Safety Harness

[Steve Curren]

I am in need of assistance, Thursday I was with a group of Jeeps and one rolled about 3 times, one person was slightly injured, no belt on, and the other was a few scratches and a mad wife. I was always concerned about something like this because sometimes we do some off camber driving as well as climbing, I had been thinking of a sport cage to complete the protection. I ordered one Friday morning, I now want to get a harness that will help to keep me in the vehicle. I have seen 5 point, 4 point and various others, I would lke to see if any of you have any ideas, I want to be able to use the stock belts when not off road.
Thanks,
Steve

 

[flyingwil]

What kind of vehicle do you have and what are you fastening the harness to?

Most set ups I have seen in Jeeps are to the roll bars, where the seats are attached. I had a 4 point Simpson harness in my CJ5. The shoulder straps went through my seat to my roll bar cross member. I will see if I have pics of it when I get home (at work now).

 

[Steve Curren]

I have an Unlimited and stock seats, I am trying to figure out the best way to set it up and it would be nice to see how yours is. I appreciate any and all help.
Steve

 

[Steve Curren]

Also do you think the submarine strap is necessary?

 

[flyingwil]

Also do you think the submarine strap is necessary?

It would be necessary if front over end flip, or a high speed into a stationary object, however for your purposes, not necessarily needed.

I would go with a latch style harness and not use the crotch pincher if you do not want to you latter can add it if you feel you need it. With a 5 Pt. you can attach them to the bolts that hold your seats down, and modify it with an eye, then you clip it in for wheeling, and clip them out when your on the pavement. Also the wider the width of the belts the more comfortable they are in my opinion. I would go with a 3 inch width, and make sure it is a clip in mounting style.

 

[Steve Curren]

Wil,
Thanks for the advise, I will order one tonight and set about installing soon. I am sure that adapting the seat bracket to take an eye bolt should not be too difficult.
Thanks again for your help.
Steve

 

[flyingwil]

no problem, Just make sure to use HD hardware, A cheap eye bolt or bad weld could spell disaster.

 

[goodtimes]

Personally, I use the stock seatbelts. Unless you are replacing the seats, you are going to find it very difficult to get the harnesses installed properly. Pay close attention to the mounting instructions, and do not vary from their recommendations as to individual strap anchor points. For example, the shoulder straps need to be a certain distance apart, and a certain distance below the shoulders for them to be effective. This will require more than just a "sport cage"...it will require at least one spreader across the back of the seats. The downside is that this will greatly restrict access to the back seat/cargo area. But under no circumstance should you vary from the instructions! A improperly installed harness will be far more dangerous than staying with the factory seat belts....which do a very good job of restraining a person. What they don't restrain are the arms and legs (particularly a problem with no doors on a jeep). But harnesses aren't going to be much better. Add grab handles to the cage in locations where they are easy and intuitive to grab. Grab them often (so it is an "instinctive" move when you actually need them). Do not grab any of the tubes that make up the cage...you will crush your hand between it and the ground...very bad...again, install grab handles. Avoid cages that do not tie into the floor of your jeep! They can and do seperate from the dash. Go to the floor (ala Poison Spider), or through the dash (ala Essentially Off Road).

Something else to consider...driver mobility is important when you are in tight spots. I don't know anyone with a harness that does not disconnect at a minimum the shoulder belts, when they are in a tight spot. This just turned a safety harness into a old fashioned "seat belt" (circa 1972), which offers less protection than the factory shoulder belt (which allows the driver to move around enough to see, without disconnecting it).

In short...I am not a fan of harnesses in non-competition vehicles. They are so restrictive that people simply don't use them...which is far worse than just using the factory shoulder belt.

 

[atavuss]

on my 77 CJ7 I ran 3" Simpson 4 point race harness type belts. I also changed the seats from the stock seats to the plastic racing type seats with the slots in them for the seat belts to thread through. the seats were VERY uncomfortable on long trips but they held you in place very well. when off roading we only wore the lap belts because if you tried to wear the shoulder belts it would chafe the heck out of you, plus you, as the driver will always be leaning out checking your line of attack for the road. I had my shoulder belts bolted to the floor which is a no-no, they need to be secured higher.

 

[Ron B]

I too was thinking of some kind of harness. The factory belts seem fine except when at extreme angles they lock up, which keeps me from peeking out to check my line (or, more often than not, how much paint I'm losing). If I unclip to check, there's no way to re-fasten the belt.

Ron B

 

[Steve Curren]

I have decided to get a full harness, install it strictly according to instructions and I hope to get one that will be simple to put in and take out of the Jeep. I have thought about one that I can remove the shoulder straps when I want to. I have seen so many types and even a few that are kinda out there. Guess you must trust the advise of the experts here and also buy name brands, when I said I got the sport bar I did get the one that goes to the frame also.