Re: Harness

[trnsfrma@ix.netcom.com (Shawn C. Meze)]

At 01:34 AM 2/22/97 -0800, you wrote:
>
>Is a harness equipped car safer than the usual lap and shoulder plus airbag
>combo in a collision?


Id say yes, it is a safer system than the stock lap belts. Their use in 
conjunction with an airbag or not really dont matter. Preferably, if im gonna 
be in an accident, Id like to have a big pillow punch me in my face no matter 
what belts I use. 
Then again, it depends on the type of impact you have. You can have a 200 mph 
impact and walk away from it. Or, you can have a 30 mph impact that kills you 
dead. It all depends on how quick you stop. 
 

>I have no experience with a harness so I have some questions.  Are there
>four and five (and more?) point harnesses, and if so, what are their
>differences/pros/cons etc?


It depends on what your intended uses are. Typically, the 3 and 4 point 
harnesses are used for autox. (Mild use.) The 5 point belt has the added 
crotch strap that keeps you from "submarining" under the dash in an impact. 
The added bonus is that it pulls down on the belt, keeping it out of your gut 
when your driving. I tend to pull my shoulder belts extremely tight (Bad 
aviation habbit I picked up years ago) which had done this trick on several 
occasions. 
Theres a 6 point belt out there, but im not at all familiar with it.  


>Are these things easy to live with in a daily driver?


If your willing to put it on everytime, then I guess not. I only use mine for 
autoxing and the occasional child transport. (Kids look so cool in their child 
seats with the harness on!) 


>I remember seeing a harness which required them to be anchored to the rear,
>making the rear seats unuseable.  Are they all like this or are there some
>that attach only to the front?  Do they require special seats with special
>mounting points?


Most all aftermarket harness belts mount in the rear seat belt locations. 
Some, mount in the rear passenger shoulder belt location while the others 
mount directly to the roll bar. (For cars that have a roll bar or cage.) 

The Schroth rally 4's mount to the stock front seat belt locations in the 
front (for the lap belts) and in the rear 2 seat belt locations. (for the 
shoulder harness.) Rally 3's mount the same way but only have one rear 
mounting point (so your belt pulls to one side or the other and, if it breaks, 
se'lave'!) 
There are other belts out there and mount roughly in the same way. They dont 
all require special seats but it is nicer the have the seats with the slots in 
them but thats more of a luxury thing than it is a neccesity.
That about covers everything? 



Shawn
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