Shoulder harness& rollbar bracket

Michael C Henry · #1 (**permalink**) 10-12-2001, 02:39 PM

I just had a conversation with Dave Dodds at Stickey Tire Motorsports about shoulder harnesses. he said that he beleived that the Y type would be out lawed by SFI in 2002. Who sells the brackets to attach the shoulder harness to that go between the rollbar tubes just above the body?

RaceDeck · #2 (**permalink**) 10-12-2001, 03:10 PM

you can try either
FinishLine or Cobra Restorer's both have links on this site....

427sharpe · #3 (**permalink**) 10-12-2001, 05:50 PM

Don't recc'd the crossbar anchor setup! It anchors the ends of the belts way too high. Not long ago there was an EXHAUSTIVE thread on this very subject--use the search function. There were quite a few professional opinions that made a lot of sense and a lot of info from the mfgs about how to mount the belts (both shoulder and submarine) correctly. It's excellent information in my opinion, but it's your head!

Richard Hudgins · #4 (**permalink**) 10-12-2001, 08:19 PM

427sharpe,

I recommend that you read the posts that you refer to in detail.

Shoulder belts need to be mounted no lower than 5 degrees below the top horizontal line of your shoulder. Please read the SCCA, FIA, and SAE rules and papers again.

The crossbrace/mount that JBL uses on some rollbars allows the belts to be put in the optimum location relative to the drivers torso as it is adjustable for height.

Like you say, we have all been there, read everything, and done that. However, it seems that the information has been a bit misconstrued.

I will provide the drawings free to anyone that needs a crossmount such as the one that JBL uses. This mount also acts as a head restraint for rear impact. These drawings can be given to any CNC shop and they can make your parts from the DWGS.

427sharpe · #5 (**permalink**) 10-12-2001, 08:29 PM

Go to www.speedwayillustrated.com/beltstory.html or www.sfifoundation.com/seatbelt.html .They have a good layout detailed that is both safe and racing approved.

Richard Hudgins · #6 (**permalink**) 10-12-2001, 08:53 PM

427sharpe,

good links. If you read the SFI recommendation, it is as follows.

"The end attachments of the shoulder harness must also be installed at appropriate angles. The ideal position is anywhere between 5° below and 30° above the driver's shoulder, as seen in part C of the Figure."

I feel that 30 degrees is a bit high from experience as the belts will try to fall off of the shoulder. I have found that any where between 0 degrees and 10 degrees above is the best placement for shoulder belts.

427sharpe · #7 (**permalink**) 10-12-2001, 09:04 PM

My car has a 1x2 inch steel crossbrace directly behind the rear cowl which the belts attach to. It is slightly higher than my shoulder line (10 degrees or so), but much lower than if I attached to the roll bar. It also is triangulated to the main chassis itself. I believe Superformnace has much the same setup, as does ERA.

Richard Hudgins · #8 (**permalink**) 10-12-2001, 09:14 PM

427sharpe,

Cool.

It is good to see a proper installation of belts.

I would like to see your belt mounting arraignment. How do they get the belt above your shoulder line and keep it below the body line?

Please post photos.

427sharpe · #9 (**permalink**) 10-13-2001, 08:23 PM

My floors are dropped about 3" for clearance. The rear support was my addition. It follows the body line to help support the rear cowl area,as well as mount the belts. I found that this small change in the floors made the comfort level much higher for my height (6'2") and helped minimize the buffetting felt at speed. I also use an MG seat frame, from which I trimmed 2" from the back support to imitate the original seat size. I had both trimmed to the Cobra style. I liked the MG seats because they are metal frames (not 'glass as EM sells) and the back of the seats fold forward--no hot seat in sunny parking! The drawbacks are that they dont have the side bolsters that the OE style seats do, but overall I think they are more comfortable. My belts exit the cabin just north of my shoulder line and attach directly to the frame support, with a very short belt being required. Last bit, I also welded supports to the frame that traverse the cabin under the car to capture the seat bolts, so that the fiberglass cabin is sandwiched between the metal seat frame and a plate of steel welded securely to the frame. This H shaped addition also captures the antisubmarine belt bolt so that all the belts attach to frame. Pics will follow as soon as possible.

Mike Braddock · #10 (**permalink**) 03-25-2002, 10:35 AM

427sharpe,

Could you post any photos of your harness install, as I believe I would find your photos very helpful, as I am starting to look at the harness installation in our EM. What type of harnesses did you install and what length were they? You mentioned they are short to minimize belt stretch, but are they shorter than the common 55" belts? Thank so much.

Mike

Campy · #11 (**permalink**) 03-25-2002, 12:29 PM

Check out this thread. I posted some pics of my install.

http://www.clubcobra.com/forums/show...495#post125495

Mike Braddock · #12 (**permalink**) 03-25-2002, 05:37 PM

Thanks a lot Campy.

Andy Dunn · #13 (**permalink**) 03-25-2002, 06:58 PM

ah ha! It tooks some digging but I found the infamous "shoulder belt mounting war" of 2001 ...a great classic read

shoulder belt mount location

Andy