Suspension seats....Safe or not?

[arrowhead]

JPs statement on a shell seat is on the money

[Hoodlum]

Getting away from the question....Not asking about comfort or lumbar support...This is all driver preferance...He is asking if the seats cause your belts to loosen....
My thought is what if it does? It would only be a minimal amount...Just the amount the seat will flex....Rollovers ore more than not glancing blows so forces put on the body in these cases are not that extreme...Enough to hurt, but usually not damaging to the body....Most damage is done from nose impacts and head ons....
Your street car or trucks belts will give a little during a head on before they catch, and you rarely hear of injurys from the seat belts in these cases other than bruiseing...I think head ons in trucks and cars exhert far more energy than most of us will ever feel in these machines, and usually they only have one strap accross the chest, where we have 2...That cuts the force in half already....I think if that small amount of slack that is in the belt was a life threat,the auto industry would have corrected it by now considering the amount of testing they have done....
I understand as well the majority of posters on the forum are sand riders,and do encounter falling off in bowls and jumping dunes, but there is a large difference in landing on sand and landing on rock hard clay...Where we ride is very tough on the body....You feel every rock,washboard,and ripple....Not to mention landings are more violent due to 2 things...For one, the ground doesn't give under you like sand does, and 2,we are width restricted by trees....We are not at freedom to stretch one out and be able to put 20in of travel in a machine....Things as minor as taking 2 or 3 lbs of air out of the tires can make a difference in the way the ground feels to your body....Heck, I can feel a difference in 4 and 6 ply tires....Just something you deal with when you ride where the earth doesn't move below you.....
Hoodlum

[masterfabr]

Originally Posted by arrowhead

JPs statement on a shell seat is on the money

His statement IMO applies to ALL seats. Just because one organization doesn't allow something is not really a reason not to use something.Many times politics and money determine what is and is not allowed.

Originally Posted by Hoodlum

Getting away from the question....Not asking about comfort or lumbar support...This is all driver preferance...He is asking if the seats cause your belts to loosen....
My thought is what if it does? It would only be a minimal amount...Just the amount the seat will flex....Rollovers ore more than not glancing blows so forces put on the body in these cases are not that extreme...Enough to hurt, but usually not damaging to the body....Most damage is done from nose impacts and head ons....
Your street car or trucks belts will give a little during a head on before they catch, and you rarely hear of injurys from the seat belts in these cases other than bruiseing...I think head ons in trucks and cars exhert far more energy than most of us will ever feel in these machines, and usually they only have one strap accross the chest, where we have 2...That cuts the force in half already....I think if that small amount of slack that is in the belt was a life threat,the auto industry would have corrected it by now considering the amount of testing they have done....
I understand as well the majority of posters on the forum are sand riders,and do encounter falling off in bowls and jumping dunes, but there is a large difference in landing on sand and landing on rock hard clay...Where we ride is very tough on the body....You feel every rock,washboard,and ripple....Not to mention landings are more violent due to 2 things...For one, the ground doesn't give under you like sand does, and 2,we are width restricted by trees....We are not at freedom to stretch one out and be able to put 20in of travel in a machine....Things as minor as taking 2 or 3 lbs of air out of the tires can make a difference in the way the ground feels to your body....Heck, I can feel a difference in 4 and 6 ply tires....Just something you deal with when you ride where the earth doesn't move below you.....
Hoodlum

I agree completely.Personally I feel that OF Arrowhead is biased towards non suspension seats since he prefers them.Same with me and suspension seats.I've had both and will NOT have a poly or IMO worse yet an aluminum shell seat ever again offroad unless the rules forced me to. For my drag cars though the exact opposite applies.

[masterfabr]

To me the reason to use /not use suspension seats is for for one reason only and really only applies to offroad dirt /sand use. That being for the many times that the suspension is in full compression (hopefully after hitting the bumpstops and tires have fully compressed) and there are still significant g forces to be minimized.THe suspension seat will offer the additional time to slow the body before nothing else other than your body has any "give" left. I do NOT like many of the suspension seats available so my opinion does NOT apply to all equally.

[arrowhead]

Well said you two are so eloquent

[masterfabr]

Originally Posted by masterfabr
Quote: herosaku "fabr's like the foreigner that doesn't understand English.......he just stands there smiling and nodding his head when you talk to him."

[litespeed]

Man this is some good info! Yes Pilothawk I was refering to you. Back to your tiles flat together/at an angle dropped on a hard floor analogy, for counterpoint imagine for a moment if they were dropped on a hammock? Odds are the softer surface would more likely to have a more positive outcome for the tiles......

"Things that make you same Hmmm"

Tom

[arrowhead]

MF I do have preferences but I do not have a closed mind on any subject. My preferences are based on what I see and hear and read.
Crashes are crashes and if susp seats eased up G loading in crashes and considered safer then we would see them in Indy cars . Nascar, and NHRA etc. I guarantee you there will never be used in any extreme motorsports. The reason we sand jammers get away using them is the same reason we are in this sport. There is no rules commitee in the sand.

They are not safe!!!

I'm done

[arrowhead]

BTW Did I mention that I am on the sand 4-5 times a week?

[litespeed]

Originally Posted by arrowhead

MF I do have preferences but I do not have a closed mind on any subject. My preferences are based on what I see and hear and read.
Crashes are crashes and if susp seats eased up G loading in crashes and considered safer then we would see them in Indy cars . Nascar, and NHRA etc. I guarantee you there will never be used in any extreme motorsports. The reason we sand jammers get away using them is the same reason we are in this sport. There is no rules commitee in the sand.

They are not safe!!!

I'm done

I think the reason they are not used in Indy cars, Nascar and NHRA (although my Drakart passed tech to run the quarter mile with a suspension seat!) is because they are not needed. They are running on smooth surfaces! I wouldn't put one in my street driven truck or car. They are not needed just like they don't make long travel indy cars, you need to make a statement that is relative to the subject at hand. I think before we reply with emotion we should think about what we are saying. I believe that your statement voids some credibility in my opinion.

Next!

Tom