Guidance on harness selection and fitting etc
Turbo Mini Forums

Was wondering what people opinions are on what harnesses are the best to go for? I was going to go for 3" lap, and 3" shoulder straps if possible. I've got some 'street' style 4 point harness at the minute but the cage will be obstructing the original rear seat belt mounting points.

Also wondered how people have attached the harnesses to their cars? the reason is i'm getting my mulitpoint bolt in cage fitted in the next couple of weeks so I didn't know if I needed to get some eyebolts welded to the horizontal bar?

any suggestions welcome?

Purely up to personal preference, but in my opinion 3" wide belts are a bit ott for the road, I have had 3" belts in stage rally cars before as over rough ground you need them so as the belts don't dig into your shoulders too much, but for a road car or tarmac car not really needed. My current track day car has 2" belts in it and they are fine, I used it on the road for a couple of months with these belts in with no problems.
Also, although the aircraft-style buckle belts look cool, they can be a pain in the arse having to buckle them up every time you get in and out, so again for the road I used to use the belts with the conventional seatbelt type buckle.
As for the type of harnesses, well for the road you won't really be wanting a crutch strap, my personal preference is to go for 4 point belts rather than 3 as I think they look neater.
Last time I had harnesses in a mini, I drilled holes for the eyebolts through the bottom of the rear seat 'upright' into the boot area, then fabricated a decent sized plate of approx 3mm thickness for the harnesses to pull on, to spread the load.
A final point, make sure the belts you buy are 'E' marked as otherwise sometimes you will find MOT testers might be funny about the seatbelts if they are not 'E' marked. Belts that say 'Competition use only' are certainly not a good prospect for happy relations with your MOT man!

As above realy...

Just buy the belts before you get the cage done... then you can add an extra bar if you want to wrap the belts round it at the rear...

Remember the angle of the belts is VITAL! You mustnt go down to the floor behind the seat for example. In a crash it will break your spine! The best angle is horizonal from the back of the seat.

On mine I have used the std seatbelt bolt holes for the lap belt and then welded in plates for the rear onto the reaqr blukhead.

Alex

AlexF

also, iirc aircraft stlye buckles arent road legal

And on the 7th day........... God created turbochargers!

Think they must be as in rally cars you use the roads between stages and they certainly use aircraft buckles? Also rally cars I have had to mot before have passed with aircraft type buckles in? Although they definately don't like hydraulic handbrakes....


(PS What does iirc mean??!!!!!)

"if I remember correctly"

AlexF

a ha!

hmm, good point, cant really argue that, but mr mot man definately said that aircraft stlye buckles are not road legal. must be some that are i gues, perhaps he just hadnt come across any!!

And on the 7th day........... God created turbochargers!