[Fot] Belts and Harnesses

[jhouathome at aol.com]

My feeling is that the real key lies not in 5 vs 6 points, but in several
other factors.  What is the seat design, and what is the design of the harness
mounting points?  The brunt of the force in a crash should be spread across
the hips and pelvis, never by the anti-sub straps.  The shoulder harness is to
restrict forward movement of the torso.  The anti-sub is mostly to hold the
lap-belt in place, not to grab you by the crotch and keep you from moving
forward, although it does do this as a secondary function.  (If you take the
full-force of a crash in the crotch, you have big problems, and not just the
obvious!)  Many configurations have the lab-belt riding too high, over the
stomach, which really defeats the design of the system.  Some seats cannot
accomodate a 6 point system effectively, and in any case a properly designed,
installed, and used 5 point is equally effective in a sports car.  The guiding
principle is that the seat, belts, roll structure, and HANS (or similar) are
to be used as a single intigrated system, never thought of as seperate
components.  The best equipment will fail to protect unless it is all
functioning together properly.  I use 5 point systems in sports cars, 6 point
in formula cars.

Bottom line for me is that if you are replacing a 5 point system, and the car
was properly designed for that system, do not change it.  You won't gain
anything except another belt to deal with.  If in doubt call someone who works
in tech and they can advise on your specific car.

John






-----Original Message-----
From: marty sukey <trmarty at hotmail.com>
To: FOT <fot at autox.team.net>
Sent: Mon, Feb 28, 2011 11:37 am
Subject: [Fot] Belts and Harnesses


I will probably end up buying a new set of harnesses for the Spit this year.
or autoxing all that was required was 4 points.  For the Spit I will need to
o 5 or 6 point.  Is there any strong opinions as to which is better? I would
hink the 6 point would be more, er, forgiving in case of being actually put
o use.  What say the masses?
Thanks,
arty
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