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Using a b pillar bar as a harness bar

PostPosted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 3:27 am
by MI_excoupe
I am going to order some harnesses for my car because I plan to auto-x it this year. I can't afford a real harness bar, so I was wondering if a regular b pillar bar would work as a substitute for a harness bar.

PostPosted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 3:30 am
by BAXTER_EJ1
Here in Canada, for it to be legal, you have to have the harness mounted to the frame of the car, so a b-pillar bar wouldn't suffice.

Not sure if it's any different there.

PostPosted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 7:49 am
by Bouli
even if it is legal, i wouldn't do it...cuz a regular b-pillar is calculated to have pressure strengt, not pull strengt (kinda hard to explain in English for me :lol: ) So i used paint:

The green bar showes the way the B-pillar has its strenght.

The red bar is the weak strenght of the B-pillar, so if you crash the harnes will pull the b-pillar and it will break.

Image





omg i can't believe my crappy English... :lol: :lol:

PostPosted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 8:02 am
by stefan
You could use it, but only when you weld it in place and use a very thick tube.
Don't forget that in a crash, you get slapped around with at least 10G... no thin aftermarket B-pillar bar can hold that much weight.

PostPosted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 9:39 am
by CivicTypeR
Not recommended. According to the Sparco Harness Manual, to safely mount a harness, it has to be mounted to the rear of the vehicle. (near c-pillar).

In the event of a high impact accident, the pillar bar will snap. Either use OEM or professional equipment, that's what you pay your money into when purchasing a car, years of safety tests / experiments by the manufactory of the vehicle.

PostPosted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 2:37 pm
by stefan
Near C pillar is great yeah, but don't mount them to a C pillar bar though :lol:

PostPosted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 2:50 pm
by Gorveatt
pull out the rear seat, pull out the rear seat belts and bolt them to that point.

PostPosted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 3:02 pm
by hondalowlow
dont be a ricer and run harnesses thats all..

PostPosted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 4:07 pm
by BAXTER_EJ1
Not really ricer if you actually auto-x and need them :eh:

PostPosted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 5:25 pm
by MI_excoupe
alright guys thanks alot... i will be racing/ autocrossing it this year so i am going to need the harnesses for sure...

PostPosted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 3:47 am
by Greasedmonkey
I regularly autox my hatch. I dont have a harness and have no need for one. Ive got friends that even track their daily cars and dont have harnesses. unless you have a REAL/CORRECT way to mount a harness, dont worry about it. You dont get up enought speed in a AUtox to make a harness worth the money spent.

PostPosted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 4:54 am
by BAXTER_EJ1
Still, accidents can occur and in those situations I'd much rather trust my life to a three point harness than a stock :thumb:

PostPosted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 10:23 pm
by MI_excoupe
thats the reason why i am wanting to get some.. i just feel safer having harnesses for when i am dragging/autocrossing...

PostPosted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 10:35 pm
by CivicTypeR
Harness are better and more protective, but only when mounted correctly.

PostPosted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 10:36 pm
by Outkast-Jayco
Yeah man if its for your safety then your gonna want to mount it to your frame....safe is safe.....its not really that hard either just pull the rear seat.

Good luck with the auto-x its addicting.