Safety harnesses.

[John Dolan - Wirral & North Wales AO]

 

Don’t buy cheap Chinese safety harnesses.

 

If you want to frighten yourself, search “Luis Monzon Artiles” on Facebook. The in car video is horrendous.

 

 

[CraigHew]

Quite agree, some things are OK to take a punt on but nothing critical......

[Maurici- CleaR Motorsport]

Im tired to see this post in internet... and is a considerable amount of bul****, from the point that the guy driving the car wears SABELT harnesses and not fake OMP and we dont know what happened.

It looks like it was a wrong installation. Apparently (and I repeat, apparently) he had them bolted down trough the snap hook instead of propper harnesses eyes. This made the tension to be incorrect for the action of  the snap hook, ant the result can be seen in the video.

 

Meanwhile everybody is crushing an unfortunate fellow driver seriously injured, that maybe installed the safety equipment wrong, but he definitely didn't buy fake OMPs, SIMPLE BECAUSE HE IS NOT WEARING THEM IN THE VIDEO.

 

Luis Monzon f***ed it up big time puting this post together. And is a shame because he is a legendary driver in spain and he should know much better than this, as he is suffered harassment from the media before.

 

But, hey. That is internet. Everybody copies what they see without even checking out if is true.

 

PS. Regardless of this picture and information being fake... no, please, don't buy aliexpress harnesses...

[Kingster]

Moved this post as there’s not actually an item for sale!

 

Also please check facts before posting unverified content - I tend to use Snopes for anything I find that might be worth warning members about (repeat - before posting) - ta!

 

EDIT: of course it goes without saying to buy such safety critical items with your eyes wide open! €33 for a 6-point FIA harness? Your ‘avin a giraffe!

[John Dolan - Wirral & North Wales AO]

Sorry, thought Facebook was 100% genuine, silly me, (yes - silly me). Haven’t heard about Snopes, who are they?

 

And it looks like Spanish scrutineers are about as useful as the seatbelts. I hope I would have spotted incorrectly fitted belts when I was scrutineering rally cars in the 70’s and 80’s. My old Escort had Sabelt comfort pads on the Britax belts, looked good. My Westie’s OMP belts are dated 1996, new when the car was built. Will check if they are genuine.

 

Sorry if you’re tired of seeing this post Maurici. Apologies as I’m trying very hard not to take the proverbial about something that is a very important lesson though, fake or not. Caveat emptor, as they say.

[Maurici- CleaR Motorsport]

Common sense they say.

30 quid harnesses won't be a good thing. And play with your safety is pretty foolish.

 

Regarding the facebook post... sorry I've been so enthusiastic in my first intervention... it just burns me up to see fake news.

The poor guy didn't wear fake OMPs. And that discredits all the info. Its simply been a fabricated post.

 

Could he have been wearing sabelt fake harnesses?? Maybe... who knows. A quick research in internet, gave me my own opinion about it... and wouldn't be more than assumptions. 

[Kingster]

7 hours ago, bollockybill said:

Apologies as I’m trying very hard not to take the proverbial about something that is a very important lesson though, fake or not. Caveat e

No apology necessary in my view. 

 

Bringing the cheap Chinese copy “danger” to our attention can only be a good thing. 👍 

 

My point was that in this age of Fake News - it’s easy to rapidly spread gossip and rumour, so prudent to do a quick double check. 

 

Snopes.com is a site that debunks common internet myths - and also verifies a few  true ones too!

 

But as is often the case when buying expensive race items - if they are at a stupidly low price, walk away (something you may not do if you use them!)

[John Dolan - Wirral & North Wales AO]

The accident to Monzon wasn’t fake and neither is the video of his accident.

 

He was hospitalised with a pneumothorax and damage to his eyes, retina separation, and no doubt a few bruises, gladly fully recovered.

 

On another serious point, as I said, my Westie V8 is 23 years old, So it has 23 year old seat belts, flexible brake hoses, master cylinder seals, brake caliper piston seals, fuel hoses, steering and suspension components etc. The car is always taken to a reliable and trustworthy mot station, and yes, they often point out a leaking seal or failed light, knowing that it will be fixed by me the next day. And I spend more time under my car than under my wife. That’s under her thumb, by the way. 🙂

[Andrzej]

16 hours ago, maurici said:

"...PS. Regardless of this picture and information being fake... no, please, don't buy aliexpress harnesses..."

 

And - do buy full face helmet - on the video it seems that it saves driver mandibular bone hitting steeringwheel.

 

And - not sure (as I am new to the forum) if there is some description (Westfield official note maybe? ) how to modify harness attachment points in Westfields, to suit HANS collar ? the original ones are far apart , and there is a possibility for the belt to slip from the shoulder in case of accident. I have read that in Caterhams there is a requirment (racing caterhams) to modify those attachments. How aboutt Westfields ?

 

[Maurici- CleaR Motorsport]

5 minutes ago, Andrzej said:

 

And - do buy full face helmet - on the video it seems that it saves driver mandibular bone hitting steeringwheel.

 

And - not sure (as I am new to the forum) if there is some description (Westfield official note maybe? ) how to modify harness attachment points in Westfields, to suit HANS collar ? the original ones are far apart , and there is a possibility for the belt to slip from the shoulder in case of accident. I have read that in Caterhams there is a requirment (racing caterhams) to modify those attachments. How aboutt Westfields ?

 

Not had this problems in the hans before.... and I use them regularly. 

Not sure if my attchments are the std factory ones tho...

[Andrzej]

There are tables with exact distance beetwen the attachment points, depending on collar width and distance from neck to attachent.

 

for examle here :

 

https://www.schroth.com/en/segments/racing/service/installation-instructions.html?file=files/schroth/pdf/installation-instructions/racing/ea_8-2_2019-04.pdf

 

page 9

 

The attachment point should be closer to each other , than width of the HANS collar.

Factory are to far apart. Much more than in those tables.  I assume the factory ones are for road use belts, not racing. It is on my list to welding modyfications this winter. Just wonder if there are some official instructions regarding this topic.

The same for the crotch straps - cant find official notes regarding mounting points and routing (under seat? sitting on them ? mount to the same as lap belt points ? to those liitle more forward points ? ) those belts.

 

EDIT , here is topic regarding this modyfication in Caterham, on the pictures is shows how much closer are the attachment points.

https://www.academyracer.co.uk/hans-adjustment-arch-motor-manufacturing-co-ltd/

 

@maurici - can You take a picture of Yours belt attachments ?

[Maurici- CleaR Motorsport]

@Andrzej

 

I will tomorrow... if possible sat with my hans on me... right now the car is locked into the trailer:)

[Andrzej]

No hurry! just photo - are there additional threated tubes welded to chasis or other type of mounting ?

Anyway, thank You in advance!

 

In meantime - in mine Aerorace (below  picture from Aeorace manual)  it is 23cm apart.  Should be 11,5 - 15,5cm according to above table. And on photos from Caterham building above, it looks like they do it according to those tables.

 

[cast iron]

I was pulled at Donnington for the incorrect threading of my harness through its buckles, 3 years and first to spot it!

[Andrzej]

And what kind of modification have You made ? is there a description on the Forum ?