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seatbelt top mount query
markyb - 9/7/08 at 10:04 PM

after installing my cobra style seats and belts it is clear that I would fail SVA as the upper mounts are lower than the holes in the seats.

would I be able to use longer bolts plus spacers to raise the level of the belt by approx 50cm or would so much bolt extruding from the mounting be a fail ?


CaptainJosh - 9/7/08 at 10:16 PM

Err... doesn't it have to be lower? so if you have a roll the harness holds you in.

[Edited on 9/7/08 by CaptainJosh]


markyb - 9/7/08 at 10:19 PM

i was told that I would need proof that the seat was load bearing if the top mount is lower than the hole as the belt would exert pressure on the seat


MikeR - 9/7/08 at 10:25 PM

sometimes you get away with it, sometimes you dont.

Being realistic, the rule is there for a reason. If you have a major smash, you don't want the seat belt pulling down on your back - the risk is it will break it putting you in a wheel chair or worse.

If the seat isn't load bearing (and someone on here a few years ago posted what his Cobra Roasters looked like inside (he was making it narrower) it isn't load bearing at all) i'd make the mount the correct height.


AndyGT - 9/7/08 at 11:47 PM

Crazy that when you think that most rally cars are mounted lower than the hole in the seats!!! Is it that all these cars are dangerous?? Or is it just a rule in place in case seat/safety belts are mounted dangerously low/high???

But the breaking back issue would surely depend on how tall the driver is in the seat!!


iiyama - 10/7/08 at 06:46 AM

The seats in a WRC car will have to FIA approved, so they are going to be a lot stronger then a Cobra seat or anything else that is generally fitted!


Ivan - 10/7/08 at 06:54 AM

I frankly don't see how seatbelt angle (if not rediculous) can break your back - having been in a big one I can attest as to how far these things stretch - my forehead was pressing against the windscreen and I wear my belts tight - got out of the car without a single bruise, ache or pain so am a great believer in belts.

It's the stretch that saves you.


russbost - 10/7/08 at 07:42 AM

"i was told that I would need proof that the seat was load bearing if the top mount is lower than the hole as the belt would exert pressure on the seat"
Absolutely correct for SVA - not sensible, but it is what they want


BenB - 10/7/08 at 07:54 AM

I did what you propose and it wasn't a problem. IE used a long bolt and a steel tube as a spacer to raise the harness attachment point above the captive nut.


ReMan - 10/7/08 at 10:11 AM

My tester made reference the fact that that my Cobra seats were capeable of load bearing if that helps.
Others have taken the belts round the ouside of the sets for the test


markyb - 10/7/08 at 10:51 AM

cheers everyone

I have been told that another alternative would be to add some angle to the seat so that the front is higher