[DeTomaso] seatbelt bar

[MikeLDrew at aol.com]

In a message dated 12/30/07 19 58 8, dferrato at aol.com writes:


> Do I remember some problem with mounting belts/harnesses to the 
> vendor supplied seatbelt bars with regard to their strength or 
> positioning?
> 
The beauty of the vendor-sourced bars is their simplicity.   They go into the 
car in minutes with no modifications to the car required.   Some have 
speculated as to how they would react in a crash, i.e. would they distort since they 
are only supported on the ends?  If the engine is out of the car, it would 
probably be a good idea to add a third mounting bolt directly in the center of 
the bar.   But when you think about it, the only way the bar could distort 
forward to any degree would be if the ends of the bar were compressed.   It would 
take a LOT of forward force to pinch the sides of the car together enough to 
let the bar and harnesses move forward to any degree.

I think we can all agree that four-point harnesses are infinitely better than 
the stock belts (which, let's remember, are getting a bit long in the tooth), 
and five-point harnesses are better still.

If you're thinking of upgrading your belts, I would install the bar without 
hesitation.   

Dennis Quella sells a weld-in kit consisting of a piece of U-channel with 
provisions for an eyebolt.   This thing is flawed for a number of reasons.   
First of all, it places the shoulder harness mount quite a bit too low.   It is 
imperative that the shoulder harnesses be mounted close to shoulder level, and 
perpendicular to the expected force.   Dennis kit mounts them a few inches 
below the shoulder bar.   (Anything lower than shoulder height reduces their 
effectiveness; mounting them on the floor makes them perfectly useless!)

This kit also requires you to both weld on the car, and cut holes in your 
back panel to feed the eyebolts through.   And finally, the belt hardware rattles 
something awful on the eyebolts, which is annoying.

I have five-point harnesses from Hall Pantera in my car, consisting of 
three-inch lap belts, two-inch shoulder harnesses and a two-inch crotch strap.   
Although the strap has a secondary benefit of preventing you from 'submarining' 
under the dash (out from under the belts) in a frontal collision, the real 
intent is to keep the lap belts from 'riding up', which they will tend to do with 
a seating position as reclined as ours, when the shoulder harnesses are 
tightened properly.   Basically, the shoulder harnesses tug up, and the crotch belt 
tugs down, keeping the lap belt centered on the hips properly.

Besides being important in a crash, such belts do a great job of keeping the 
driver planted during aggressive driving, enabling him to have a much better 
seat-of-the-pants feel for what the car is doing.

Mike

Mike


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