I have the Avalon Racing Hardbar in my 350Z. The problem I ran into is the bar would block the headrest and not allow me enough room to recline the seat enough for me to sit in a comfortable position.

The vast majority of owners with a Hardbar will not have this problem... I am 6'3" and 270 lbs... so I need a lot of room, especially when wearing a helmet. For me, the ideal seating position is reclined just one notch more than I could get the seatback into with the headrest in. Trust me, I pushed that headrest up against the bar hard enough to re-form the padding in the back of the headrest!

So, I contacted a local auto upholstery shop to make harness bar pads for me to act as headrests. I think they turned out very nicely.

I used:
Stitches Auto Tops & Upholstery
1308 Hwy 6 South
Houston, TX 77077

 

Something seems very dangerous here if you get rear ended. Wouldn't your head get bent forward at and extreme angle as you back is forced into the seat? I don't doubt that the bar padding is nice but this just seems dangerous.

 

good point... one that I took into consideration before going this route

these reach just as high on the back of my head as the factory headrests and they don't protrude any further forward than factory headrests

in this pic, the seatback is set to where I normally drive:

 

How do you mount the harness?

 

I agree with teh215. Thats going to be very dangerous if you get rear ended with any reasonable force. Your seat is going to move backwards and the bar is going to stay right where it is jamming your head forward! And your not even using it for a harness, what gives?

 

No....its wheres the harness??

 

The harness wraps around the bar on either side of the pad. Right now, the harness is sitting in a box on a shelf in my garage. I only put it in for track events since I don't like listening to it rattle about in the car.

The seat better not move backwards.... I hope I don't have a "break-away" seat in my car that will move if I'm in a collision. But, even if it does, I have the seat practically up against the bulkhead behind the seat.. if it moves, it's not moving very far.

Remember, I'm not a skinny little twirp with my seat all the way forward. And, the pad does not protrude into the space as much as you all are thinking. Even with the seat all the way reclined (which is about one more notch from where it is in the pic) my head isn't even tilted forward when I rest it against the pad.

 

Yes, I would like to see a pic with the harness shoulder belts attached. The "Head Rests" look a bit wide for optimal belt location.

BTW......I have a MUCH better solution in the works.......just don't tell anyone.



A "skinny little twirp" that listens.

 

I wish I was a skinny twirp! I hope none of the skinny guys here take offense to that.... ya'll fit in the car so much better than a lardbutt like me

I'll have the harness back in the car in about two weeks for a track event on March 6th and 7th. I'll get a photo then.

I've seen a variation of a harness bar that attaches to the same points as the Avalon bar, but sits further back from the seat. The one I've seen is for an Integra or NSX. Once in place, there are bars that come to the floor to offer vertical support to the cross member.

What I'd like to see is something similar, maybe with a narrower cross member than the Avalon bar, and two legs that attach from the bar to the floor somewhere behind the bulkhead behind the seats. I'd like for the bar to be a little farther away from me as it makes adjusting the harness much easier.

Oh well... Avalon bar works for me now. It was the only solution back when I was shopping for one.

Cheers,

PeteH