Removable horizontal for harness?

[Y-TRY]

I'd like to have a removable bar installed with my cage, that goes behind front seats, like Mule.

What are the issues with track approval and stuff with this? Are there types that are/aren't acceptable at tech?

I see that DSE's cage has this option, but it looks to be just a straight bar, which would put me uncomfortable close to the steering wheel.



Any thoughts on this type of set-up? Seen any cool ones?

[jcs]

I did mine with tabs welded to the main hoop, and used gussets on the tabs. This moves mine back about 1.5" from the main hoop, which was adequate to get it behind my seats enough, and I wrap the harnesses around the bar. I don't know about legality, but I figure anything is better than the alternative of using long belts angling down to the rear seatbelt anchors, which is what I had before I put the bar in.

[scogin918]

I have the same cage set-up where the bar behind the seats is set back a little and removable. I was debating on a floor mount or cage mount harness set-up also. Anybody have any preferences between the two? I think I remember somebody saying that the cage mount was the better of the two by virtue of its mounting postion.

[DeepBlue68]

If you're asking about which is better (cage mount right behind the driver's shoulders, or mounting on the floor right behind the driver's seat), the cage mount is undoubtedly better. I'm not sure how many of them do it, but a lot of racing bodies dictate the range of acceptable angles that the belt creates as it leaves the driver's seat. IIRC, the last one I saw said it had to be between 15* up and 30* down (when looking from the side). If the belt leaves the seat and goes immediately down (i.e. a floor mount), in the event of a front/rear collision, the force of the driver being propelled forward will cause the belts to cinch downward on his/her shoulders, which can crush the vertebrae in your spine.

Now, having said that, I think that a lot of racing bodies would also say that mounting the harnesses to a bar that is removable isn't that much of an improvement because you're relying on the shear strength of the pins in the bar connection, not the strength of the whole cage and its welds. Which is why those syle cages aren't approved by most sanctioning bodies I think. IMO though, a harness connection to a removable bar right behind the driver's shoulders is still better than a floor connection.

[wickedmotorhead]

I've been kinda curious about what the sanctions say on this too, since I was looking to do a removable bar with a seatbelt mount setup like this which would be a lot stronger than the typical tap mounts. The one pictured is obviously the floor mount, but I would weld the short joint to the hoop in the typical fashion. You could also just do a slight j-bend section back from the hoop first, then have the straight center section removable for more seat clearance. It would take a little longer to remove this type, but it's not like you're going to be taking it in and out everyday.

[DeepBlue68]

Here are some links to what I was talking about:

http://www.circletrack.com/techarticles/76778/

http://www.gforce.com/pdf/harnessinstall.pdf

I know this article (or ones like it) can be found at racing sanctioning bodies' websites (because I've seen it before), but I just can't find it right now. Anyway, those will give you the basic idea even though they're not official. Hope that helps

Note: The few articles I browsed through seemed to all agree that the range of acceptable harness angles is 5* down to 30* up (NOT the 30* down I posted earlier). And please don't just take my word for it if you're designing your own harness/cage system; do the research and learn for yourself. The restraint, braking, and steering systems on your vehicle should never ever be compromised on or half-a** designed. They could save or lose your life.