Quote:
Originally Posted by 6DoF
i feel like this could be a polarizing subject, but lets hear your thoughts either way.
Seat Belts / Harnesses
i went for bright orange to contrast the blue n white, and still thinking i'd like to do an orange firewall after seeing the Backyard 55's red. i just love the accent contrast. but that's not the touchy subject.
so i got 5pt harnesses and will be installing them as a 4pt. my goal is to be better off than a 3pt kit, not race-ready. legally i could have none, but that's stupid. i don't think anyone would hate on just a lap belt cuz that's easy and way better than nothing. however with the steering wheel close i wanted more than just the 2pt lap. so i was researching 3pt and it just didn't seam like enough. (there's a reason new cars also include air bags with a 3pt) between the belt stretch, ratchet time to catch, give in the cab corner steel even with a giant weld-washer, my weight as a big dude, and the proximity of the wheel, i just didn't think it would really help enough.
i run a 5pt harness in both jeeps and love em, so that's what i wanted. however trying to get a harness bar in the cab when i'm already basically leaning on the back wall was a rough fit. i saw guys who had a tube welded from cab corner to cab corner, but i'd be leaning on the tube all the time. then i thought about cutting out that whole inner structure below the glass for more space, or running a tube behind it, but the seat leans on it and that low is a dangerous mounting angle for the shoulder belts. another option would be to just bolt the harness tabs flat to the cab structure, but they aren't designed to function in bending and still just a single mounting bolt to the sheet metal. even with a big weld washer.
so here's my solution, the harness plate. it's 12" wide with more bolts to spread the load out over a lot larger area. it's heavy enough to withstand the perpendicular belt mounting, and it let me mount the belts up into the glass area for proper angle off my shoulders. should be nice n solid around town, and any accident hard enough to bend/pull the cab structure right below where it welds to the outer skin in the window, was hard enough it's all fawked anyways. should hold me up better than a 3pt for sure, but obviously not good enough for any form of racing.
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I'm not sure the shape of your back wall there, but anyplace where you could add a 90 to your load plate would help quite a but. I might even consider extending it out to the corners with some bar stock, or better yet some angle.
That Jeep trail looked fun. I did the Great Lakes Jeep Jam myself... in a monsoon. It looks like the rain all stayed plenty notrth of you guys.