Anyone using one on the right side? I saw simpson is making one now with a quick release. Just wondering what kinds are being used since im considering putting one in my car over the winter

Definitely a good idea, just have to get used to seeing the side mirror through a net...The very fine mesh ones you can prob kind of see through.

Anyone using one on the right side? I saw simpson is making one now with a quick release. Just wondering what kinds are being used since im considering putting one in my car over the winter
I'm running one in my E36 325 IT car (and actually just posted about it over on the head restraint thread).

A Safety Solutions SAF-DN-100-R from BSR Products (http://www.bsrproducts.com/). You can see a pic of it in the car here (http://www.omtay.org/images/albums/VIR_enduro_2005_jim/IMG_3489.jpg) (also featured is my crewmember who appears to be trying to count to 4 using his fingers).

tom

hows the visibility with it installed?

The nets were required in World Challenge this past season IIRC.

these nets have been confusing me for a while. if the driver has a hans device on and is properly strapped in, how could one's head get far enough over to make contact with that net.
Maybe I am missing something obvious, would not be the first time.

Jon

Here's a quick read. I think its moreso for the serious crashes where the seat/driver might become dislodged from the normal seating area, or if somehow the drive has forces acting on him that push him out of the seats envelope, it holds the driver in that space. http://www.simpsonraceproducts.com/media/pdf/SafetyFirst7-03.pdf

these nets have been confusing me for a while. if the driver has a hans device on and is properly strapped in, how could one's head get far enough over to make contact with that net.
Maybe I am missing something obvious, would not be the first time.

Have you SEEN what a body does in a crash? A side or angle impact would easily throw the body over there. Check out the video linked from the ISAAC site on the HNR thread to see what a body and the belts do in a crash.

Have you SEEN what a body does in a crash? A side or angle impact would easily throw the body over there. Check out the video linked from the ISAAC site on the HNR thread to see what a body and the belts do in a crash.

Amen to that. Belts stretch and the body does all sorts of contortions.

hows the visibility with it installed?No issue. It's low enough at the front that it doesn't impede visibility to the rearview or pax sideview mirror. After a few laps with it I had no issues with glancing through it to see traffic, either.

tom

these nets have been confusing me for a while. if the driver has a hans device on and is properly strapped in, how could one's head get far enough over to make contact with that net.
Maybe I am missing something obvious, would not be the first time.Jon --

I can see potential benefit in offset frontal and side collision.

offset frontal: the net will tend to guide the shoulder and helmet in a roughly forward direction rather than allow unrestrained travel sideways once the shoulders have gotten past the wings on the seat. Remember, you will get serious belt stretch during the Big One, so planning to control that movement is a good thing. Keeping things relatively in line also gives me some peace of mind in hopefully keeping the belts on the HANS.

side collision: if I come out of the seat and I'm moving sideways, the net should limit my travel towards the pax side of the car.

I've not hired Delphi to sled test all of this nor am I planning to auger my E36 into a tire wall to prove out my theories, but it was so cheap and easy to do that I decided the potential benefits greatly outweighed the costs.

tom

Always important to make sure your are cinched in tight.

Where are most people attaching the front part of the net in an E36? I assume that the rear two attachment point somehow attach to the rollcage (please don't debate rollcage design now... :))

Scott

Scott - The installations I've seen have attached to tabs that poke through the dash (some vertically, some horizontally) and are welded to the cage bar behind the dash. Keep in mind, this is only my opinion/experience and in no way should be taken as an attack on the preference of others who may have choosen to install their net in a different manner!!! :)

Where are most people attaching the front part of the net in an E36? I assume that the rear two attachment point somehow attach to the rollcage (please don't debate rollcage design now... :))

Scott

I was wondering that too. I don't have a dash bar at the moment(new cage on hold until next year). I guess maybe you could make some sort of pickup point behind the dash and anchor it to the firewall??

I was wondering that too. I don't have a dash bar at the moment(new cage on hold until next year). I guess maybe you could make some sort of pickup point behind the dash and anchor it to the firewall??

Seems like it would work.

I was wondering that too. I don't have a dash bar at the moment(new cage on hold until next year). I guess maybe you could make some sort of pickup point behind the dash and anchor it to the firewall??Exactly what I've done. The strap goes over the dash bar and forward to the footwell. I mounted a beefy eyebolt to the floor with a big reinforcing washer and clipped the net to that. Pretty painless installation.

t

Where are most people attaching the front part of the net in an E36? I assume that the rear two attachment point somehow attach to the rollcage (please don't debate rollcage design now... :))There are three straps in the rear of the net that wrap just like a harness end. I ran those ends over towards the driver's door to keep the net tight to the driver's shoulder.

tom

Exactly what I've done. The strap goes over the dash bar and forward to the footwell. I mounted a beefy eyebolt to the floor with a big reinforcing washer and clipped the net to that. Pretty painless installation.

Did you use anything on the dash bar to keep the strap from sliding along the bar? We are thinking of installing one of these too and I'm trying to determine the best mounting procedure. I am thinking that limiting the amount of "extra" strap on each mounting location would be best for limiting the amount the net stretches in an impact.

Clamp on shaft collars from McMaster-Carr are great for keeping nets from sliding:

http://www.mcmaster.com/nav/enter.asp?partnum=6436K75&pagenum=1035

once you slot the dash id think it wouldent move much, i plan on putting some collars on for the rear straps on mine though

Did you use anything on the dash bar to keep the strap from sliding along the bar? We are thinking of installing one of these too and I'm trying to determine the best mounting procedure.I did not, but I considered it. The eyebolt was installed to keep the net straight, and it doesn't seem to have any tendency to move. The end straps where they're wrapped happen to be in spots that really can't move.

The salesdude suggested that I not overthink the strength installation; he pointed out that the net should only take a fraction of the force the belts take, so if I take a similar strategy to mounting belts (either bolted into reinforced parts of the car with hefty backing plates or wrapped around the cage) I would be fine. I focused more of my energy on making sure the geometry was good.
I am thinking that limiting the amount of "extra" strap on each mounting location would be best for limiting the amount the net stretches in an impact.I thought about the stretch as well. Don't forget you've got to get the ratchet tightening bit down down and away from the driver but in a spot you can tighten it. That pretty much dictated the positioning of the eyebolt.

tom

I'm still having a hard time visualizing how this is fixed on the dashboard side of business.

One post indicates a strap I think back behind the dash that goes down to the floor to an eyebolt.

That implies that the slotted position on the dash may not be a hard fixed point at all?

I'm not being critical, really just trying to understand how to fix it at the junction of the dashboard where it appears to have a quick release mechanism.

Looks from this and at least one other photo that it gets in the way of your right arm?

Any other photos of the floor or dash area specificially from other cars would be appreciated. None of this is meant in a critical way of the device, its installation in anyone's car, or the work done in any photo...just very interested in seeing how people are handling it.

Thanks in advance.

One post indicates a strap I think back behind the dash that goes down to the floor to an eyebolt.
That implies that the slotted position on the dash may not be a hard fixed point at all?That's correct, there's nothing laterally fixing the strap as it passes over the dash bar. I don't have the lower portion of the dash, so there's no slot to be concerned about.Looks from this and at least one other photo that it gets in the way of your right arm?At the end of the net, it is outboard and above my hand on the shifter. The only motion it might impede is an inside-the-car pass wave.

Does that help? I could try and take some better pictures of the attachment if you're interested.

tom