Z06Vette.com - Corvette Z06 Forum

mikahb · 03-01-2006, 06:06 PM

I've got a full season ahead of autocross (probably 15-20 events) and hopefully at least 5 HPDE days. I'm ready to upgrade to some 5-point harnesses in my car so I don't have to expend quite so much energy just trying to stay in the seat.

Twice last year I had my drivers seat recline during moments of high lateral load/high acceleration (I'm running race tires, btw). I'd really love to have a harness bar that would brace the seat back for me also so I don't end up flopping around under my fancy 5-point harness. Also, the guys I know running 5-points with stock seats typically have the leather rubbed through where the shoulder belts rub the top of the seat - I'd also like to avoid that as much as possible.

Because I autocross in SuperStock, I'm not allowed to "do the right thing" and put a race seat in. So - does anyone out there have a harness setup they're happy with and meets most of these needs?

DJWorm · 03-01-2006, 06:38 PM

Hardbar has just finished development of their C6 Z06 Harness bar and will be releasing it soon.

You need to run a 6 point harness with stock seats. Either Brey Krause (bkauto) or Hardbar have the hardware set ups for the 6 point harness.

I recommend either a Simpson Cam Lock or Team Tech (from Hardbar) as the harness.

wallyman424 · 03-01-2006, 06:52 PM

dj, quick question. i recently put in a BK bar/lap belt mounts in my z. i have a 6 point camlock. where do i route/mount the two crotch straps? should i bolt them under the front seat mounts? if i snap them into the lap belt mount points and run them to the front of the seat they are not long enough. what do you recommend?

kmagvette · 03-01-2006, 07:05 PM

Wallyman424,

I assume you got the lap belt kit from Brey-Krause. Snap the crotch strap into one of the available slots on each side of the seat. Lay out the crotch strap so it is on top of the seat bottom, it will extend almost to the front. You then sit on top of the crotch strap and feed the link into the bottom of you cam lock.

If the crotch strap is too short, be sure you don't have the cam too far up your torso. You should get the lap belt real tight first, then hook your anti-sub (crotch straps), then your shoulder straps. When you tighten your shoulder straps, be sure not to pull the lap belts off your pelvis.

wallyman424 · 03-01-2006, 07:07 PM

interesting... for some reason, it never crossed my mind to do it like that. thanks.

mikahb · 03-02-2006, 07:02 AM

Thanks for the info. Will the Brey-Krause bar do anything to support the seat back? I saw when searching this topic where somebody implied that with the BK bar, you still had "full adjustment" of the seat. I'm not concerned about adjustment, I just want the back against something solid. Sounds like the 6-point harness will help avoid the seat wear-through issue?

kmagvette · 03-02-2006, 10:42 PM

Micahb,

The B-K Harness Bar will not add any support to the seat back. I also doubt that it would help any leather wear issues on the stock seats. I downgraded my seats to the sport seats that come with the "other" knids of C5. These have a pass through. The main advantage of the pass through is that I can run regular shoulder harnesses (no sternem strap) so it works with my HANS device.

With respect to your seat reclining, you probably need to get that fixed. Also, if you were running with the standard belts you probably were pushing on the steering wheel to hold yourself back into the seat - I found myself doing this when I went to Spring Mountain. Once you are strapped in properly, your seat back issue may resolve itself. You will be the first to know

II on 6 · 03-02-2006, 11:27 PM

I have a Speedware Motorsports Harness Bar (Redmond WA) in my '02 Z that I track regularly at DE days. I use a 5 point harness. The seat eventually tore across the area where the two shoulder harness straps press against the sides of the seats. The seat leather tears or splits because the internal (fibreglas ?) seatback has VERY SHARP edges and the harness straps force the leather against this sharp edge. I mean, you could cut your finger on that edge! Dumb design! Dumb to not have the sport seats in the Z!

I took my problem to a local upholstery shop (the same shop that reupholstered Jacob's seats and internal leather in his LMB '02 Z). In very short order, the seat was removed and the leather cover was removed. The sharp edges were taped all around the internal seatback perimeter with a very strong high impact nylon weave fabric, extra padding was added all around the perimeter over top of the nylon stuff, and the leather side strips that had split were replaced while matching the stitching of the original. Fantastic repair...took a couple of hours and $CAD 150. IMHO the seat will never tear again.

mikahb · 03-03-2006, 06:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kmagvette

Micahb,

The B-K Harness Bar will not add any support to the seat back. I also doubt that it would help any leather wear issues on the stock seats. I downgraded my seats to the sport seats that come with the "other" knids of C5. These have a pass through. The main advantage of the pass through is that I can run regular shoulder harnesses (no sternem strap) so it works with my HANS device.

With respect to your seat reclining, you probably need to get that fixed. Also, if you were running with the standard belts you probably were pushing on the steering wheel to hold yourself back into the seat - I found myself doing this when I went to Spring Mountain. Once you are strapped in properly, your seat back issue may resolve itself. You will be the first to know

Yep - I know I'm workin that wheel pretty good trying to stay in my seat. I'd love to go to the sport seats but that disqualifies me from SuperStock where I autocross, so no can do.

Sounds to me based on all the good feedback that a Hardbar with some Crow 6-point harnesses is going to be my best bet. I'll probably then take the car to an upholstery shop to see if they can work a little magic on the fiberglass internals and foam to avoid the "shredded" look on the seats. I'll also probably add the BK belt clips as they seem like good parts and a good concept.

Thanks for all the feedback!

DJWorm · 03-03-2006, 06:57 AM

You need to decide wheather you are going to bolt the Lap belts and 6 point anti-sub strap in OR clip them in. It's not like you can just add the BK clip in mounts later if you have a bolt in harness.