Seat Safety

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PostPosted: Tue Mar 28, 2017 10:37 pm
For the record, I purchased and disassembled Bob Roth's wrecked car, Bob being the driver who has been most seriously injured racing our cars. The fiberglass seat was in the standard location, properly secured, and undamaged.

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PostPosted: Sat Feb 03, 2018 2:46 pm
I'm getting ready to install Butler shoulder supports to my seat, but it isn't obvious to me how they should be attached.

I'd appreciate any tips for proper location and installation (weld? bolt? combo?)

These are the items I'm referring to:

Image

Thanks in advance.
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 03, 2018 3:17 pm
Jisu Kim wrote:I'm getting ready to install Butler shoulder supports to my seat, but it isn't obvious to me how they should be attached.

I'd appreciate any tips for proper location and installation (weld? bolt? combo?)

These are the items I'm referring to:

Image

Thanks in advance.


I haven't done a new seat in a while, but IIRC, they come pre-drilled for 8 7/16" (or maybe 3/8"). Drill the holes in the wing to put it where you want it.

Our seats have countersinks in the foam padding so the bolt heads don't stick out...

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PostPosted: Sun Feb 04, 2018 11:04 am
Along this same line - my car had a well fitting Butler - only problem is I wasn't legal in the car on height.

My car now has a fiberglass seat and I intend to mold an insert which I have done many times for my formula and sports racers.

Question: I love the Butler head rest - not the wings - the high end one that bolts to the down tubes. Before I drop $500 I need some advice. Anybody running it without the Butler seat (is it even legal that way) and what do you do for the head rest behind the head?

TIA

JM
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 04, 2018 1:56 pm
We put the new Butler headrest in the Enduro car which had a fiberglass seat.. It comes with a padded backing plate that fastens on with the Zsus fitting, so it can be used with the fiberglass seat to provide rear head protection (thin padding built in). You can also bolt the rear part of the headrest directly the firewall behind the seat in place of the rear downtubes. Because we had a "special" fiberglass seat (to fit the larger fuel tank) we added some additional padding to the one suppled with the Butler head rest (and some in the seat for different drivers).

Highly recommend it for both fiberglass seat as well as Butler seat users. It sits reasonable close to the helmet and had much more robust padding. I had the wings before and my only complaint with the new Butler head rest is that the padding is pretty dense so leaning your head against it, especially on a bumpy track, can be a bit jolting. Would like to see a softer layer on top of the denser material, similar to the wings, to make it more comfortable to rest your head against (as well as protect you in a collision. It does make getting in and out a bit tighter getting in and out, but side visibility is OK. There's some adjustment for height so you have a bit of flexility in positioning it as well.
Bob Breton - SRF 51 - San Francisco Region

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PostPosted: Mon Feb 05, 2018 3:32 pm
only other comment on the head surround...no way can i get to the kill switch when belted in, nor to my rollbar mounted camera. Otherwise I like not relying on padding that never seems to stay in the right place over time.

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PostPosted: Mon Feb 05, 2018 3:49 pm
steve kramer wrote:only other comment on the head surround...no way can i get to the kill switch when belted in, nor to my rollbar mounted camera. Otherwise I like not relying on padding that never seems to stay in the right place over time.


I'm in a car with Butler head restraint and a glass seat. It takes a little right hand pushing on left elbow, but I have no trouble reaching the kill switch. Camera, however, is totally out of reach.

Can the pad on the Butler head restraint be adjusted up and down to align with the back of your helmet?
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 05, 2018 4:41 pm
steve kramer wrote:only other comment on the head surround...no way can i get to the kill switch when belted in, nor to my rollbar mounted camera. Otherwise I like not relying on padding that never seems to stay in the right place over time.


It isn't that easy to get to the switch from outside the car with either setup. :(
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 07, 2018 10:55 pm
I still personally worry about marrying the Butler head surround with a fiberglass seat. I just feel that in a side impact the two don't match up well, potentially allowing more lateral body movement and less lateral head movement. As such, since I run a fiberglass seat, I have only added the high density foam to my rollbars. I think clearly in a side impact the safest combination is a Butler seat (*fitted to you*) in combination with the head restraint.
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 08, 2018 4:29 pm
Denny, I agree. I was told from a race engineer, It is your shoulders which need the support.
That is one of your strongest parts of your body. The rib cage, like none.
FlatOut is using a secondary kinda "U" shaped softer foam over the current roll bar pad. This makes sense to me because not all impacts are going to be 100 G's. It allows crushing movement towards the very solid pad.
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