HARNESSES!

[caliber676]

We'll im looking into getting some Harnesses for my GTR and I thought I'd ask some questions, just for knowledge and conversation sake.

What are some recommended companies for harnesses? The price ranges seem to fluctuate quite a bit depending on company, I'm just wondering what some people would suggest over others and why? My personal views are that Takata's look the best and also do a good job, but I think the price reflects that slightly for the "JDM baller status". I was looking to Simpson Harnesses, Haven't heard anything bad about them yet.

That brings me to another point on what style of Harness regarding the "Buckle". Is there any preference as to Camlock or tradition Latch? And what are the advantages/disadvantages of each?

And to avoid the whole application of the harness with mounting and such, It will be mounted to a roll cage, as I feel it only fit to use both in conjunction. But lets try to stay away from this subject.

[Dragon Humper]

If you plan on never setting foot on a track, use anything you want. If you are going to use them on a track make sure what the sanctioning body wants and only buy them just before you need them as they have a 2 year shelf life and then are out of date (can't be used on a track anymore).

If you use the RCI Platinum belts you can send them in to be re-webbed for free to give you another 2 years. Well priced too.


Jon.

[GavinJohnson]

im running rci platinums, i like them. but would looooove some takatas

[Velders]

I was under the impression that TAKATA's are FIA approved for either four or five years, I can't remember off the top of my head.

[JZ]

I have a set of Takatas. Aside from the JDM tyteness of the green colour, they are nothing special.

If you need belts, I have a set of black Sparco/Scroth for sale cheap. One is a 4 pt (passenger) and the other is a 5 pt (driver). Both Camlock. Used for 2 seasons. I'll sell both for $150.

[canu_50]

OMP,trs,scroth,sparco are all harnesses company that you can get easily and are all FIA approuved. All belt are good for 5 years for the racetrack, when they are fia approved.

Also depending if you have a rollbar/vge in the car, if not i really don't recommend it.

As for the latch type and the camlock, i really recommand the cam lock, easier to attach and less of a pain. The difference is jjust on how the

Latch type:

camlock:

Usually for a good set of 6 pts harness you will be looking in between 275$ and 650$.

[caliber676]

I think i'm just going to pick up some 5 or 6 point camlock harness from Simpson racing.

For mounting onto a roll cage/harness bar. I know obviously of the wrap around method of attaching to the harness bar, but I have also seen/heard of people welding a mounting eye-bolt and using the clip-on style harness ends. I much prefer the idea of having a harness that i can easily unclip instead of undoing the loops. But is the welded eyebolt an acceptable way of fastening a harness? or is it some half-ass'd hillbilly method, like I assume it is?

[RHDskyline]

I don't want to start a new thread for this, so I thought i would just ask it in here

I am planning on getting racing seats for my gts. I don't have any plans of tracking the car as of right now, but that might change.

I mostly want to get racing seats because i don't like the look of a stock gts seat (who does). I also like the look of a harness and seat.

Maybe I am just a little fast and furious ricer (i hope not)

Anyway. If i get racing seats I want a harness mostly because stock seatbelt and racing seat don't look that great, and probably won't function that great.

If there a way of getting a functional harness in my gts with out a rollcage?

I was reading on this site, and it makes sense. That a harness without a roll cage is like death on a stick in the case of a roll over

ANY info is helpful

Thanks


Nathan

[caliber676]

Well, if you really don't care about the safety issues about the use of a harness without a roll cage, there are options for you. (Honestly, its not my place to tell you you should have a roll cage or not, its perfectly fine to not want one, its your car, your life and you are old enough to determine your own amount of safety)

That being said you can buy Harness bars that mount right behind the front seats. I think Do-luck makes them, along with some other companies. That is probably your best bet, although getting to the rear seats would be difficult and having a metal bar back there would be unsafe for the passengers if an accident occured. Some other people mount the harnesses into the rear seatbelt mounts, now this is not recommended because the angle as which the harness is mounted is too low and can potentially compress vertebrae in an accident. This is said to be increased the taller you are, and with me being 6'4", i wouldn't want to risk it. As well, having rear passengers would be impossible with two straps going through the seats.

I had ideas much like yours a long time ago and after everything, i felt that if I was going to be dropping over a thousand on harnesses, a harness bar and installation, along with $3200 in bride Vios3 bucket seats. I might as well spend another $1000-$1500 and get an 8-point bolt in cage or custom welded cage and do it right the first time. Not to mention, you can just scrap the back seats, cuz they'd be useless anyways. I figure, whats $1000-$1500 when your talking safety and your life, but thats just my views, your definitely entitled to your own.

[RHDskyline]

You made very valid points there.

Ok. Say i was to get a custom mounted roll cage, so that is the best way. for safety.

What are my options then for a harness and still having my back seats

Thanks for all the info to. It really helps

Nathan

[caliber676]

Well, Its suggested that if you have a cage that you only use your car for track and wear a helmet at all times to prevent a fatal contact with your head and the cage, but to be honest, half the people who have them in their skylines don't follow that and use it for looks, so thats another choice of your own.

There are actually no definite choices that incorporate a harness, cage and back seats. You really have to sacrifice your back seats or the safety of your rear passengers to have harnesses. I'd say your best bet is to just get a harness bar if you really want to keep your back seats and incorporate harnesses.

If your looking into custom cages, it depends on your budget and how heavy duty you want it. You would have to talk to a fabricator to get a better understanding of that. But I can almost guarantee that your going to sacrifice your back seats if you get a custom cage that incorporates a harness bar. There are also bolt in cages that let you still keep your back seats, but none that would include a harness bar without rendering your back seats useless.

I think you want to really think of why you want harnesses and what you are going to be using them for and how often you will actual use them. Personally I have gutted the rear seats and such of my GTR and going with an 8-point cage. My car won't be a daily driver and will be used at track/autocross events, but I still will hit the town on nice days for cruising. I will be padding the cage to minimize injuries if an accident occured and I realize the risks even with padding. On the topic of restraints, I will have 5 or 6-point harnesses put in my car, but I will also keep the stock 3-point belts in the car. The reason for keeping them is for its ease, putting on a regular seat-belt is a lot easier than a 5-6 point harness everytime you enter/exit the vehicle. Not to mention it just avoids problems with authorities if they want to be A-holes.

[RHDskyline]

I Guess what I ultimately thought i wanted the harness for was for looks and cause i thought it would go well with the racing seats.

I guess I will stick with stock seat belts and take it from there.

Maybe I'll find a different track car or a different daily driver

[caliber676]

I hear you! Harnesses look much better than 3-point belts when on a racing seat. You still got some options to incorporate harnesses into your car, but most will deem your rear seats useless. Price you gotta pay for style i guess lol.

[RHDskyline]

I guess it is.

I dunno, i still think stock seatbelts and the nice brides i want to get, won't go hand in hand.

I usually have my back seats full cause i seem to always have the coolest car. And i can't imagine that this one would be an exception.


But I guess i have to decide whether to pick Style and more safety, over a stock look.


I guess in this situation I can't have the best of both worlds

[caliber676]

In the GTR its only a 4 seater and with me driving and the seat all the way back it was more like a 3 seater, plus my friends have their own cars so they can drive themselves. As well, I suppose it helps that I know that its not my daily driver.

I'm not sure what Brides you are looking at getting, but if your buying a non-reclinable bucket seat, then there isn't a way you'll get people in the back seats anyways. I have a Vios3 Lowmax and even getting behind it is hard when i need to work back there. They are very low and on such and angle that back seats wouldn't be plausible. But if your going for something like the BrixII, or Gias series, then you should be better off.

I think a very important but overlooked thing is FAKE seats. Most people stray away from fake racing seats because its not "cool", but the real problem is that you can't trust their craftsmanship. There is next to no safety with them, where as authentic seats are tested and have passed standards. its just unfortunately that any decent authentic Bride seat is going to cost you $1500-$2000 all said and done.