DIY ghetto harness install.

[xbmxxx]

I had a Corbeau 4 point harness laying on my garage floor for a few years, and decided to throw it in the STi.

After reading pages and pages and pages on iwsti about how unsafe it is to mount the rear strap anywhere lower then the shoulders is, I decided to remove the top bolt that hold the upper part of the rear drivers side seatbelt in, put the bolt through the harness, through the OEM seatbelt, in to the car.

For the lap belts I removed the 2 rear seat bolts, and then put the bolt through the harness, through the seat, in to the body.

I havent tested it yet, but when sitting it the rear strap is above my shoulders, it holds me tight sitting, and I got to keep all OEM seat belts.

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/Novablue454/316713_2210304620231_1325944302_32049137_673612144 _n.jpg

If anyone is interested I can go in to further detail or get some more/better pictures.

[Bacana_Innovative_Equip.]

:? so instead of being pulled down crushing your spine/dislocating your shoulders in a wreck you will be yanked to the left possibly still dislocating your shoulders, however im intrigued and i want to see this contraption :thumbsup:

[LPPrelude]

Actually, this is proper mounting.

Lap belts bolt into the factory lap belt holes and what you did with putting the shoulder belts into the rear oem holes is rather common as well for those who do not have a harness bar.

Not so Ghetto after all :)

[xbmxxx]

From what I read it looked like a lot people were mounting the rear strap to the lower rear seat belt mount rather then the upper, which puts the shoulder straps at a dangerous angle. Well it's good to hear that I did it right!

[A1337STI]

After reading pages and pages and pages on iwsti about how unsafe it is to mount the rear strap anywhere lower then the shoulders is

BTW, While there are countless posts of people saying its unsafe, they are wrong.

lazy, trend puppies, misinformed at best, complete morons really.

It depends on which harness. I have a 4 point Scroth quick release harness made for WRX/STI . it is Designed to have the rear 2 mounting points to re-use factory seat beat bolts. So that my shoulder straps are anchored to the rear seat (and angle down) That is As per instructions. and these harness has actually gone through DOT Crash testing, and has a DOT rating (as well an SFI rating)

Its not Unsafe, its not going to "smash my shoulders" or any other BS people state. i actually hit a wall at 50 while wearing it and i was perfectly fine.

I know you're just trying to be helpful, but spreading bad information is not helpful.

Basically if you ever mount a harness, in any way, that is not according to instructions, It most likely will be less safe, then mounting it as per instructions. in some cases you may suffer greater injuries than if you installed it correctly. in some cases you will remain uninjured.

Your harness is not installed correctly. IMO that's your choice, and you should be free to do what ever you want to. :thumbsup: if you realize the risks and find them acceptable then that's your choice.

:mrgreen: okay now back to our regularly scheduled thread!

[xbmxxx]

And to clarify, this isn't going to be used for DD / street use. That's what I left the OEM seatbelt in for.

[xbmxxx]

This is the one I have. It's actually a 3 point. http://www.corbeau.com/products/harness_belts/2-inch_double_release_harness_belts/

[xbmxxx]

BTW, While there are countless posts of people saying its unsafe, they are wrong.

lazy, trend puppies, misinformed at best, complete morons really.

It depends on which harness. I have a 4 point Scroth quick release harness made for WRX/STI . it is Designed to have the rear 2 mounting points to re-use factory seat beat bolts. So that my shoulder straps are anchored to the rear seat (and angle down) That is As per instructions. and these harness has actually gone through DOT Crash testing, and has a DOT rating (as well an SFI rating)

Its not Unsafe, its not going to "smash my shoulders" or any other BS people state. i actually hit a wall at 50 while wearing it and i was perfectly fine.

I know you're just trying to be helpful, but spreading bad information is not helpful.

Basically if you ever mount a harness, in any way, that is not according to instructions, It most likely will be less safe, then mounting it as per instructions. in some cases you may suffer greater injuries than if you installed it correctly. in some cases you will remain uninjured.

Your harness is not installed correctly. IMO that's your choice, and you should be free to do what ever you want to. :thumbsup: if you realize the risks and find them acceptable then that's your choice.

:mrgreen: okay now back to our regularly scheduled thread!

What would be a better way to do it then using the harness in the link I posted?

[LPPrelude]

His point is simple.
The belts come with mounting instructions.
Some are designed to use all factory mounting points, while others are designed for "proper" setups. Proper is in quotes for a reason. If you use belts that are designed to be attached to the harness bar and you mount them some other way than directed then it is not guaranteed that they are safe.

Basically, mount them according to the directions.
If you don't want a harnes bar, then find belts that don't mount to one.
:)


Side notes... the same thing applies to people that buy a 5 or 6 point and use it as a 4 point. This is dangerous as it is designed specifically to hold you in at more places than you have installed.

[LPPrelude]

Also, if you have questions regarding what you should buy then I would suggest you call Charles over at SafeDrives and talk to him a bit and have him advise you on what to buy.

[xbmxxx]

Yes, the belts came with instructions...for how to mount with corbeau seats in a jeep wrangler. A google search on them turned up nothing either

Also, I didn't buy it. I had it laying around from a previous rock crawler I had. Figured It would hold me in my seat better for autox/rallyx/playing in the snow. As mentioned in the OP I kept the OEM seat belt for street use.

[A1337STI]

yep what LPPrelude said.

I'd look at install instructions for a Jeep. look at the angles of the harness belts, and try to do your best to match those, and realize that its not a "proper" install since its in an impreza.

You could also contact the manufacturer and ask them if they have "universal" install instructions and or imprezas specific ones.

would I do something like that? Totally! personally I'd feel like it was an acceptable risk, but i can't make that decision for you (or anyone else) but i would think of it as a risk.

Hell i routinely in drive a caged car, and i don't use a helmet (same for my GF) . I know its a risk, i explained to my GF what the risk is. we both made our own decision we are OK with that risk. :)

[xbmxxx]

dug deeper and found this:

http://pirate4x4.com/tech/billavista/PR-Harnesses/DCP_6153_small.JPG (http://pirate4x4.com/tech/billavista/PR-Harnesses/DCP_6153.JPG)
http://pirate4x4.com/tech/billavista/PR-Harnesses/install2_small.jpg (http://pirate4x4.com/tech/billavista/PR-Harnesses/install2.jpg)
Here are the installation instructions that accompany the harness. Note that the lap belts are supposed to be mounted at a 45* angle to the floor.
The shoulder harness tether anchor point is designed to be mounted some distance from the seat, as close to horizontal (from the top of the shoulders) as possible.
You are not supposed to take the shoulder harness tether through (or over) the back of the seat and straight back down. This is because, if that were done, in an impact, the resulting force from this geometry would be certain to break your collarbones. Many racing organizations state that harnesses are to be mounted level or up to a MAXIMUM of 4" below the shoulder. This is for the much shorter strap of the standard racing style harnesses.
These Corbeau 2" harnesses are a little bit different, and can catch you by surprise if you are not aware. Because they have been designed to retrofit into a huge number of different types of vehicles, many of which do not have roll-cages or "harness bars' close to the back of the seat, the tether belt is longer than you may expect. As mentioned above, it adjusts from about 23" to 38". This length allows it to be anchored to the C pillar in vehicles not necessarily designed for this type of harness - see installation instruction pictures to the left.
This means, if you have a purpose designed harness bar closer than about 23" to the back of the seat, you will either have to shorten the tether strap by having it cut and re-sewn, or you will have to mount the tether point for the tether strap somewhere else.
Having said all this, I know that a good number of rock crawlers have taken the tether strap over (or through) the back of the seat and straight down - reportedly with no ill-effects so far. This is probably due to the slow-speed nature of impacts and roll-overs in rock crawling. However, neither I, nor MAD4WD, nor Corbeau recommend this method, especially without knowing how you may use your vehicle.

http://pirate4x4.com/tech/billavista/PR-Harnesses/DCP_6153.JPG
the upper image in the middle is EXACTLY how mine is mounted.


Guess I did do it right.

[LPPrelude]

Can you do the bottom one? That looks so much better, I forget what bolts I had up there in my STI though.

[Deshi]

I have my sabelt mounted like the far right picture. Have yet to find out if it "works". Lol

[full_lock]

Side notes... the same thing applies to people that buy a 5 or 6 point and use it as a 4 point. This is dangerous as it is designed specifically to hold you in at more places than you have installed.

The sub-belts on the 5 and 6 point harnesses are actually designed to keep the camlock centered on the hips. This is to prevent submersion under the camlock, which can cause potentially fatal internal organ damage.

IMO 3 and 4 point harnesses should be illegal.