale

[Geo]

Originally posted by HBennett:
The new G-Force Pro Series harnesses probably will not be available until sometime in January, probably later part. The 5 and 6 point harnesses will be FIA/SFI approved. They are made with polyester webbing instead of nylon.

Howard Bennett
Racer Wholesale

Howard, will the crotch straps be long enough to attach them near the lap belt anchors or will they be short and be required to be attached near where a 5 point crotch strap be located?


------------------
George Roffe
Houston, TX
84 944 ITS car under construction
92 ITS Sentra SE-R occasionally borrowed
http://www.nissport.com

[HBennett]

Yes, the sub-straps will be long enough to mount the lap belt mounting points.

Howard Bennett

[apr67]

The croch strap with my 5pt belts is darn log, atleast a few feet. It is mounted further back than the lap belts.

So I must be safer.