Which Hans?
05-03-2011, 09:37 PM
#16
Three Wheelin'
It is difficult to assess something like this remotely and without pictures.
First and foremost, I recommend contacting the manufacturer with any questions. I have spoken to them a few times and they were very helpful. The first time I spoke with them was to ask if I could share a medium-sized HANS with my wife, whose neck is more on the small size, while I am more of a medium. They said of course.
It sounds like you are planning to use this in a street car. I have seen folks try to use these with harness bars and various roll bars in newer street cars, with various seats. It is important to make sure the shoulder harness angle off of the driver's shoulders meets HANS specs. When I first used mine, I foolishly disregarded this spec and went out on track with a steep angle on a 105 degree afternoon at altitude. By the fourth or fifth turn, I could not breath. That was not a good feeeling.
So I lowered the seat since I did not want to add a horizontal bar to my cage that was higher than the original one. I needed to lower the seat anyway.
One of my friends with a similar car (the PCA Tech chair) and a Sabelt seat had an even more severe angle when he first used his HANS. He did not have trouble with lung compression, but the stewards told him to fix it. So he had a bar added. Yes, in some organizations, stewards check these angles.
So make sure your angle meets their specs, and for that matter all drivers of the car, not just you.
In my car, with a Bell M3 helmet and a Recaro Pro Racer seat, I had some uncomfortable contact between the HANS and my seat back. In the esses at Sears point, this would result in upward pressure on the bottom of the helmet in the back, tilting the helmet. It was not very comfortable, and very distracting in a place that requires great concentration.
I did not want to buy a new seat, so I removed the little pad on the HANS and added just a tad more rake, and the problem was gone. I used some aluminum shim pieces to get the rake I needed.
Like many, I found that getting used to HANS was easy. But I would not simply state that you will get used to it if there is interference in the back. You may have to remove the pad and/or add a little rake. I doubt whether you would have to get a different seat or HANS.
First and foremost, I recommend contacting the manufacturer with any questions. I have spoken to them a few times and they were very helpful. The first time I spoke with them was to ask if I could share a medium-sized HANS with my wife, whose neck is more on the small size, while I am more of a medium. They said of course.
It sounds like you are planning to use this in a street car. I have seen folks try to use these with harness bars and various roll bars in newer street cars, with various seats. It is important to make sure the shoulder harness angle off of the driver's shoulders meets HANS specs. When I first used mine, I foolishly disregarded this spec and went out on track with a steep angle on a 105 degree afternoon at altitude. By the fourth or fifth turn, I could not breath. That was not a good feeeling.
So I lowered the seat since I did not want to add a horizontal bar to my cage that was higher than the original one. I needed to lower the seat anyway.
One of my friends with a similar car (the PCA Tech chair) and a Sabelt seat had an even more severe angle when he first used his HANS. He did not have trouble with lung compression, but the stewards told him to fix it. So he had a bar added. Yes, in some organizations, stewards check these angles.
So make sure your angle meets their specs, and for that matter all drivers of the car, not just you.
In my car, with a Bell M3 helmet and a Recaro Pro Racer seat, I had some uncomfortable contact between the HANS and my seat back. In the esses at Sears point, this would result in upward pressure on the bottom of the helmet in the back, tilting the helmet. It was not very comfortable, and very distracting in a place that requires great concentration.
I did not want to buy a new seat, so I removed the little pad on the HANS and added just a tad more rake, and the problem was gone. I used some aluminum shim pieces to get the rake I needed.
Like many, I found that getting used to HANS was easy. But I would not simply state that you will get used to it if there is interference in the back. You may have to remove the pad and/or add a little rake. I doubt whether you would have to get a different seat or HANS.
05-03-2011, 09:44 PM
#17
Three Wheelin'
I repeat, I could not breath. Get that angle in spec! Once when shopping in Wine Country Motorsports at Sears Point, I encountered a friend and fellow instructor just about to buy a HANS. He had a GT3 and some type of harness bar. He had no clue about the angle specs and neither did the sales rep. He could not use the HANS without changing the seat height or the harness bar.
That was 3 years ago. I have spoken to this sales rep since, and he is on top of things now.
Joe Marko/HMS in Peabody actually designed a bracket that could be used to attach to a cage or roll bar horizontal to provide a higher mounting point for shoulder belts. There is a thread on here where I inserted a picture.
Get the angle right!!!
That was 3 years ago. I have spoken to this sales rep since, and he is on top of things now.
Joe Marko/HMS in Peabody actually designed a bracket that could be used to attach to a cage or roll bar horizontal to provide a higher mounting point for shoulder belts. There is a thread on here where I inserted a picture.
Get the angle right!!!
05-04-2011, 03:13 AM
#18
Instructor
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It is difficult to assess something like this remotely and without pictures.
First and foremost, I recommend contacting the manufacturer with any questions. I have spoken to them a few times and they were very helpful. The first time I spoke with them was to ask if I could share a medium-sized HANS with my wife, whose neck is more on the small size, while I am more of a medium. They said of course.
It sounds like you are planning to use this in a street car. I have seen folks try to use these with harness bars and various roll bars in newer street cars, with various seats. It is important to make sure the shoulder harness angle off of the driver's shoulders meets HANS specs. When I first used mine, I foolishly disregarded this spec and went out on track with a steep angle on a 105 degree afternoon at altitude. By the fourth or fifth turn, I could not breath. That was not a good feeeling.
So I lowered the seat since I did not want to add a horizontal bar to my cage that was higher than the original one. I needed to lower the seat anyway.
One of my friends with a similar car (the PCA Tech chair) and a Sabelt seat had an even more severe angle when he first used his HANS. He did not have trouble with lung compression, but the stewards told him to fix it. So he had a bar added. Yes, in some organizations, stewards check these angles.
So make sure your angle meets their specs, and for that matter all drivers of the car, not just you.
In my car, with a Bell M3 helmet and a Recaro Pro Racer seat, I had some uncomfortable contact between the HANS and my seat back. In the esses at Sears point, this would result in upward pressure on the bottom of the helmet in the back, tilting the helmet. It was not very comfortable, and very distracting in a place that requires great concentration.
I did not want to buy a new seat, so I removed the little pad on the HANS and added just a tad more rake, and the problem was gone. I used some aluminum shim pieces to get the rake I needed.
Like many, I found that getting used to HANS was easy. But I would not simply state that you will get used to it if there is interference in the back. You may have to remove the pad and/or add a little rake. I doubt whether you would have to get a different seat or HANS.
First and foremost, I recommend contacting the manufacturer with any questions. I have spoken to them a few times and they were very helpful. The first time I spoke with them was to ask if I could share a medium-sized HANS with my wife, whose neck is more on the small size, while I am more of a medium. They said of course.
It sounds like you are planning to use this in a street car. I have seen folks try to use these with harness bars and various roll bars in newer street cars, with various seats. It is important to make sure the shoulder harness angle off of the driver's shoulders meets HANS specs. When I first used mine, I foolishly disregarded this spec and went out on track with a steep angle on a 105 degree afternoon at altitude. By the fourth or fifth turn, I could not breath. That was not a good feeeling.
So I lowered the seat since I did not want to add a horizontal bar to my cage that was higher than the original one. I needed to lower the seat anyway.
One of my friends with a similar car (the PCA Tech chair) and a Sabelt seat had an even more severe angle when he first used his HANS. He did not have trouble with lung compression, but the stewards told him to fix it. So he had a bar added. Yes, in some organizations, stewards check these angles.
So make sure your angle meets their specs, and for that matter all drivers of the car, not just you.
In my car, with a Bell M3 helmet and a Recaro Pro Racer seat, I had some uncomfortable contact between the HANS and my seat back. In the esses at Sears point, this would result in upward pressure on the bottom of the helmet in the back, tilting the helmet. It was not very comfortable, and very distracting in a place that requires great concentration.
I did not want to buy a new seat, so I removed the little pad on the HANS and added just a tad more rake, and the problem was gone. I used some aluminum shim pieces to get the rake I needed.
Like many, I found that getting used to HANS was easy. But I would not simply state that you will get used to it if there is interference in the back. You may have to remove the pad and/or add a little rake. I doubt whether you would have to get a different seat or HANS.
I repeat, I could not breath. Get that angle in spec! Once when shopping in Wine Country Motorsports at Sears Point, I encountered a friend and fellow instructor just about to buy a HANS. He had a GT3 and some type of harness bar. He had no clue about the angle specs and neither did the sales rep. He could not use the HANS without changing the seat height or the harness bar.
That was 3 years ago. I have spoken to this sales rep since, and he is on top of things now.
Joe Marko/HMS in Peabody actually designed a bracket that could be used to attach to a cage or roll bar horizontal to provide a higher mounting point for shoulder belts. There is a thread on here where I inserted a picture.
Get the angle right!!!
That was 3 years ago. I have spoken to this sales rep since, and he is on top of things now.
Joe Marko/HMS in Peabody actually designed a bracket that could be used to attach to a cage or roll bar horizontal to provide a higher mounting point for shoulder belts. There is a thread on here where I inserted a picture.
Get the angle right!!!
05-04-2011, 01:39 PM
#19
Three Wheelin'
Great! Good luck with the HANS.
-Mike
-Mike
