thawley

I know the FIA belts look cheaper in the long run. (Five years vs. two years, bla bla bla...) But I just had an interesting conversation with the owner of http://www.safecraft.com/indexMotorsports.asp that opened my eyes. He hinted that a number of low-priced harness importers/manufacturers are very likely about to lose their FIA & SFI ratings because of poor Taiwanese quality and random stitching. It seems there was a to-do over harness quality at the PRI show, and SFI is about to get tough on a number of imported belt manufacturers. FIA would look stupid not to do the same.

His product is NASCAR approved, same quality as Willans, easier to get than Willans, made in NorCal, and has a discount program if you send in your old belts. ALSO, in two years, he'll do the first re-web/re-certify for free. So you get 4 years instead of two. Say what you will about NASCAR, but those guys have been safety ***** since Earnhardt Sr. died. These belts are the real deal.

Obviously he's got something to gain buy telling me all this, and no I'm not working for him. But since I'm faced with buying belts before the next race, I appreciated the info. I doubt there's a single one of us who would prefer to run a $130 harness over a $370 harness if both were free. As amateur racers, we make a lot of decisions based on money that we might not otherwise make.

QUALITY belts that are good for 2+2 years all of a sudden look like a pretty good deal to me...

itsprelude

There was NOT a “to-do” about belts at PRI. SFI held it’s required bi-annual meeting for the SFI 16.1 and 16.5 specs. According to the by-laws of SFI and federal law these meetings are mandatory. During this meeting several changes to the spec were proposed and put forth for a vote by the SFI member manufacturers. The measures that passed were as follows:

For SFI 16.1 Driver Restraint Assemblies
“Increase the total load on the Restraint Assembly Test (body block test) from 10,000 lbs to 11,500 lbs. (see Table 2 in spec)”

For SFI 16.5 Stock Car Driver Restraint Assemblies
“Increase the total load on the Restraint Assembly Test (body block test) from 10,000 lbs to 11,500 lbs.”

“Section 3.3 WEBBING TYPES AND WIDTHS: Change minimum width of all webbing (lap, shoulder, anti-sup straps) to 1.72”.“

“Section 6.1.1 BREAKING STRENGTH – WEBBING: Change the minimum breaking load on the tensile test to 7,000 lbs. for all webbing.”

Anyone who wants a copy of the specs can contact SFI and they will provide a copy to you in any form you may need.

No mention was made at this meeting of any manufactures “very likely about to lose their FIA & SFI ratings because of poor Taiwanese quality and random stitching.” Here at G-FORCE Racing Gear, at no time have we been notified by either SFI or the FIA about any problems or concerns with the quality or compliance of our belt assemblies, hardware, webbing, stitching, or construction. The owner of Safecraft can “hint” all he wants. We can provide SFI, FIA, and Autoliv( a test house) backed test DATA that say the "hints" are not valid.

And don’t expect the FIA to follow SFI in anything. They are competitors. The FIA will do what it wants. They also had their own belt meeting earlier in 2005. The only change we know of that went through was that fully detachable buckles are no longer allowed. Our contact at FIA has not said anything about a crack down on manufacturers. And if the FIA had a problem with a manufacturer they can and do random sample testing from retail stock.

G-FORCE Racing Gear harness sets are SFI 16.5 approved (can’t say they are N@@CAR-approved as that would be a trademark violation), SFI 16.1 approved, and FIA 8853-98 approved. They’re also 100% Polyester with a controlled elongation, a higher breaking strength then Nylon type 9 webbing, are easily available and we do trade-ins as well. We also test every run of belts to destruction with SFI. Our polyester belts break at 17,000+lbs. The new 11,500 lb standard will not be a problem.

As far as the FIA 5 years vs. the SFI 2 years goes, think on this: In 1966 DuPont did research (DuPont MULTIFIBER Bulletin X-203 April 1966) on various webbing fibers exposed to an outdoor environment. “Under Glass” (less UV exposure) Nylon 6-6 lost as much as 95%!!!!! and at least 48% of it’s breaking strength in 12 months. Polyester lost as much as 75% and at least 24% of it’s breaking strength in that time. This research is 40 years old and readily available, so it shouldn’t be news to anyone. Belts lose strength with time, period. No argument. No BS. It is not a marketing ploy. It is a fact. How long do you want to gamble on?

If anyone has ANY questions feel free to contact us at info@gforce.com. We will be happy to answer any and all questions, as well as cheerfully debunking any Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt rumors that might be floating around.




Modified by itsprelude at 4:06 PM 3/16/2006

thawley

Great info and a nice rebuttal. Thanks!

prkiller

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by itsprelude &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">As far as the FIA 5 years vs. the SFI 2 years goes, think on this: In 1966 DuPont did research (DuPont MULTIFIBER Bulletin X-203 April 1966) on various webbing fibers exposed to an outdoor environment. “Under Glass” (less UV exposure) Nylon 6-6 lost as much as 95%!!!!! and at least 48% of it’s breaking strength in 12 months. Polyester lost as much as 75% and at least 24% of it’s breaking strength in that time. This research is 40 years old and readily available, so it shouldn’t be news to anyone. Belts lose strength with time, period. No argument. No BS. It is not a marketing ploy. It is a fact. How long do you want to gamble on?

Modified by itsprelude at 4:06 PM 3/16/2006</TD></TR></TABLE>


Moral of the story?
Don't store your race car outside uncovered and expect the belts to last. For the majority of us that keep our race cars in closed garages 28 days out of the month, it shouldn't be a problem!

Great info! Thanks!