2" Lap Belts/

[problemchild]

2" lap belts? I have a car that came with German-made Takata belts with a 2018 expiry tag marked FIA D-286. T/98. The finish and hardware is excellent. The lap belts are 2" wide. The shoulder belts are 2" wide over the shoulder then widen to 3" over the chest and have "For FHR use only on the tag, which I assume refers to "head restraint" use.

Are they legal for SCCA and SCCA Pro competition?
Thanks!

[teamwisconsin]

Hey Greg-
I ran 2" laps on my RF97 and my DL7. They were Schroth (which I believe is the same parent company as Takata) and I got them from HMS Motorsport back east. I used the IRL belts https://www.hmsmotorsport.com/produc...a-harness#2736 and really liked them. They were pricey but the hardware and quality of the belts was really top notch.

To answer your question halfway (as I never ran an SCCA Pro race) they were legal for club races as they pass the FIA requirements necessary.

[Steve Demeter]

I think that they are legal as long as they have the correct FIA tag on them.

There have been discussions that 2" lap belts are in fact better than 3" ones due to the fact that they are wide enough to cover the bony parts without potentially "infringing" on soft tissue like 3" belts could.

I would check to see that it is not the same TAKATA that makes airbags......

[DaveW]

2" lap belts? I have a car that came with German-made Takata belts with a 2018 expiry tag marked FIA D-286. T/98. The finish and hardware is excellent. The lap belts are 2" wide. The shoulder belts are 2" wide over the shoulder then widen to 3" over the chest and have "For FHR use only on the tag, which I assume refers to "head restraint" use.

Are they legal for SCCA and SCCA Pro competition?
Thanks!

The latest GCR says FIA C-###.T/98 and D-###.T/98 are both legal. Also SFI 16.1 and SFI 16.5 are legal. So they should be fine.

[problemchild]

I have ran into the situation where the FIA belts did not match the specs in the GCR, and the concerned SCCA tech worker sent home an entry because his new $300 Willans belts purchased directly from Europe were deemed illegal. He was told that if he had supported an American vendor, then he would not have bought illegal belts. It was some time ago.

I will study the GCR but wondered if anybody had experience with this issue.

[Jerry Kehoe]

The tech guy had his head in some dark place!What is this moron doing as a tech inspector? SCCA has accepted both for quite some time and the FIA has always.

[Swift17]

I am sure they will pass tech ..... BUT I seem to recall some airbags with the same name passed "tech" with the DOT (lol)

"Consumer Information on Takata National Air Bag Recalls
Takata’s expansion of their previous recalls has increased the number of vehicles affected, and currently include approximately 19 million vehicles in the United States. On June 17, 2015, NHTSA verified that Vehicle Identification Numbers for vehicles made by the 12 automakers involved were available, and that owners could now search on NHTSA’s and manufacturers’ VIN look-up tools to determine if their vehicles are affected."

[OK so I know its a Japanese Company .........]

[problemchild]

I cannot find any specs in the GCR about the actual webbing, so I will assume they're good to go, based on the FIA tags. Thanks!

BTW, disregarding the giant Takata patches, they are really nice belts!

[Purple Frog]

I concur with DaveW. They are legal.

[BLS]

I would check to see that it is not the same TAKATA that makes airbags......

Yes, the same, one of my customers...

[dereklola]

There have been discussions that 2" lap belts are in fact better than 3" ones due to the fact that they are wide enough to cover the bony parts without potentially "infringing" on soft tissue like 3" belts could.

As I understand it 2" lap belts are better because they fit better into the pelvic depression just below the iliac crest thus ensuring better belt to bone contact. 3" belts more easily ride over the iliac crests and into the soft tissue, your kidneys, belly etc. This is particularly true if they are adjusted too high. Unfortunately many are too high particularly with shorter legged drivers.

Bottom line - make sure your lap belts fit into that depression - short leg drivers with thicker seat pads (ie. hip point moved forward) will often need to reposition the lap belt anchorage to achieve this.

SCCA should ban 3" belts - they offer no advantage and can in fact cause more injury.

[dalz]

This admittedly was a head-scratcher for me when I first heard of it, but it allows the belt to be tightened down into the hip area farther that 3" belts, with better comfort and better performance in an accident, since the lower body is theoretically held tighter to the tub to begin with. After 2 seasons of using Schroth's excellent 2" lap belts, I give them my highest recommendation.

The story of the tech guy channeling Harlan Fengler sounds like a bad leftover from the iron-fisted '90s.

[Raceworks]

This admittedly was a head-scratcher for me when I first heard of it, but it allows the belt to be tightened down into the hip area farther that 3" belts, with better comfort and better performance in an accident, since the lower body is theoretically held tighter to the tub to begin with. After 2 seasons of using Schroth's excellent 2" lap belts, I give them my highest recommendation.

The story of the tech guy channeling Harlan Fengler sounds like a bad leftover from the iron-fisted '90s.

In the 90's the FIA tags were confusing and you could get bounced if the official didn't understand their weirdness. I used to bring a copy of the relevant FIA spec just in case when I ran my 2" Scroth belts back then.