Harness bars!!! Who wants em?

[aspect]

Hey guys, my welder friend has decided to make up some harness bars, the same as the sparco one shown here:

http://www.sparcousa.com/harness_bars.asp

Now you're probably saying "Hey, that's pretty cool, but $399usd?!?" Our pricing isn't set yet as a prototype hasn't been made, but it will certainly be a lot cheaper than the sparco units (we are estimating 269us for steel).

Unlike the sparco units, which are MIG welded (cheap and easy), these will be fully TIG welded (stronger). They are not being manufactured on a large scale so custom one-off add-ons will be no problem, such as camera mounts for autoX or fire extinguisher mounts.

Materials can be steel or chomoly (more expensive, lighter), or if money is no object titanium is possible. Finishes can be brushed metal (cheapest), chrome like on the sparco units, or powdercoated color.

Now before we start making these, we need to know if anybody is going to buy any. Payment will most likely be by half-price deposit beforehand and the rest when your harness bar ships. Price is going to depend on how many people want them.

Due to some previous group-buys that had problems on this board (hoods) I don't really expect anybody to send money before they can see some finished parts. The first one will be going in my car and another in a Ford Festiva, and you can make your descision then.

However, there have also been posts like this one where a lot of people say they will definatly take one, and when it comes time to purchase, a very large number of people back out. This is the nature of forums! But, it would be very helpful for us to have a realistic idea of product demand.


So, what do YOU think?

[LaureltheQueen]

what would we need a harness bar for?

[mTk]

..... a harness

MK

[LaureltheQueen]

do you have a roll cage? if so, i'd assume you'd have one incorporated in that

[mTk]

If someone had a roll cage, then mos tlikely it would be. Harness bar allows you to not have a full cage.

MK

[LaureltheQueen]

but to wear a harness without a roll cage is potentially unsafe

[mTk]

Driving a car is potentially unsafe

MK

[LaureltheQueen]

but you're not pinned upright with a roof collapsing on your neck if you have a regular 3 point harness

[mTk]

then don't drive like a jackass

MK

[mTk]

Anyway, he's selling harness bars. buy one if you think you need/want it, end of story.

MK

[THAWA]

hehe, I love when you two go at it

[aspect]

Of course if you have no rollcage a harness bar is unneccesary. A lot of people run 4-points when autocrossing or similar, but anchor them to the floor in the back or to the rear lap belt mounts, which is really unsafe (in a head-on collision, the belts will force your body down and out of the harness, or give you a compression fractures in your spine). Most rally regulations have a maximum shoulder belt angle of 10 degrees from flat.

Anyways, from the feedback I've been getting on other forums, the harness bar in my legacy might be the only legacy one made, and all the rest will be for WRX, RS, and AE86.

If anyone does want one though, let me know. The other part that a lot of people have been asking for is a radiator shroud...would anybody here be interested in that?

[J-MoNeY]

Having a harness is 90% looks for spirited daily drivers. Personally, I'd love to have one, because I like the feeling of the belts as opposed to the sliding belts. I had a pair of Sparco's in my Mustang and just bolted them to the rear belt locations and it blew. So, I'd one of these powdercoated white.

[JasonGrahn]

I'll venture to say that you mounted your belts in the wrong damn place -j-.







Do a google search for shoulder harness mounting angle.

[mTk]

I'd be interested in the radiator shroud, as long as it is pretty cheap. It only needs to be a plate of aluminum slightly bent and cut

MK