Racing seats...

[Redbowties88]

Looking to ditch my mega heavy leather all power/heated seats for some lightweight sport seats.

I have some concerns maybe someone could shed some light on becuase I know it's been done before. The main concern would be the seat belt. I would like to keep that factory 3 point but I know it's routed through the seats so that's a problem. Also not sure how much my ECM would like it if it stopped getting a signal from the seats. And last but not least anyone think I would be able to sell the seats to offset the cost of the new seats. They must be mega expensive from GM.

Info would be great.
Thanks, Beech

 

[1lowdiesel]

no need to worry about codes or anything. as far as seat belts you can do a 6pt harness and bolt it to the floor behind the seat.

or make a nice low roll bar behind the 2 fronts and fasten it to there.

 

[Redbowties88]

Yea a five point would be cool but I'm not quite at that level just yet and the retracting 3 point is much more convinent. If I could figure out how to make it work I would imagine even though it's in the seat that the belt would as some point route back to the floor or frame. Maybe? Or is it just all self contained in the seat?

 

[1lowdiesel]

it's self contained in that part of the seat.

 

[ZR1160]

Only the NBS truck have the belt in the B pillar.......There is no other option for the OBS other then a 5pt harness...with a race seat

 

[maxaholic]

Why not just pull you passenger and rear seat when racing?

 

[1lowdiesel]

cause he wants to go FAST all the time... duh

 

[jraymer]

Wonder if you could pull the plastic trim off the B pillar and drill a hole or something into the pillar to be able to bolt in after market belts.

 

[Redbowties88]

Ha kyles got it right.

Well that's a bitch it's all self contained. I'm sure there's an aftermarket 3 point solution but that costs $ of course. I wonder if I can frakenstein the belt assembely out of the seat and into the b pillar.. Or maybe integrate it in the new seats. Hmmm

 

[firehawkclone]

Since i do tech racecars, let me give a little insite....

DO NOT MOUNT BELTS TO THE FLOOR BEHIND THE SEAT! During an impact, the belt's compress the spine and crush it! Please follow the mounting instructions to the letter per belt Mfg!

Also I have yet to hear of a state were any aftermarket belt is even legal for the street! Redoing the upper mount for the 3way might get pass an state inspector. But you get that mount wrong and have a crash

The best thing to do and still be safe would be to gut the stock seat, or a base model seat!

My .02 folks

 

[Redbowties88]

Thanks for the info. I did know about the floor compression issue but I thought if you routed it around somethig higher then ones shoulders you would be ok.

This is an idea I would really love to persure but man it sounds like it's gonna be a PITA just to deal with the belt. I would feel like a shyster putting a 5 point in a 12 second truck

 

[1lowdiesel]

huh i didn't know about the floor deal either. :thumb:

 

[firehawkclone]

Thanks for the info. I did know about the floor compression issue but I thought if you routed it around somethig higher then ones shoulders you would be ok.

This is an idea I would really love to persure but man it sounds like it's gonna be a PITA just to deal with the belt. I would feel like a shyster putting a 5 point in a 12 second truck

If you could copy a harness bar from say a vette. http://hardbarusa.com/hardbar/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=39

But i think it would need a center brace or two because of the distance of the B-pillar's. Read the main page to the link. Also there is concern with my follow racers about a harness bar being used at all with no rollbar/cage. If the worst happens, and the vehical rolls over with no cage w/harness bar, im pretty sure your head won't hold up the truck when the roof caves in:rofl: you can't lean over!

There are case's where a cage pushed right through the floor because the base plate were not big enough. I couldn't imagine how big the base plates and cage would have to be to hold up 6 to 8000lbs truck.

There is alot of weight that you could remove before your seats anyway!

 

[firehawkclone]

Just check with the group you race with what they expect, and build to a rule set for the class you want to run. That way you don't have to redo something later.

Helpful hint....NEVER BUILD A RACE CAR/TRUCK! BUY ONE, IT'S CHEAPER! TRUST ME I KNOW:thumb:

 

[Redbowties88]

Thanks man. I know there's lots of weight to go elsewhere but I'm tryig get rid of everything I can that's heavy and those seats are monstors. I'm not doing this to run 11.5's that's still a year or 2 out for me at least. So it won't need to pass any inspections and I'm not concerned with rollovers. As long as it's AS SAFE as stock I'll be happy. And I also what to keep the ease of use thebfactory retractable 3 point has.

Maybe i should just run to wawa and grab some milk crates to sit on:rofl:

 

[duratothemax]

Wonder if you could pull the plastic trim off the B pillar and drill a hole or something into the pillar to be able to bolt in after market belts.

Would you rather be in a crash with a seatbelt that you just bolted somewhere, or with a seatbelt that was factory designed...

sorry guys, but I really dont think this is anything people should just be "guessing" with.

Either run the factory seats, or do a cage and 4/5-point harness...

just my opinion.

 

[1lowdiesel]

i say 2 loops behind each seat, tie them into the B pillars, the floor and each other and you'd be fine....?

 

[jraymer]

Oh ya I hear you there, I just thought there might be a safe way someone could do that and make it like the older trucks with a b pillar mount. I would say a cage and 5 points would be the way to go but in the end that will probably weigh more than the heavy factory seats that want to be ditched. Like someone said just get base model seats.

 

[firehawkclone]

Would you rather be in a crash with a seatbelt that you just bolted somewhere, or with a seatbelt that was factory designed...

sorry guys, but I really dont think this is anything people should just be "guessing" with.

Either run the factory seats, or do a cage and 4/5-point harness...

just my opinion.

Bingo:thumb:

In my racing world, 4 points are no no's! Even the 5's are going away, remember the last time you were kicked in the ball's, thats what guys look like after an impact with a 5 point!

Idea: When i started to open track the car in my sig, the seats were an easy target. I didn't make alot $$$ back than, so i guted the seat of all power options. I can't remember what it took off of the 50lb seat, but it was free!

You could loose the sound deadner under the carpet for more of weight reduction than seats. It just sucks for the street.

 

[jraymer]

Bingo:thumb:

In my racing world, 4 points are no no's! Even the 5's are going away, remember the last time you were kicked in the ball's, thats what guys look like after an impact with a 5 point!

I don't know much about auto racing or anything but what kind of harnesses are they going to after a 5 point?

Your race car link doesn't work, I would like to check it out