Veloce Raptor

Glad I live in Texas...

Upstate101

Are there any documented cases of testicular rupture from 5-point belts (and not 6-point)?
Personally, I am protected by slowness.

mglobe

This, plus how much value do you put on your life? A new set of Gforce six points is how much these days?

mkd944

I have often thought that it seemed very convenient for the product vendors that belts, seats, and helmets aged out. So, I went to the SFI Foundation site to see if there was any data to support this. SFI recommends that belts be inspected and re-certified every 2 years because the webbing typically loses half of its strength in one year. (See attached picture)

That being said, it still seems a little convenient since the SFI foundation is funded by the parts manufacturers but I guess its better to be safe than sorry.

Veloce Raptor

If nylon 3 point belts are good for decades in street cars, and the reams of product liability and tort lawyers both employed by carmakers and and suing carmakers have not found ANY issue with this fact, it seems a bit disingenuous for us to believe that 5 and 6 point harnesses in street-based cars for DE use have a very very short shelf life.

All IMHO, of course.

sig_a

I've never heard of belt failure of 5 or 6 or 3 point at any amateur sports car club event.

kurt M

This just proves you should not leave your belts on the roof of your house in Moab over the summer. I bet race cars see less sunlight than street cars as they tend to spend more time not in use under a cover or in a trailer or garage. I swapped out a set of nice 6 point belts on a client car that might have seen 100 hours in sunlight while at the track. Not direct sun but sun as seen from inside a car. Increase in safety for time and $ spent for this task? 0.00 Belt webbing is not made from spun Vampire. It does not sizzle and boil into smoke at dawn. Yes like many things if left in 100% direct full sun it will go bad after time but who does this?

Ding! We have a winner. The safe or sorry tack would be better focused on better systems. Much better to add a fire supression system, hans device or improved seat for the money spent on a belt system that replaces a belt system that is still far stronger than the body it is holding.

Many cars on track with incomplete safety systems. Nice belts, old format seats with little offset impact value.

944hal

I'm a member of the Tech crew with PCA at Road Atlanta. We check belts.

K964

Hey Dave,

I'm pickin' up what you're puttin' down!!! To quote the Duke, "It's getting to be re-God-damn-Diculous". Enough already.

Mike