Ratcheting seat belt help!!!
 

Hello. I am an overprotective dad and looking for the best and safest possible ratcheting seat belt option available. Please leave your sponsorship commitments out of the equasion. I have been told from two folks that the Hooker Harness system was the best but Simpson is what everybody keeps in stock. Help please!!!

Simpson is the way to go in my humble opinion. Their ratcheting belts are the best.

Re: Ratcheting seat belt help!!!
 

I have a set of Crow Rachet belts in my car and took the hardest crash I have ever had at Kokomo in 2017 and they held up fine. Hooker I think are the first I think that came into the openwheel industry. Hooker belts come from the aircraft industry and are probably the best in my opinion but also the most expensive. The thing I look at is what every you choose has to have an SFI rating and Hooker,Simpson and Crow all meet that rating.
To be honest the only reason I have ratchet belts is because I have a lack of help at the track and it is eaisier at that point for me to tighten my own belts. If I had enough help I would use pull belts and let a crew member pull me tight because in my opinion there are less parts in that system to maintain or fail, sometime simple is better. Ratchet belts are more of a convenience then they are any kind of added safety feature in my opinion.

I'd recommend Crow ratchet belts, 2 years and they will re Web for another 2 yrs of use, it was about $70.

Re: Ratcheting seat belt help!!!
 

Crow. I trust them in my son's cars.

Being a rookie, might be better to have some experience help till you both have some experience in how tight to pull them down, that's the reason you see teams with the biggest guy pulling them down, and proper placement is just as important, the lap belt keeps your butt in the seat, the shoulder harness controls the forward movement, and the other one, well, hurts like hell if you don't have it placed right. Another bad move, is feeling like when I pull the shoulder harness tight, it pulls you down the seat, you have the anchor too low, raise it up till you no longer feel like that, most people fall into this stage, that is what causes most back injuries. Do it right and most times you'll walk away.

Hooker harness has a great product. I don't have experience with any other but I love my ratchet belts from those guys. Just give them a call and they can work with you, very friendly people.

Jr has a set of hooker in his modified, and likes them, I have hot laped his car and they definitely keep you tight and are easily released to get out

Re: Ratcheting seat belt help!!!
 

I use the Crow System, and I am able to get myself secure in the seat with the ratchet without trying to break myself in half. Geometry is a big part of proper belt mounting, and when you have the anchor points bolted in you will get better pull angle than wrap around lap belts. The closer in the pick up points are to the seat (side to side), the more restraining force you will have for a given amount of belt tension. When you use the ratchet, your veteran crew guy will think that the belts have to be too tight for you to be secure, and you have to beat it into their head that they are not torqueing head bolts, and you are not safer when your left leg is tied down so tight that you can't operate the brake. All ratchet belts on the market will do the job just fine.

Schroth 2” ratchet belts. Safe, comfortable, and user friendly. Call Ken Joyce with KRJ race products. He has newly dated sets coming in soon. (317) 496-6767‬