Suspension seats....Safe or not?

[arrowhead]

This happened in 3 different rails and they all had some slope back but were not upright like a sprint car. My first rail had no lumbar support just a straight old fiberglass bucket and the first time I ripped into a big bowl at Dumont I came oh so close to passing out with the dreaded spinal so I immediately replaced them with poly seats from Summit and no more spinals.

Junior has Kirkey race seats (20 degree drag race

Be Careful

[masterfabr]

So what you're really saying from your own personal experience is that you went from a hard(fiberglass) seat to a slightly cushioned (poly) seat you were better off. Right? So then that could only indicate that a suspension seat would be better still.I DO NOT think that rails built with semi reclining seats are designed properly for driver support and overall safety whether suspension seats or not.

[Islander]

IMHO, I think you can get injured with and without suspension seats. Everything has is time to better, and it is mainly driver preference. I prefer a suspension seat, but I know that some prefer a "normal" type. Both sides will argue until they are blue in the face, and neither is right, or wrong. There are injuries on both sides while using both style seats, so doesn't that just prove it is more then just the seat itself? Just my 2 cents.

[masterfabr]

Can't disagree with that.

[arrowhead]

No Master the new poly seats have a very defined support in the poly under the cover so your lumbar can not curve into that area.

With the Kirkey's you snap the suport where you want it. It has to be in that curve in your back just above your buttcrak

[arrowhead]

If susp seats were so bullet proof you would think the race car industry would be using them instead of just the fat ass sand boys

[masterfabr]

Not really.The offroad conditions are quite a bit different than other forms of motorsport.IMO. To me it only makes sense that anytime you can spread deceleration g's over a longer period of time the g's directed into your body are greatly reduced. BTW my Hunsaker suspension seats have very firm lumbar support and fit like a glove to me.Might not be good for others but I like them.

[PilotHawK]

Litespeed, I think you are referring to my injury, if not then tell the other person I hope they are doing better than I am.

After assessing what happened when I broke my back, I fully believe that the stock belts are the reason I broke my back, and not the seat. I am sure that the belts in my pilot loosened up when I landed nose down. The subsequent bottoming of the rear suspension combined with the loose belts allowed my upper body to "collapse" forward as well as down. I am almost sure that the combination of these 2 things are what did me in.

Take 2 ceramic tiles and drop them flat against each other, and theres a decent chance they wont break, BUT take the top one and angle it before you drop it onto the other piece of tile, and there is a much higher likelihood that the tile will not only break, but shatter. Do the same to your back and you end up with a hardware store holding you together until you "heal"

Based on what I believe, harness systems are much more important than a comfy ride. So if you are thinking of skimping on safety equipment FORGET it. If you are even thinking of building or have already built a car, buy and correctly install the best harness system you can before you even buy tubing, or put gas in one.

I'd pay 5 times the price of any buggy ever built to never have broken my back. So when my pilot breathes fire once again....you better believe it will have the new teamtech harness I have already bought installed before it even makes the first run around the parking lot.

Now to answet the question Litespeed. I think either would be ok as long as the correct harness is used, but a suspension seat is no substitute for a correctly working suspension on your buggy.

[jp350]

Theres a reason no suspension seat is FIA approved!

A GOOD shell seat will cradle & support the body better then any suspension seat.

Proper belt mounting is critical to safety! I do tech & contiguency for a desert racing organization & I have seen more improperly mounted belts then I care to remember. Buy good belts, mount them properly or be sure the fabricator building your car does it right. Dont just think cause some guy has a shop he knows what he's doing. 70% of the sandrails out there are built by hacks & even some of the race cars Ive seen are kinda scary.

Stock odyssey seats suck. Who ever decided to mount the seat below the frame should be shot. A seat should never be below the frame.

[plkracer]

I've had minor back problems for a couple years due to heavy lifting and other odd jobs here at work. My lower back is arched too much, and on a few occasions I have landed funny and my back hurts like hell. A couple weeks ago I slipped off the step on the spayer and hit the ground, pretty much feet first, but I felt my back bend backwards to the point where I couldn't walk for a few minutes. I rode in my uncle's rail at sand lake, and he had poly seats in it, along with the padded covers. Riding a fourwheeler was hard enoughon my back, but the poly seats suck. I am much more comfortable in the suspension seat. I am using a corbeau ss, and I know my back is much straighter than in a poly seat. I am 6'2" and I felt the belts where pulling me down and away from the seat, rather than back and into the seat like the corbeau seat. My other uncle has an off-roading (sand) blazer with sparco like seats, and they support me well, but they wear you out much faster. I will say that a truck with solid axles probably doesn't have ideal suspension, but it would probably help to have suspension seats.