Originally Posted by mekatoka

Ok, I ran across this thread while researching HARNESS BARS. So what's the general consensus here? Not to mix-n-match equipment like MPD47 stated above?

I track my car quite often and don't race. That's just in case somebody shows me a rule book I want to get it done right. I was looking at Harness bar that is installed at the factory seat belts position.

Originally Posted by mekatoka

Ok, I ran across this thread while researching HARNESS BARS. So what's the general consensus here? Not to mix-n-match equipment like MPD47 stated above?

I track my car quite often and don't race. That's just in case somebody shows me a rule book I want to get it done right. I was looking at Harness bar that is installed at the factory seat belts position.

Originally Posted by mhoward1

There isn't a huge difference between a good harness bar and a bolt in cage. I would look at a decent 4 point rollbar with harness mounts and be done with it.

Originally Posted by scotts300

My measurements indicated that using the seat belt mounting points put the lap belt too far back from the suggested position which reduces the longitudinal angle to be less than 45 degrees: http://www.gforce.com/pdf/Harness_Install_Info.pdf

I drilled a few holes and installed some backing plates - easy peezy.

Originally Posted by mekatoka

Can you throw some suggestions?

I found the following
Sparco Harness Bar -- $429





Thanks for the tip. I don't mind drilling holes if it doesn't meet the required specs.

Originally Posted by mhoward1

http://www.vividracing.com/catalog/a...0z-p-7882.html

and they are on sale:

https://my350z.com/forum/body-interi...es-sale-2.html

Originally Posted by mhoward1

Sorry,
I can not personally recommend ANY harness bar. See my comments and other above.

Originally Posted by Stack

Thanks for the PM Deepu... as you can tell, I'm more than willing to share my thoughts and experiences on the subject

First of all, ultimately, it's up to you to decide what risk level you're willing to accept. My main goal is to make sure you're taking into account ALL the information you can before making that assessment.

So with that said...

The first assessment you have to make is this:
Do I accept the risks of being harnessed into my car without roll-over protection beyond the factory structural rigidity of the roof?

Roll-overs are extremely rare. Rarer still are roll overs involving high speeds. Even rarer still are high speed roll overs with the risk of impacting an obstacle. Of course, that doesn't mean they can't happen to you, and only you can determine if you have the wherewithal to keep yourself out of situations where these rare incidents can occur. Some things that increase the risk of these things:

• Powerful and well-handling car (check!)
• Tracks with high speed sections with little or no "soft" barriers like tire bundles
• Tracks with sections where the turf outside of the track might be rutted or uneven (or might contain unprotected ditches, etc.)
• Use of R-compound tires
• Not having the experience to know when you about to get in over your head

If you've accepted these risks, then you have to look at the type of harness, and how the harness will be mounted in the car.

DOT approved 4-points

• Are there any made specifically for your car?
• Do they have an anti-submarining mechanism?
• Can the lower belts be mounted to fit properly around your hips?
• Will your seating position be upright enough to minimize the risk of submarining with or without a built-in mechanism?

Race harnesses
True race harnesses are designed to be used as part of a full safety system and generally it's a bad idea to try and incorporate them into a stock interior. It can be done (I do this in my personal car), but it involves some significant modifications to the interior, mainly the seats and floor.

The harness bar itself
Using harnesses can make a big difference in your driving. It helps hold you in place so you can concentrate on driving, not staying in the seat (this is why most people first start thinking about them.) That in turn helps with fatigue, and can also help with safety and performance (cause the more you can concentrate on driving, the better.) So there are obviously some benefits.

Unfortunately, you can't just focus on those benefits. You also have to look at its other (and more important) design function: keeping you alive in the event of a crash. The biggest part of that is the strength of the structure the harnesses are attached to. Most harness bars are a compromise. They are usually offset to allow for more flexibility in seating position. If they aren't substantially braced, that offset is merely providing more leverage for the harnesses to rotate the bar, negating their effectiveness to hold you in place. In a roll bar application, a built-in harness bar is always made out of the same 1-3/4" tubing and usually welded into the main roll hoop. You're lucky if you can find a harness bar more than 1" in diameter. That very well may be fine, but the assessment you have to make then is: are you willing to be the one to test that out?

The second thing most people don't think about, is what happens in a rear-ward impact? If the stock seat back were to fail and recline backwards, where will it impact the harness bar? You'll find that most will impact directly on the headrest. It should be pretty obvious that that would NOT be a pleasant feeling if your head were snapping back onto that as well.

Lastly... in terms of driver and passenger safety... you also have to assess whether or not you're willing to compromise the factory active and passive safety systems (seatbelts and airbags.) Once you start adding or removing stuff, you render those systems less safe, and sometimes dangerous.

My current car came with a harness bar when I bought it, and I took it out almost immediately for the very reasons I list above. I now have a 4-point bolt in roll bar, 6-point harnesses, modified seats (to accept the harnesses properly) and the seat backs are braced.

I hope this helps you make your decision... feel free to post it elsewhere if it makes sense to you!

Originally Posted by thekinn

I think this place will build you a roll-bar/harness-bar. They put a full cage into a T2 Z ( the one that cartwheeled through china beach at mid-ohio.. driver had a small bruise)

RJS Racing Equipment, Inc.
23506 N. John R. Road
Hazel Park, MI 48030
Phone: [248] 548-5727

I'm not to that point yet.. but I would start there if I was making the jump to harness restraints.

Originally Posted by AznSky

...I can get some info for you and if you do get yours done lemme know, maybe we can get a group deal