Orca

I recently purchased a Hans. I have set the harness belt width behind my seat according to the instructions but after the end of a session I notice that my belts are not fully covering the wings. About half of the belt width is covering the wings and about half seems to be off the wing (on the outside).

I tighten them about has tight as I can before I go out but it seems to make little difference. Any thoughts? Is this normal?

Thanks in advance.

Wreck Me Otter

Schroth has a set of 2" wide shoulder belts that are specifically designed for this situation. The 3" wide straps are wider than the HANS and this can cause it to slip.

Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems

Orca:

You need either the Schroth Hybrid II H (2" lap belts) system or III H (3" lap belts) system to properly retain the shoulder straps on the HANS. These are specifically made for this express purpose.

Disclaimer: I am a Schroth distributor

Dbltime

Orca,

I have the Schroth belts and had the same problem. The set up was per the manual but the belts would slip off the wings after 1/2 hour or so of track time. I took a section of bicycle tube and tied it around the belts to keep the belts from spreading apart. Works fine. Also if you have shoulder belt pads they need to come off for HANS use.

RedlineMan

Hey;

I have not had that much trouble with belt slippage...really. I have also gotten in the habit of readjusting my shoulder straps occasionally.

Bill - if you get the front suspension worked out, your belts will probably stay put better!!

HANS says that as long as you have at least half the belt on top of the device, that is sufficient. Whatever you can do to increase that cannot be a bad thing. The Schroth 3/2 shoulder belt does look promising.

ColorChange

John, I really doubt half a belt will contain the Hans in any kind of a side impact. Ary you sure about this?

Dbltime

quote: Bill - if you get the front suspension worked out, your belts will probably stay put better!!

You are right John. Save money on tires as well.

RedlineMan

That's what they've said, Tim;

Someone on another thread posted a comment from a HANS representative that said as long as you've got an inch of belt coverage, it will work properly.

Take that as you will. I'd prefer more, myself... to the point that I am considering developing my own alloy "wings" bonded to the under side of the yoke.

JCP911S

I center my belts so the the inside 1/2-3/4 of an inch is over the lip on the inside. When they are tightened they sort of wrap themselves around both sides of the HANS. I have not had them slip when I do this.

BTW... more info on the Schroth

Orca

Steve, Kim, Bill, JCP and everyone else. Thanks for your input. I will try JCP's overlap strategy and see how that works and maybe supplement it with Bill's bicycle tube technique. Steve, I may also give you a call.

Thanks again.

RedlineMan

Hey;

One key is in how you tighten your belts. I work up to full tight, side-to-side, in about 3 phases. I get them about 30-60-then 80% snug, then pull the belts in to the center as far as they will go, which has the cinches touching eachother. Then, I CRANK the belts down as hard as I possbily can. Then... I bounce my butt downward into the seat base and cinch AGAIN.

It is uncomfortably tight just sitting there - a little hard to breathe even - but after a lap or so I am wanting to tighten them again! When you get one good and snug, it actually feels BETTER - more stable and secure - than not having the HANS on.

prg

I had this problem with my 2" schroth HANS specific belts in my formula mazda despite having the shoulder belt mounts at the required closeness. I epoxied a small metal bracket to the upper surface of the HANS to keep the belt in the correct position. It helps a great deal. The HANS will still ocasionally rotate enough that the belt slips off the bottom of the HANS (which is annoying mid-race). I think I'm going to epoxy a second "runner" bracket about halfway down the HANS to prevent this rotation. If I can figure out how to post a photo, I'll post one this pm.
I'd be concerned about relying on a piece of bicycle tubing to hold my belt over the HANS in the case of an impact which actually required it to function.

ltc

Speaking strictly from a design engineering perspective (I am an amateur track hack and not a racer), if I were asked to review the design/operation of the HANS, based on design and test data similar to that which has been provided in this forum and others, I would be forced to fail the design.

There simply seems to be issues with regards to the human/device/belt interface which simply aren't correct. The basic design is close, it's just that the details haven't been worked out yet; i.e. wings, no wings, back to wings, 3" belts, 2"-3" HANS specifc belts, Schroth/Penske dual shoulder belt designs (3" for you, 2" for the HANS ).
(I was taught years ago, the first 90% of a design is easy, it's the last 10% that seperates the men from the boys).
The HANS looks to be about 90% design complete.

Not a slam against the HANS, its effectiveness, not advocating any other H&N restraint, it's merely an engineering observation....

JCP911S

My biggest problem with the HANS is that I have a rigid piece of plastic between the harnesses and my fragile self. The HANS is simply not going ot distribute the load as evenly as a belt alone IMHO.

When I first got the HANS it pivoted against my collar bones. I raised the belt mounting height to reduce this, but I have to believe in a hard collosion, my collar bone is going to absorme more than its share of load throught the HANS... now maybe that's a good thing... I don;t know, but intuitively, the dual belt strategy seems best... 1 set of belts optimized to restrain your body and another optimized to restrain the HANS... but this is speculation.

seege

Has anyone tried Velcro? I have gotten in the habit of re-tightening as well and I was thinking that maybe velcro on the belt and HANS may be a simple solution.