New Product: Essex Harness Bar
 

Click here to see Essex Adjustable Harness Bar on our new website.

Essex has created what we feel is the ultimate harness bar for the FT86 chassis. While our bar is definitely attractive, our goal was not to create a 'style bar.' Our design objectives were focused almost exclusively on function. We wanted to make the stiffest, lightest, and most versatile bar possible, and we believe we have succeeded:

• No modifications to the OE sheet metal are required- All of the pieces in our harness bar kit bolt to existing holes in the car. There is no cutting or modifying required. Our bar can be seamlessly and completely removed to put the car back to stock condition.
• Retains OEM front seat belt mounting points- Our bar can be installed while keeping the front seatbelts functioning as intended. Also, the OEM shoulder belt mounting location does not change. We simply provide a longer bolt, and the factory belt rests on top of the plate for our harness bar.
• Both OEM seats slide all the way back and recline comfortably with bar installed.
• 1-3/4” O.D. steel tube for maximum rigidity- Our bar is a single piece that extends from B-pillar to B-pillar. There are no mid-tube connections, as mid-tube connections are typically not as rigid. While we're not making any claims with respect to chassis stiffening, we will note that the load paths through our assembly are in a straight line. This does increase stiffness more than a design that follows a tortuously crooked or curved path.
• Adjustable height with 4 positions- The four positions allow for a wide range of vertical adjustment. We've provided an appropriate mounting point for drivers of different heights, and for those running various types of seats and mounting methods.
• Four primary attachment points to the chassis- All four primary connection points are directly to factory belt mounting locations, and there are no flimsy sheet metal connections. Our bar has billet aluminum end plates that attach to both B-Pillars. The end plates are bolted to the factory shoulder seat belt mounting points (near the roof, behind your head). A tension rod attaches at the bottom of each plate and runs back to the shoulder belt mounting location for the rear seat. Having multiple mounting points securely locks the bar to the chassis, and the tension rods have left and right-hand threads allowing infinitesimal length adjustments to simplify fitment.
• Mounting plates are machined from ½” billet aluminum plate- Light, precise, and strong, our low-profile machined billet aluminum end plates allow the bar to be accurately positioned in the car without intruding into the cabin. Only one small piece of interior plastic must remain out of the car when the bar is run in the default top position (the piece closest to the top OEM shoulder belt mount).
• Durable and attractive black powder coat finish- All of our components are powder coated semi-gloss black. When the bar is installed, it does not attract any unnecessary attention, and it blends nicely with the interior of the car. Only the bar itself and a small portion of the billet aluminum end plates remain visible.
• Highest quality fasteners- Only high-strength fasteners are employed.
• Weight with fasteners is 14.5 lbs.
• Designed and built from the finest quality components in the USA

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/image.../wol_error.gifThis image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 1200x800.http://www.essexparts.com/storage/wy...dpanels2_2.jpg
http://www.essexparts.com/storage/wy...Installed1.jpg
http://www.essexparts.com/imagecache...Large/EHB1.jpg

Looks nice and the multiple positions/height settings is a nice touch. :thumbup:

I love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jeff,

Are you able to reinstall the rear trim with it installed? I'll have to re-read the rule book but I'm not sure if the rear tension bars are legal for SCCA stock class... I'll have to look... that'd be a real bummer if it's not.

EDIT: oops, looks like one of the last pictures answered my question... what about the final trim piece? I assume we'd just have to notch out around the bar? I'm pretty sure that would be legal, just have to follow up on the tension bars.

Great quality looking piece though!

They generally allow bars which tie into the pillar to have stabilizers to resist movement. The old sparco WRX bars had rods which ran to the floor and people used those in stock and STX.

very nice

Exactly what I want!!!

Looks good!!!!

Thanks! We believe the top/standard position will be the most used. Since we wanted to tie the bar down and triangulate it, we decided to extend the plates down the B pillars a bit. We had the real estate to work with on the plates, so we figured we might as well put it to good use and add some height adjustment flexibility if we could. We've got four positions spaced at one inch increments. :thumbsup:

Yes, you are able to fully re-install those huge trim pieces over the tension bars. We purposely built that into the design. They are completely hidden behind the plastic. You'd never even know they are there when the car is back together.

Only the one small plastic panel at the top of the B-Pillar remains out of the car, and our end plates cover most of that area. You can see it in the second to last pic on our blog. You could likely trim up that final small panel to fit it around the bar, but we figured most of customers would just leave it out. The billet plates look elegant with the weight relief cut-outs, and we kept them a satin black to maintain a stealth look and blend with the factory plastics. The factory seat belts also hang down and cover much of that area anyway.

When fully installed, the bar is IN THERE! I could do gymnastics on it without any movement. ;) We figured overkill was a very good thing for stiffness.

One other note...the bar pictured is a prototype. The final design shifts the bar position about one inch towards the rear of the car. So if you're looking at it installed in the second to last pic, the vertical row of adjustment holes would be roughly where the rear edge of the plate is currently. We did that to ensure we maxed out the leg room/recline. I'm 6'4" with long legs, so we made sure I fit in total comfort. That also means the factory seat belt will operate without touching, or only barely brushing, the actual crossbar.

Thanks! You'd be shocked if you saw the bill of materials for this thing. There are a lot of bits and pieces that are custom made just for this bar, and we are using the highest quality hardware and materials available. We are leveraging a lot of our company knowledge, experience, and relationships within the NASCAR community to build these parts. We have lots of talented fabricators here in Charlotte, NC...arguably the hub of American motorsports. Our Engineering Director is a bit of a wizard as well, which certainly doesn't hurt. I'm certain that when you hold this assembly in your hand, quality is one of the first words that will come to mind. :)

http://www.drive.com.au/Editorial/Ar...rticleID=56781

interesting

7thGear,
The bold text below was in my original post. I started this thread to provide information about our product. Could you please respect my request and move the rollbar vs. harness bar discussion to a different thread? I'll even start a thread on the topic for you here. There are countless discussions on this topic in every automotive forum on the web, and they tend to degrade into a circular debate every time. I really don't want to see that happen here. I want to keep this thread focused on our product details. We're doing our best to provide our customers with the products they want/request, and we're trying to support the FT86 community.

Obviously you're free to write whatever you want, but I'll ask for your cooperation anyway. Thank you sir.:happy0180:

Forgot to say...I'll give my take on the topic in that other thread...I know I can't get out of it that easily! ;)

I removed my original post and will replace it with this instead:


how will your bar and the belts attached to it behave in the event of a side impact where the pillar holding either end gets deformed (if at all)

Sorry, I didn't mean to dismiss your question, and I certainly did read it.

The only way we would know the answer to your question would be if we had done extensive crash testing. We did not do any crash testing, don't have any plans to do so, and we have no data indicating how this harness bar would react to any kind of crash, impact, etc.

All buyers of this product do so at their own risk, and the bar is designed for off-road use only. We do not make any claims that it meets any requirements from any regulatory bodies, etc.

My hunch is that any reputable race shop building a full cage would also be in the same boat. They would likely not be able to provide any data on the actual crash-worthiness of their cage, or how it would precisely react, until one was actually crashed. Unfortunately, even computer simulations wouldn't likely capture all of the variables.

Crash testing vehicles is an expensive matter, and I can't think of a single company in the aftermarket that has the funds or capacity to conduct or properly analyze such a test.

We want to be completely transparent about all of the above, and we have nothing to hide. We tried to make this product as stout as we could with the resources, materials, and knowledge available to us. We can't promise anything more. That's why we are not making any specific claims about rigidity, etc.

I didn't see this on the blog, so I'll ask: Where does the rear support rod bolt to the chassis? Any pictures of that you'd mind posting?