3.A.3 lateral helmet rule - How are you handling it?

[Milwaukee Midget]

 It sure would be nice to have pictures of the failed vehicles along with what corrections were recomended.
  I would bet my bippy that nothing was written down as to HOW to fix them..........   Bob

And I encourage anybody who got a 'fix-it' warning to post their experience and pics, if possible.  

JL222, I totally agree with you - many of the solutions we door slammers are having to come up with are just  questionable exercises in an attempt to comply with a rule - a rule that can probably be better handled with a stricter adherence to the HNR rule.  Personally, I don't have a lot of time to argue with the rule this year, so I'm moving forward with what probably is a crappy idea in order to compete.

I think Charles probably has the best handle on it, but he has the luxury of somewhat bigger doors and a lot more interior space.  I doubt a full containment seat could be properly constructed to fit in either Jonny's car or mine that would meet this requirement.

[SPARKY]

Corvettes aren't going to be any picnic 

[Cajun Kid]

Corvettes aren't going to be any picnic 

As long as the driver, crew and the tech inspectors aren't juiced up on testosterone or caffeine and take a deep breath and approach this in a calm and logical manner all can be OK...

The intent of the rule is to keep us safe and to keep out head from bobbing around left to right. 
Forget the tape measure... have the driver put on his/her helmet, tighten up the shoulder belts and "see" of the lateral supports prevent the head from exiting the confines of said restraint and keep the left and right movement contained.

This "should not" be that complicated...


Charles

[vette#128]

Corvettes aren't going to be any picnic 

As long as the driver, crew and the tech inspectors aren't juiced up on testosterone or caffeine and take a deep breath and approach this in a calm and logical manner all can be OK...

The intent of the rule is to keep us safe and to keep out head from bobbing around left to right. 
Forget the tape measure... have the driver put on his/her helmet, tighten up the shoulder belts and "see" of the lateral supports prevent the head from exiting the confines of said restraint and keep the left and right movement contained.

This "should not" be that complicated...


Charles

Damn, Charles......... That's the most intelligent post I have seen posted yet. The intent of the rule, tempered with common sense should rule the day. We don't all drive "off the rack" cars and "general" rules can't always apply to "specific" applications. Let's all hope that we keep safety in mind as the primary motivation, rather than compliance with a specific generalized rule. Sometimes  a rule can have the opposite effect of it's intentions......
Ed

[Bob Drury]

  Pretty much sound's like last years rule to me.............  Keep in mind that this year's rule, when passed, called for the lateral restraint's to be even two inches longer than how the rule now read's.
  I wonder if a single person from the SCTA safety committee, safety personel or accident investigators checked the shoulder belt mount's in the Danny Thompson car after the accident.
  That is the rule that need's to be enforced in my opinion.
  The rule in the 2010 book was a good rule, it just needed more clarification and a few sketch's.

[Leadfoot]

I agree with Bob, by adding to the side restraints in my car 6 inches would leave 14 inches between that and the rollbar. There is no way I can safely egress the car with the restraint in place, and to compound the problem I need the lexan that don't roll down or is hard to kick or slug out... I am considering a swing down pinable left side restraint but right now I'm open to suggestions. I think we need to look at this again and get a rule that would work for everyone..

[Bob Drury]

  Gary, I gave a pivoting restrait addition some thought, but I couldn't think up a strong enough (deflection wise) knuckle.
  I would think a good machinist could come up with one.
  My other problem is that my cage is powdercoated  and  makes welding  and grinding more difficult .
  The rule would be easier to follow if a guy was starting from scratch, but in a existing enclosed car it isn't exactly a piece of cake....................  Bob

[Cajun Kid]

Ed,  I am glad my super intelligence can be understood by mere mortals (and common folk too)  LOL  

Just kidding,,,

I sure hope everyone does take calm common sense and logic in mind when inspecting a car as it pertains to this obvious unpopular or at least reactionary and restrictive rule.

Charles

[Bob Drury]

  Charles, like in any tense situation, there are alway's going to be a few hothead's. 
  The shame is that the inspectors are only doing their job, and may or may not be allowed to propose a fix for the simple reason that if you come back with their fix and get a different inspector, he may not agree with the first guy.
  Most of the old salt's are going to piss and moan, but hopefully the inspector's will be given a lot of leeway being that this is the first year of the rule.
  It's the first timer's who are already stressed that may fall over dead.
  I remember my first time and I don't think I took a deep breath until they signed off.
  The good new's is that they are us, and don't want to send anyone home so it usually work's it self out.
  I have even had a inspector come to my pit to check on a fix, to save me from having to get back in line.........................       
                                                                   Bob

[vette#128]

Bob, I don't think anybody is burning on the inspectors........ at least I hope. Most are over-worked volenteers that are merely inspecting a car for compliance to rules that most of them had no part in making. To expand on your thought ( and my original post), I hope that they are given the authority to deem a car "safe" rather than just "compliant"
Ed

[Mac]

Have a look at these photos of my lateral head restraint and see if they help.

We recently added a lower bar behind the seat to attach my shoulder belts to - makes a huge difference to how tightly I'm strapped in.  Scream if you want photos of that too.

Miriam

[jl222]

 
 Miriam...you forgot to say its a right side steering [U.S. pasenger seat] vehicle. were looking at the right side door.
  Good job and I looked at it at EL mirage, great for cars that don't have a funny car type cage.


                      JL222

[Bob Drury]

  It look's really good.  I wish I had that much room at my B pillar........... 
  What is that padding material?  It doesn't look like ISP.  Nice installation.       Bob

[Stan Back]

Looks good -- personally I'd put a bigger drawer pull or door knob on the pin.  With thick gloves on it, I wouldn't want to search for it.

Stan

[Jonny Hotnuts]

I personally recommend pinning swing outs with double acting lock pins. You can connect a lanyard to the ring and pull it to release the pin.
These double acting pins are mil spec and used for aircraft.

MUCH easier to quickly release the pin and no chance of loosing them.

~JH

http://www.jergensinc.com/site/sfg_kwik-lok%C2%AE_pins/double_acting/ring_handle/group_no=1373m