Harness bar
 

Well, I've done some searching, and can't find anyone who makes a harness bar *specifically* for my car... Or at least, if they do, I can't find any listings.

I've gotten in touch with a company in Davis, CA, Evil Genius Racing, that does a ton of roll cages and custom fabrication, and they tell me that they can make one for me for about $250, which ain't too bad, but they would either need my car for a day, or at least another RS coupe to take measurements from. The guy I spoke to even said he'd offer a discount to any of my freinds/club members that also wanted a harness bar made, and would let him use their car for the day for measurements.


So... input/suggestions/directions? Anybody have an RS coupe living in Davis and want a harness bar!?! :lol: Or does anyone else know of any companies producing pre-fabbed ones for GC's?

You don't need a harness bar in a GM, you can just bolt the shoulder straps to the LATCH anchors over the back seat. They are close to vertical. Because of that I never looked that hard for a harness bar for my coupe, but looking around snce I got the wagon, $250 seems to be what they all cost, or more. Maybe Nick at Speedware can hook you up?

I'll check and see if there's anyone down here. Matt's wife has a coupe, but wouldn't want a harness bar, but if it's just a quick measuring thing, might be able to work something out. Her schedule's pretty beastly, though.

Yeah, I know I don't NEED a harness bar, but I don't NEED any of the crap on my car! :lol: It's really just a matter of wanting a *more secure* mounting for them. Sparco makes a bar specifically for 93-01 sedans and wagons, but it's not right for the coupe, for what reason I don't know.

Sybir, if that would work, it'd be awesome! I don't want anybody trying to F up their schedule for me tho, so if it's a headache, no big deal!

The reason the sedan bar doesn't work is the location of the B-pillar (and therefore the shoulder belt anchors) in the coupe relative to the seat mounts that the bar ties into.

The sedan bar won't work on a coupe because it's designed to bolt between the upper B-pillar seatbelt anchors IIRC. So it's sorta D shaped, which would put the bar into the back seats on a coupe.

Cory, I think you would save yourself a ton of headaches by going with some DOT legal Schroth harnesses. The 3 point bolts to the C-pillar seatbelt anchor and the factory lap belt anchors... they're nice and secure, won't make your back seat more unusable, are probably safer than a 4/5 point harness on a harness bar, and will cost a lot less than the bar and harnesses.

Also, I'd be hesitant to use the LATCH mounts for a harness. They're designed to bolt down a 15 lb baby in a 5 lb baby seat... not a 150 lb man in a 30 lb seat.

Anyway, my 2 cents is that harness bars make you feel good, but aren't really all that safe. Probably not a big deal while autocrossing... but for less money you can do the Schroths and be safer and still be strapped down nice and tight.

I've already got the harnesses tho, remember? And when I bought them, they were $30 cheaper than the Schroths, and have cam locks and everything!

F* the rear seat! The only person who sits back there is Bobby, and he doesn't mind riding in the trunk... :lol:

Yeah, at auto-x and the occasional PDX day, I don't think it's THAT big a deal, but was just thinking of ways to mount them a bit more securely. Guess it's time to just cage this bitch!

I hate the way the Schroths feel too. Dunno why. When I rode in the Frankensuby, just rubbed me the wrong way...

No biggie, just thought I'd see what you guys thought!

The passenger seat sucks. It's too high, making the belts fit poorly. I'm plenty comfortable in the driers seat w/ the schroths, but uncomfortable in the passenger seat.

Hey, Matt here.

I have an '01 coupe, but my wife is the primary driver. Would this guy in Davis really need the car for an entire day, or could I swing by on a Saturday/Sunday and have him do the measurements while I wait? With the spring semester starting next week, my having a full time job and her as well, I'm not sure if I could accomodate losing a car for a full day, but I could definitely drive it out there on a weekend and spend an hour or so. My house is 10 minutes from Davis. Find out and let me know (pref. via pm so I will actually get it since I'll probably forget to check this thread) and I'll see what we can do.

Scott: Maybe that's all then. I just remember thinking specifically "God this sucks" but I never tried the driver's one on.

Matt: I'll check with him and see what he says. He may want to have it for the whole day just so once he gets it together, he can install and check for fitment issues, but he may be able to get away with just taking measurements. I'll let you know, and thank you!

If he wants I can bring it back to check fitment too.

Cool. I sent him another e-mail, describing the situation. I'll shoot you a PM and let you know what he says!

Thanks again Matt!

I am not a big fan of harness bars, or non schroth harnesses in cars without roll protection.

If you want a place to attach 5+ point harnesses, they come on the harness bar on a roll bar.

The Schroth harnesses are the only ones that are DOT approved for a reason. They have done the safety engeneering and testing to meet those requirements. Other brands haven't.

An autopower 4 point is < $500... http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show....php?t=1005822

So if you want a harness bar, put in a hoop or 4 point bar is my $.02...

I had been thinking about a roll bar as well, but was a bit out on the price. That's not too bad tho for the Autopower! I may have to check with them and see what it'd cost OTD.

Thanks Dean! $469 + shipping tho... it may be a while till my wallet agrees with the idea...

OR, until I have availability to a better way, what about the "schroth style" mounting, and I just put both of the tabs of the harnesses I already have to the rear seatbelt C pillar mounting point? It'll be a bit of a bitch since the tabs are biggger than the ones on the Schroth, but that's what I have a dremel for!

Thoughts?

It still beats walking.

I'm sorry, I am not going to make a reccomendation to install safety equipment in a manner other than how the manufacturer reccomends.

Well I've managed a hookup on free shipping from northern OR, and a co-worker who's willing to help me weld it in, so I'm calling Autopower to see what's the deal with the 4 point bar. ~$500 isn't that bad, and actual roll protection without having an entire cage to bang around on sounds like a winner.

Thanks for the link Dean.

Might also want to call these folks... they have the bassic race 4 point for $369 - $20 coupon... = $349

http://www.racerwheel.com/accessorie...es-subaru.html

Or at least use them as leverage...

Cool, you gonna buy Cory an '02/'03 Impreza to put it in? I'm not so sure using a different product's price is much for "leverage".

Also, I don't know anything about Autopower at all... the fact they sell a "street roll cage" makes me worried though. :eek:

The setup of the 4 point with cross bars looks pretty decent. I dunno about any of the other stuff, but with the 4 point welded in, from my perspective, it looks fairly stout...

I dunno. I was just looking to amp up the safety factor. I'm not afraid to pay for it, (seeing that I have a $500 helmet!) but I don't want to do anything that LOOKS safe but really isn't. (see: CrUShCO bolt in cage)

The original idea of a harness bar seems legitimate only based on the fact that Sparco makes them, to go with their harnesses, which have a name for being good equipment.

I don't know.

Got a link to any details on the cage?

I'm gonna give the dude a call today and ask some questions. The URL at the bottom of his posts on NASIOC was dead, so I couldn't check out his site...

Just the pics of the installs on the NASIOC thread, and the info. on the second site Dean posted.

Actually, I hit up the Autopower website....

I'm a little affeared of their "street" roll bars, but at least they say they're just for loooks... The "race" roll bars look like they're not too bad. (And their Spec Miata cage looks downright decent.) Just don't get the one with the bolt-in cross support. Go welded all the way!

http://www.autopowerindustries.com/I...g/DSC_2848.jpg

http://www.autopowerindustries.com/rollbars.asp

Unless I am mistaken, the first cage in Gary's Shehans WRX was an Autopower, so they pass SCCA muster... The pictures of the car at Fernley have that cage in it... you can tell becasue the front hoop goes around the dash, not through it.

I know he replaced it with a Custom TC Fabrication one that went through the dashboard and had more cross pieces, etc.

I agree, the one Scott has the pictured above is probably the minimum if you are lloking for real safety. It looks pretty nice and I think is the one in some of the pictures in the Nasioc thread.