Harness Specs SFI/FIA??

[TTA89]

I'm dropping the car off next Tuesday for the Rollbar install and its coming down to the deadline to purchase harnesses. I was emailing back and forth with a vendor and he mentioned that I probably don't need the harnesses to be FIA certiifed if I'm not doing wheel to wheel racing.

I'm looking at 6 point G-Force harnesses and they are both SFI and FIA certified but it costs more money for the patches that actually say that.

Looking through the rules it doesn't specifically say anything about certification so it required?

This is what I see in the rules unless I missed another section.



Cars must have well mounted, metal-to-metal, quick release
lap safety belt AND upper body restraint in good condition. A
five point harness consisting of, minimum 3" wide lap belts
and minimum 2" wide shoulder harnesses, are required in
Prepared and Street Prepared cars (For more detail refer to
Street Prepared and Prepared rules) and are strongly
recommended for Showroom Stock and Street Touring cars.
"Y"-type shoulder harnesses are permitted in Showroom Stock.
Shoulder harnesses may not be mounted to the package shelf
under the rear window and each side of the shoulder harness
shall have a separate mounting point. The shoulder harness
should be mounted behind the driver and above a line drawn
downward from the shoulder point at an angle of forty (40)
degrees with the horizontal. For more information on driver
restraints, consult the SCCA GCR.

When constructing bars for harness attachment be aware of the
potential safety hazard that can be created by the addition of
a horizontal bar directly behind the driver's seat. In the
event of a rearward impact the driver's seat can be broken
allowing the occupant(s) to impact the horizontal bar
resulting in serious or fatal neck injuries. Suggestions for
avoiding this potential hazard include moving the horizontal
bar as far to the rear of the car as possible, utilizing a
mount that is direct to an existing portion of the car or
installing a full roll bar with an upper seat support.

[WillM]

Hi Mike,

Excellent question. I think that there is a typo in the rulebook, but I may be mistaken. I believe the intent should be to allow 2" or 3" lap belts and require 3" shoulder belts. 2" shoulder belts should be allowed when a HANS device is used.

The 2006 COM Rulebook could use some clarification. In general, I think you would be OK to have either SFI or FIA certified belts as long as they have not expired. SFI belts are certified for 2 years, FIA belts are certified for 5. Just because a belt is still within the useable date range does not mean that they should not be periodically inspected and replaced if necessary. Belts can become frayed easily, especially anti-submarine belts which can catch on the underside of seats, etc. Belts can also become brittle from overexposure to the sun, etc, which can significantly reduce the belt's strength.

The COM rulebook mentions that more info regarding harnesses can be found in the SCCA GCR, which can be found here:
2006 SCCA GCR in PDF Format
Here is an exerpt regarding harnesses:

[dennis]

Does this mean latch and link systems are not allowed? From what I'm reading it's saying that we need camlock type harnesses....

[Stynger]

Does this mean latch and link systems are not allowed? From what I'm reading it's saying that we need camlock type harnesses....

Latch and link is approved.

[TTA89]

I ended up ordering the G-Force 6 point pulldown camlock harnesses. They were around $280 shipped with seatbelt backing plates. They should arrive Friday or Monday in time for me to drop them off with the car.

3 inch shoulder and lap belts with 2 inch Sub belts.

http://www.gforce.com/products/harnesse ... rsets.html

SFI and FIA Certified so I shouldn't have to worry about it for awhile.

[WillM]

I would change that order to pull-up belts. The pull direction only refers to the lap belts (all shoulder belts I've seen are pull down). When seated in the car, I just don't have the leverage for pull-down belts.

[TTA89]

They are already in the mail. The Pull Downs are the only ones that are FIA certified, the pull ups are not. Not that I think that matters as I'll never do any wheel to wheel racing in my street car.

I dunno... What I'm finding out with the saftey stuff is that nobody agrees on anything.

Pull up or down... 4 point, 5 point, 6 point... cam lock vs latch... bla bla bla..

Wait till I ask about a Suit, Gloves, and Shoes...

[offcamber09]

Race NAKED and see what kind of disagreements that causes

Oh...hey...that's no short throw shifter

[TTA89]

That might cause wrong finger point bys! Although if it gets hot enough anything is possible.