Harnesses and the skinny man

[josephmoore]

It's always bugged me a little that with buckety Cobra seats, 3" Willans 4-point harnesses and not much space anywhere that I struggle to do them up as tightly as I'd like to being of small build. The shoulder straps are ok, but across the lap they seem to be all buckle and not much strap - I'm not expecting miracles, but has anyone got any tips that would make things sit a little tighter? What do all the other skinny folk do with buckets and harnesses?

[CMA]

Eat more pies?

Perhaps the routing of the belts could be improved? Or perhaps the type of seat you have isn't the best for smaller builds and harnesses?

[stylussprinter]

Take up the slack with a seat cushion

[josephmoore]

The seats I have are the same as these - http://johnskitcar.tonyhetherington.com ... cf0002.jpg

In theory, they ought to work well but it all seems to get very crowded across the lap by the time you take the buckle, the adjusters and the attachment ends into consideration. It's marginally better when I'm wearing plenty of thick clothing on a cold day... I've tried pies to little effect.

It just doesn't feel like I can ever get the lap portion particularly tight but I'm a little stumped for solutions. Might have a sit in some of the other guys cars at the next club event and see if anything works better that I could take inspiration from.

[stylussprinter]

Well , you say you're skinny but what weight are you ? Perhaps the lap mounting points are set for Alec who owned it before you and he was 20 odd stone

[josephmoore]

5'9" on a good day and under 9 stone so considerably smaller than Alec - I'm not sure how you'd shift the mounting points and whether it'd be able to make much difference. I should take some pictures, I think!

[stylussprinter]

He was very tall at 6'5'' , so why not move the seat forward , that will take up the lap slack.

[CMA]

I have the same seats (but without the harness holes).

Although I'm a little bit (a lot) heavier than 9 stone I don't have a problem. I have had skinnier people in the passenger seat without issue though.

Could it be the belts that are the problem rather than the seat/person?

I have TRS 4 point harnesses and can adjust them up very tight even for skinny people.

[stylussprinter]

I have 3 inch harnesses and my grand daughter fitted in tightly at our Precott club day two years ago and she weighed about 7 stone. That's the problem with diagnosing at a distance , if you see it yourself the answer often stares you in the face.

[hearbear]

Time for a selfie in your seat and post it

[josephmoore]

Photos here:
http://www.spannerinhand.co.uk/wp-conte ... 000806.jpg
http://www.spannerinhand.co.uk/wp-conte ... 000807.jpg
http://www.spannerinhand.co.uk/wp-conte ... 000808.jpg
http://www.spannerinhand.co.uk/wp-conte ... 000809.jpg
http://www.spannerinhand.co.uk/wp-conte ... 000810.jpg

Sitting and looking at it, I think it's the style of the harness that's the biggest problem - the way the shoulder straps attach mean that the adjusters are right out to one side and hit the bolstering on the seat. It also feels a little high - like the buckle should be sitting lower across my lap than it is, but I think that's mostly because it's near impossible to pull it down enough with the room available.

What kind of buckles does everyone else have? Maybe I should swap out for the aero buckle style rather than this seatbelt buckle one?

[stylussprinter]

In your photos it looks as though the lap harness needs adjusting with the driver's seat taken out because I can't actually see the attached bolting end adjuster. I bet Alec just fitted the harness , laid the seat in tempory then adjusted the belts sitting in the seat before actually bolting the seat in

[josephmoore]

Ah, is there an adjuster at the other end as well? I thought (from very sketchy memory) that it was just an attachment clip and an eye bolt similar to the shoulder straps - either way, there's plenty of adjustment left in the lap belts but I can't do them up any tighter as they start hitting the seat bolsters, which makes me think an aero type buckle would give much more room. As well, perhaps having "pull inwards" straps rather than "pull outwards" straps on the lap belt?

[stylussprinter]

What do you mean by the ' SEAT BOLSTER '

[CMA]

Similar style to my TRS ones, although it looks like the adjuster is not in a great place.

I find I adjust them in 2 separate steps. Sit in, clip up and just adjust the bottom "lap" part. The adjust the top part. If you do the top part up too much it pulls the lap part high, you just need to get the lap part right.

I think (but may be wrong) the belts you have might have too longer strap from the bottom bolts so you can't adjust it enough.

As you can see in this pic, the adjuster on the lap part is very clost to the fixing bolt, allowing it to be adjusted up well beyond tight. Yours looks like the adjuster is stopping you getting it tight enough.

http://cdn2.bigcommerce.com/n-d57o0b/kc ... 80.jpg?c=2

Time for some new harnesses? Just be careful of lengths and fixings, some are designed for huge tin tops and fasten to a rear roll cage and are far to long for the Stylus.