ok i get you. i can see where your coming from dude, i just think if the 2 piece was to break, itd break regardless of wether your using a harness or the standard seat belt, if u get me?
It's not the breaking that's the risk, it's it tilting.
Sticker as fitted to 3 door VAG cars with Recaros, they use a slightly different tilt catch, but the potential for collapsing, however small a risk is acknowledged.
Sticker as fitted to 3 door VAG cars with Recaros, they use a slightly different tilt catch, but the potential for collapsing, however small a risk is acknowledged.
It's not the breaking that's the risk, it's it tilting.
Sticker as fitted to 3 door VAG cars with Recaros, they use a slightly different tilt catch, but the potential for collapsing, however small a risk is acknowledged.
cheers for the info dude, and its been well noted :thumbsup:
do you know how to disconnect the tilt mech?
I'm looking into it now, seems it is a cable that just needs disconnecting.
There's more than one way of skinning a cat though, you may be able to drill the lever and use a lock pin?
There's more than one way of skinning a cat though, you may be able to drill the lever and use a lock pin?
the latter seems a really good idea mate. something that you could just put in and lock it off for track days etc, and pull out when u need practicality again
Yep, I know it sounds a bit old man and lecturing - but I'd hate for someone to get needlessly hurt.
If mounting your harness at angle >45 degrees i.e. rear seat belt anchor points, you'll be stressing a two piece seat at it's weakest point. Like Mike, dont want to preach.
To set my car's harnesses up to MSA spec took several hours; welding four base plates to the floor/ transmition tunnel to anchor the eyelets securely. Wrapping the harness round my roll cage's harness bar was the easy part.
the folding mechanism is no where near where the harness touches the seat? and thats y 3 point are better for this application as they dont strain the seat?
The lever which you use to tilt the seat, that's in the harness guide holes, assuming the 197 is the same as the 200 right? Does it look like the one below??
The point being, the strap can come into direct contact with the lever and given the force of your body can go in any direction, there's chance the strap could action the lever, tilting the seat and breaking your back. It isn't particularly hard to move the lever, so it wouldn't be that low a risk.
That's why Recaro themselves state you cannot use harnesses with these seats without disabling the lever. Even then, the angles have to be carefully considered as you're loading the seat in a completely different way to the normal belt.
The other point - a 3-point isn't better than a 4 in any situation, which is why they're not allowed in competition.The MSA blue book is really useful in terms of guidelines for fitting and using things safely.
There's bugger all else, as the crazy rules in this country let you do pretty much anything, whether it is safe or not. I'd Like to see the German rules here, where every addition has to be TUV approved and inspected as safe and correctly installed.
The point being, the strap can come into direct contact with the lever and given the force of your body can go in any direction, there's chance the strap could action the lever, tilting the seat and breaking your back. It isn't particularly hard to move the lever, so it wouldn't be that low a risk.
That's why Recaro themselves state you cannot use harnesses with these seats without disabling the lever. Even then, the angles have to be carefully considered as you're loading the seat in a completely different way to the normal belt.
The other point - a 3-point isn't better than a 4 in any situation, which is why they're not allowed in competition.The MSA blue book is really useful in terms of guidelines for fitting and using things safely.
There's bugger all else, as the crazy rules in this country let you do pretty much anything, whether it is safe or not. I'd Like to see the German rules here, where every addition has to be TUV approved and inspected as safe and correctly installed.
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The shoulder harnesses, in an ideal world, should be mounted horizonally. Therefore exerting no rear and downwards force on the seat and more importantly, your spine.
Here are my harnesses (mounted to MSA spec) which you can see are mounted well within the 10 degrees in the diagram further down.
You start increasing the angle, the more force you're exerting on the base of the seat and possibly in the event of an accident, your spine. This normally isn't too much of a issue one piece seat, a standard two price seat is designed to work with the standard enertia reel 3 point seat belt rather than a harness
FIA guidelines:
Chances are you'll be fine but there are inherent risks. I'm no expert, I leave that the guy who built and looks after my car. This is why my harnesses are used in conjunction with an FIA approved seat and a full welded in roll cage with harness bars.
Harnesses are also a PITA on the road. I commuted for a few months in my track car and novelty wore off in about a week due to strapping in and not being able to reach the radio
