spoolinturbo

I have been searching and reading all about schroth for a few hours now haha.

a few members have stated that schroth 4 point harness is dot certified. anyone have any references to this information?

ill need these 4 points for streetability until i locate some bolt in fixed back seats and a nice 6 point set up.

Eastep

odds are if its FIA approved, then it'll pass DOT. FIA are way more strict.

Van

My understanding is that DOT requires some kind of retractor mechanism - this improves the likelihood that the belt will have no slack at the time of impact. Of course, because the average person is an idiot, we can't rely on people snugging their own belts down (we have to have legislation to protect us from ourselves).

I believe I'm safer in a real harness, but what do I know - the laws must be right.

spoolinturbo

hmmm but does it say that the retractor has to be automatic? or simply adjustable? cause i can skim on that due to the pull up or pull down adjustment of the shoulder belt

good point the van...hmmm...the mystery thickens haha

Eastep

^^ thats true, there is a mechanism for retaining the slack huh? As for using a harness in a street car, I was smitten by the Idea once too....until i installed them in my m2 GTi..... its was such a PITA getting in and out having to mess with the harness all the time. And w/o using a "wink mirror" i had to keep the belts unsafely loose so i could rotate enough to check blind spots. 6months of this was enough! harnesses are great for keeping you snugged in a seat with minimal body movement in a race car. On the street they = the suck

spoolinturbo

yea i would never install them on frequent driver, but it'll be rare i drive it on the streets.

krystar

http://www.schrothracing.com/main/Engineering



http://www.soloracer.com/harnschrothfaq.html

fortysixandtwo

I have to agree with Eastep.
Using harnesses on the street is a total pain. It was cool for about a week, and then got old really quick. I have Schroth 6pt harness and Cobra Imola seats and did not have the factory buckle installed so I had to use the harnesses. It was easy to get out of the car, but getting in was a different story. You have to position the belts out of the way, every time you get in (open door, reach in and throw both shoulder belts over seat, move anti submarine belt to center of seat cushion, throw hip belts over sides of seat, move back out of car, get in, clip in right and left hip belts, reach over shoulders to get shoulder belts then clip them in.)
Normally I leave the belts just loose enough to clip them in without having to adjust every time. Even with them like that, you would have to adjust them back and forth if you had a jacket on or not.
I now have the factory belt fully installed, so I use that instead. If I feel like it, I'll put the harnesses on, but it's so infrequent that doing so has moved back into the novelty category.

Funn944

If I recall, many of the harnesses meet the requirments for DOT certifications, but have not gone through the certification process. So technically they are not DOT certified, and if you have to go through a state safety check it may not pass. If you put a harness in, keep the stock lap/shoulder straps in to be safe.

nickg

they are not acceptable in almost any state inspection either.

DarylJ

+1

I had a 69 VW beetle when I was much younger. The guy I bought it from used to track it. It had 4 points in it, and they were a total PITA.

When I finally crashed it, I ended up doing so with the shoulder belts slack (because I needed to reach the radio and hadn't yet found a good station) and ended up putting my forehead into the mounted radar detector, which I pushed about an inch though the windshield. I had 2 dial marks on my forehead for a coupe of days.

What can I say....I was 17 and stupid.