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The mkiv Supra Owners Club

Harness bar?


berg
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I know there ain't much call for home made on here, but I made my own. I used a rear strutbrace type setup using the ringplates from a cusco item I think it was, used some thick steel channel and some elbowgrease and it works like this:

 

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/72224_10151261071569735_1952688153_n.jpg

 

it won't suit everyone, as I can only run it with the rear seats locked in the down position- but as I only use the harness on track its not a problem for me. As for its rigidity / fit for purposeness, the scrutineers at the track seemed happy with it. except at the last event when I made the mistake of leaving the missus in the passenger seat, and when asked she told them it was made out of plastic :blink:

 

the only supra specific off the shelf harness bar I could find years ago was the US sparco one, but that was like £400. if you could find one. sounds like funky do one now so you should be OK.

 

I'll expect some people might come along now and tell you not to use a harness in a car with no cage..............

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There was an interesting 'discussion' re the safety of harness's in cars but not re cage/no cage, simply Hans device and no Hans device, I havent read it but the Vascular Surgeon arguing that harness's were dangerous without a Hans had to admit defeat as it appears the harness actually has more 'give' than OEM belts.

 

http://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=378607

 

The discussion was on 6speedonline.

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Well me and the mrs walked away from a head on collision in which the other party was being chased by traffic police on the wrong side of a dual carriageway..The other driver didn't get so lucky in a newer 'safer' car..

 

I broke my collarbone from bending the steering wheel but my mrs had cuts and bruises.. As you can see the impact was on her side

 

I had 4 point harnesses/cage/bucket seats..

 

image

 

Think that speaks volumes.. Traffic/paramedics/fire were astonished we weren't more seriously injured considering speeds involved etc

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I know there ain't much call for home made on here, but I made my own. I used a rear strutbrace type setup using the ringplates from a cusco item I think it was, used some thick steel channel and some elbowgrease and it works like this:

 

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/72224_10151261071569735_1952688153_n.jpg

 

it won't suit everyone, as I can only run it with the rear seats locked in the down position- but as I only use the harness on track its not a problem for me. As for its rigidity / fit for purposeness, the scrutineers at the track seemed happy with it. except at the last event when I made the mistake of leaving the missus in the passenger seat, and when asked she told them it was made out of plastic :blink:

 

the only supra specific off the shelf harness bar I could find years ago was the US sparco one, but that was like £400. if you could find one. sounds like funky do one now so you should be OK.

 

I'll expect some people might come along now and tell you not to use a harness in a car with no cage..............

 

Yer theres plenty of common debates, dont use harness without cage, but then a cage without wearing a helmet can also be dangerous, i guess it should either be a race car or a road car, unless you fancy wearing a helmet to the shops lol

 

Yours looks good though especially for a home made item, although i did read harnesses could be dangerous and cause damage to shoulder/collar if they werent at a straight angle going back?

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very interesting posts!

 

rob- that's mega mate- soooo glad you had all that safety kit on board for such an event- very very glad you came out relatively unscathed! awesome.

 

dude- nice to hear a positive about harnesses for once. will have a proper read of that cheers :)

 

berg- thanks mate LOL I did expect negatives TBH. as for the angle yeah I think your right, straight back like a purpose built harness bar (in my head anyway) would be best. I remember when I first started playing with track kit years ago seeing a diagram (might have been some msa blue book literature or maybe a diagram from somewhere like demon tweeks, can't remember) and it had a max angle from centre line stated- when I did a mk5 celica I could even use the rear seatbelt anchors and that was within limits. The supras rear seats / boot deck where the strut brace is happens to be even higher relative to the front seat, so with that in mind I was happy with how I made it.

 

There's loads of arguments / pros / cons / debates on what's best for road- I'm building this one similar to my Mk2 fast road celica I used to have- rear cage, as its less impact on the "wear a helmet with a cage" reasoning, but using the harness bar instead of the rear belt mounts as to comply with the regs on the class I run in, I have to keep all interior.

 

At the end of the day it will always be a compromise to be practical. Let us know how you get on searching for a harness bar :)

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Slightly off topic here but is there any harnesses out there that bolt to the existing mounting points within the supra, without the need for a bar? Or can these be connected to a rear strut brace? I use my supe daily and have been toying with the idea of fitting a harness for the drivers seat for those spirited drives but also wanted to keep the existing seatbelt for day to day use so still weighing up the best option :)

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