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racing harness street problems


aziza z

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im in the process of installing a 5 point harness in the 280z and was wondering if people who already have them installed ever get trouble from police cause of the harness? also i want to know if it would be ok use a cusco rear strut bar to wrap the harness? i searched and noticed its been done with a pdk strut bar.

 

just wondering if this would work until i got a decent roll cage in the car. The car will see track days but will also see many street days so that why i was wondering if this is going to attracted unwanted attention from police.

 

if possible i would like to see how people mounted they're harness using the strut bar, and would appreciate the pics.

 

thanks guys.

 

-Matt

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when my Z was running I've always used harnesses on the street... i have 5 point too, but only use 4. Never had any problems from cops.

 

You can weld on a handle like thing onto the strut bar so the straps stay in place and don't slide around, then wrap them through that.

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http://forums.evolutionm.net/showthread.php?t=300408

 

This is a quote from of the evo members:

 

In SoCal you will for sure get attention from the police for having a rollbar and hopefully your seats aren't red, but those 2 aren't going to get you any tickets. But don't use a harness on the street, a friend of mine got a ticket for using a 5-point while driving around. Keep your stock belt in place and use that while daily driving the car.

 

 

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i think the latching mechanism plays an important role in the use of the harness. some harnesses can't be released when there is tension on the straps, and therefore in the case of a roll-over, cannot be undone unless you are lifted somehow (in a tight, crushed, cramped space... good luck), to relieve the tension.

 

Best thing to do is call the local police department and speak to someone who deals with most cases in the matter.

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How much track time will you car get?

 

If you're doing it mostly for looks (or to match a seat) and your car doesn't see much track time, there are 4 point (and maybe 5 point) seatbelts that are DOT approved available as well.

 

What my friend does is arrange his harness so that it looks like a 3 point belt from outside when he drives his around ;)

Mario

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I've been using my 4-point harness in my daily driver Z for a while now and there have been tons of cops who have definitely seen the harness and they've never done anything, and this is southern california.

 

I think they don't care because they see it's a classic car. It's similiar to the cops not caring about me not having my front license plate, "it's a classic officer." If they see a 4-point harness on a honda I'm sure it will be a different story.

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I run a 4 point harness in my Z as well and have never been bothered by the cops. In fact my car must have some sort of stealth mode I don't know about because it's almost totally ignored by them.

 

As for using the Cusco bar, I wouldn't, at least not on the track. I made a separate bar just to connect the straps to that bolts to the front side of the strut tower.

 

Wheelman

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OK guys, harness mounting is probably the most important aspect of safety in a car. Bolt on strut tower bars are not an appropriate mount for the shoulder harness. The bar will bend in a hard impact because its seeing a load of up to 2,000 lbs in a frontal collision. The bend and the extra length of the harness will probably be enough to let your head smash into the steering wheel.

 

Also, only using 4 of the 5 (or 6) belts in a racing harness is very dangerous. The sub belts are there to keep the lap belts from riding up your belly and chest in frontal impact. Your body will submarine under the lap belt and your knees will smash into the dashboard shattering both femurs.

 

This isn't a little game of trying to fool the cops and look cool.

 

Read up: http://www.schrothracing.com/docs/Competition_Instructions.pdf

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This isn't a little game of trying to fool the cops and look cool.

 

Read up: http://www.schrothracing.com/docs/Competition_Instructions.pdf

 

thanks for the link. when i searched i came up with that link and its also the way i will be installing my harness.

 

im not trying to fool cops. i am just wondering if it will get my in trouble on the street. by the sound of it, it wont be a problem. does anyone have a picture of sparkys harness handy?

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I live a few blocks from the police station and I have never had any trouble from my 4 point harness.

 

I hate the way mine are mounted. They are bolted to where the factory shoulder belt bolts to so the angle is bad. I know I'm taking a risk driving like that so fixing that is a priority. I thought about mounting it to a PDK bar but It would be safer to weld in a harness bar. I'll probably switch to a Schroth auto control to because it can get to be a PITA to be straped down in a street car.

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OK guys, harness mounting is probably the most important aspect of safety in a car. Bolt on strut tower bars are not an appropriate mount for the shoulder harness. The bar will bend in a hard impact because its seeing a load of up to 2,000 lbs in a frontal collision. The bend and the extra length of the harness will probably be enough to let your head smash into the steering wheel.

 

Also, only using 4 of the 5 (or 6) belts in a racing harness is very dangerous. The sub belts are there to keep the lap belts from riding up your belly and chest in frontal impact. Your body will submarine under the lap belt and your knees will smash into the dashboard shattering both femurs.

 

This isn't a little game of trying to fool the cops and look cool.

 

Read up: http://www.schrothracing.com/docs/Competition_Instructions.pdf

 

Now that's well said! John, Are OEM style belts just as prone to the 4 point submarine effect? That's what I am using still. Thank you for reposting.

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