DavidNJ

I came across this in my travels: Full Story – Competition Harness Life Extension - AIMSS

From the article:

s2000ellier

do OEM seat belts need to be replaced every 5 years?

djsilverjohnson

I've seen this before. Basically, Nylon belts do age out fairly quickly. That covers a lot of the budget belts available covered by the SFI. Polyester belts used by OEM and most FIA belts age much more gracefully. Most of the SCCA racers are moving to FIA Polyester belts, along with anything else FIA that they can use to get around the SFI. SFI is in the business of selling SFI certification stickers, while FIA is mostly about effective safety equipment. The linked study analyzed the belts and identified the important information, in that continued use of belts depend on age, condition, and standards in place when manufactured.

DavidNJ

I read it as the 5-year life is just not a fact. I curious on the topic and first ran into a bunch of articles and post on fall protection harnesses, which are essentially the same technology. They DON'T have expiration dates. On poster who appeared to manufacture fall prevention belts said that they all used the same webbing at $1/foot and the hardware costs $10-$25 dollars.

FIA belts are all polyester (FIA 8853-2016 is the current spec); SFI belts in 16.1 and 16.5 could be either nylon or polyester. SFI16.6 specifies polyester although they require recertification-rewebbing every 2 years.

Oil, grease, and solvents may cause more harm than UV. Therefore, a driver who is also the mechanic and may have grease on his hands getting into the car may cause more wear than nature. Any crash requires rewebbing or replacement.

I like the Schroth Hybrid belt arrangement (which IMHO puts the crotch belt where it should be) and would do a 9-point (2" FHR belt over 3" shoulder belts, 2" lap belts, 2 crotch belts, 1 negative-g belt, partially because I find the FHR uncomfortable, it makes it hard for me to tighten the shoulder belts, and I've been told in causes collar bone injuries in crashes).

Singh_snisen

For oem: no.

Racing harness: yes.

The harness have a expire date for a reason. After that date they are no longer safe to save u in a crash
same goes for FIA seats.

freq

I think DavidNJ is trying to show that's not necessarily true. (read the linked article) You would expect newer belts with newer tech with better properties to age out better than belts made 10 or even 5 years ago

But at least you brought some data.

I don't think anyone will argue about replacing gear after a hard crash.

justin3

For wheel to wheel racing yes you absolutely do, the belt is there to save your life in the unfortunate event of a wreck.
Now i'm not going to say that the belt will turn into a pumpkin when it expires after it's five years(i'm also not going to argue sfi vs. fia regulations and practices) but all harnesses are legal in a track car (under most organizations in this country) whether they are out of date or not when not going wheel to wheel.

It's the wheel to wheel racing though that the dates matter, maybe the 5 year date is arbitrary as far as the remaining integrity of the webbing goes, I won't argue that. When you look at it from the eyes of the tech inspectors and sanctioning bodies though....if there is no date on it then how do they though your belt isn't 20 years old and has been aging in a barn somewhere exposed to the elements and degraded beyond all recognition structurally? The replacement date for racing is there to keep everyone honest and keep everyone on the same playing field. Trust me, you'd be surprised at what some people consider safe in their own cars if they were left to their own devices.

DavidNJ

Most wheel-2-wheel racing organization specify the expiration date criteria in their rules. If the HPDE regs don't mention it isn't a requirement. These organizations will let people out in power adjusted street seats with 25-year-old street 3-point auto retracting seat/shoulder belts.

Here is where a bit of sanity helps. Is the belt flexible like new or stiff? Is it soiled, especially with lubricants or solvents? Is it frayed? Then it should be replaced no matter the age or type of belt.

davidc1

I'm seeing that the graph DavidNJ posted as that the belts tested are actually increasing in strength between ages 6-11 years, correct?

The other graph in the article itself were they test OEM type seat belts shows a decrease in strength.

I believe that the requirement to replace them is arbitrary. In the real world, if you've never gotten in a crash on the track, no, I don't think you really need to replace them.

How about the helmet time limit replacement? Or, isn't there a seat one as well? Why the hell should you replace your seat if you've never been in a crash?

Maybe all this is just to cover the people who have been in crashes, but haven't replaced their stuff, and won't admit they've been in crashes. So, a few bad apples spoil it for everyone....?

haga888

It's a CYA thing for the manufacturers. For the racing bodies they don't have the time or manpower to individually inspect every harness, seat, and helmet to determine whether they are fit so they set a relatively arbitrary 5 year number. It's long enough that if you're serious about racing you'll make the investment and short enough that chances are none of them will have gone bad by then. Also a bit of a CYA for the racing bodies as well I guess. If they inspect your car and say that your 10 year old harness is ok and something happens it's a liability.

Do do you need to change it? Probably not. But like most safety items, do you really want your obituary to read "died because of $500 harness".