Not Ranked
Kim,
I bet you didn’t think you were going to start WWIII, did you? Just teasing guys. I will be the first to admit I am no expert on the subject--just a careful observer who wants to do what is right.
Kim--remember—if you are driving down the freeway at 75 and you are in a head-on with another car going 75…that is like a 150 mph crash. Roughly the same speed that killed our friend Dale.
I did have a typo in the last post. We do not supply 5 point harnesses, we supply 6 point harnesses. Sorry for the mistake. (I guess I was caught up in all the passion of the moment.)
In my humble, and not expert, opinion, a 3 point is vastly superior to both a 2 point and a 4 point. Let’s face it, millions of us go out and crash every day with the 3 points on and there don’t seem to be an unreasonable amount of us signing up for a permanent stay at the “underground condo.” You can rest assured if there were an unreasonable amount of us dying or getting unwanted FORD trademarks imprinted on our faces, the ambulance chasers would be out in force with Ralph Nader banning automobiles. Heck, if they got their way we’d all have to run around in F1 suits/helmets and have inner-tubes strapped to all of our bumpers. I think you get the point so I will quit rambling.
As for the threaded insert suggestion, (I realize it wasn’t by you blackjack), I have never heard of anything so dumb in all my life. Sounds like a candidate for the Darwin awards. Maybe those same people go to the do-it-yourself vasectomy classes so they can’t reproduce.
Roll bars are usually a great place to mount the seat-belts. I say usually because I would not want to mount my seat belt to a roll bar designed by those who attended those money saving classes previously mentioned. You will have to look at your specific situation and decide for yourself if it is safe or not. I don’t think anyone here can do that for you as we can’t see the car and evaluate the issue.
I will tell you what we do. The shoulder harnesses are mounted to a cross brace in the roll bar. The lap belts are mounted into specially welded brackets in the frame just like the original car. The neuter straps are bolted to the seat mounting plates which are also welded to the frame.
As for mounting a 3 point system, I understand it is a great system. I am just not sure how you would mount it in your car. Whatever you mount it to, obviously needs to be strong. Many times stronger than you think it needs to be. Remember all of that discussion on g loading? The forces can truly be incredible.
As always, gentlemen, I am open to all of your discussion and opinions. I certainly may be wrong in my opinions and am always looking for more and better knowledge on this (and all) subjects.
Happy Motoring!
David Kirkham, President
Kirkham Motorsports
p.s. TURK!
The super glue idea is great! Spreads the load over the entire body, avoids unwanted amputations, no spinal compression injuries and best of all, it is cheap. Looks like it covers the entire spectrum. Are your engineers available for consultation? What is your rate?
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