For those of you who dont know, a harness bar is a bar for racing harnesses to wrap around so in case of impact, the harness is at the correct angle to restrain the occupants. Many people bolt the harness LOWER than the shoulders which can cause severe compression injuries in an accident.

I was browsing on fleabay and noticed some unversal harness bars for under $200. I also saw one seller was nearby. So after a few emails with Andy Truong, we agreed to meet to see if any of the 3 bars he had would fit my car.
I arrived at the warehouse and met Andy. He was very friendly and was glad to try out the bars. The bars came in two colors, blue and titanium. I chose titanium because it matched my interior nicely. The bars can easily be powdercoated or painted though. I may go with red later on.

The bar consists of a hoop in which the harness wraps around and connects to the existing upper seat belt bolts and then two lower rods that connect the main hoop to the lower seat belt bolts. An ancillary benefit is that it stiffens the chassis of the car. It also adds 11 pounds of weight.

Install was easy, and took under an hour at dusk. The ends of the hoop swivel to adjust to varying lengths. The two down rods are also adjustable lengthwise and the ends are heim joints. I was VERY impressed with the quality of the material and noted it is made by NRG, a well known maker of aftermarket performance products. I thought it would be thin and tinny but it was anything but thin.

After i bolted it in, I went for a drive and, sure enough, the chassis felt noticably stiffer. Remember, I have roadraced and autocrosses for 23 years so if my butt says the chassis is stiffer, the chassi is stiffer. There are no creaks or groans in the chassis if you go over uneven speed bumps. If felt much more solid.

Here are some pics:






Opinions? Comments? Titanium or red for my car?

 

ooohhh roller coaster time........ yeah start charging admission!!

 

Wow! Track time!!! I like it in Titanium.

 

Hahaha, thats what my daughter said - its looks like a ride from Disneyland.

 

It really stiffened the chassis up that significantly? I think its just a placebo effect.

But nonetheless... very awesome mod. Red would look awful IMO but it's your car, of course. When are we gonna see a turbo?

 

wow nice work man where can i get one of those bad boys!

 

I like it...

 

In my honest opinion I think this looks horrible. It might serve a true purpose as far as stiffening the chasis, but I'm a bit more into the aesthetics in a vehicle. In my opinion, I think this cheapens the look of the car tremendously. As someone already pointed out as well, looks like if you're about to hit up a roller coaster ride up in Islands of Adventures or something along those lines. Again, this is just an opinion. As long as you like it and feel proud to have it, than that should be the only thing that matters. After all you're the one driving the car......

 

nice work dues cant wait to see it in person

 

looks good, do you leave it in or only use it when you go to the track

 

nice..but it all honesty its time to go FI! These mods are nice and all, but without FI its just watver..

 

I like the Titanium. +1 for the extra protection.

 

If you re-read Deus' first post he states that it is for the purpose of restraining the occupants on impact. I would have to make an educated guess and say that this is in the vehicle full time, but hey ya never know.

 

I havent decided if its gonna stay in. Its easily removed in about 15 min. I do have a high speed race coming up in June so it will stay in until then.

 

it is not bad, but not a fan

 

i feel bad for the passangers in the rear(if there are any ever) when you slam the brakes and they nail their head on that bar....

NICE front seats. Bar looks good and is nice for track days

 

wow it really looks great with the Evo seat. I think you should leave it titanium, and good luck with your races and ne safe out there.

 

Looks good Dues, glad you finally found something, I know you wanted to do this for a few months now.

And just to make sure everybody is clear. this is far from an everyday "mod", it is really a race only mod that will aid in safety. This will add tons of chassis stiffening, though, just think about it........a strut bar is tiny compared to this, and goes into an area much smaller than the passenger cabin, yet everybody knows a strut bar WILL aid in structural rigidity and help handling. So tell me why a 2.5 inch round steel bar in and area 3 times the size of an engine bay wouldn't help?

 

well... from the picture, it looks like the end of the bar is welded to a metal plate which does not seem very rigid to me. just the overall design is not very convincing but this is all coming from looking at the pictures though.

 

Deus once again proves that the Max has no limits....

Yeah I have to agree with 2LEET4U... I want to sit in the back and hold on!! lol

Amazing brotha!!

 

Looks good, will clash tremendously with baby seats...

 

Deus - while I don't think it looks good, I am sure it does make the chassis stiffer - which is what you wanted. Therefore congrats!

 

It doesnt look as intrusive as the pics seem to show. You can easily get in the back seat with NO interference from the bar. The bar tucks around the upper area of the seats.

Daytime pics:

 

I think it looks pretty cool, and I like the color. I'm just not sure how a few small bolts are going to stiffen up the chassis. A full roll cage I could understand, but this doesn't look like it attaches to enough strong points to really do anything. As long as you're more secure in your seat, I think this is a cool mod.

 

Like 05AltimaSER wrote, what about passengers in the back seat. If you get into an accident, you might be safer but they’re not.

 

Remember, the rear passengers have shoulder harnesses which will prevent them from hitting the bar so Im not aure what the problem is.

 

The bolts are large bolts and they brace FOUR areas of a rather large area. Like Taz said, its a more significant area than the struts, and we all know that strut braces make a difference.

 

Fantastic Mod, how did you have your harness hooked up before the bar?

 

 

curious but what seat rails are you using on the max?
i never knew they made rails for our car.
what company?
or did you use the OEM EVO rails and just make new bolt holes or welding?

looks nice deus but you can always bolt it from the rear seats for the belts.

 

Nice. In addition to all the conventional/physical factors with a mod like this, psychologically I bet it has huge gains. Knowing that you have the added protection might allow you to be more agressive on the track. Pretty cool mod.

Dues, just out of curiosity, is your Max your daily driver, too? Or just something you toy with on the side and at the track? You mentioned you had a daughter and I could only imagine how cool it would be growing up if my dad drove a race car to work everyday! Ha!

 

Good question. My brackets and rails were fabbed by a company called Wedge Engineering in Long Beach, CA. This is what they do and they do it well. it cost me around $410 and they fit perfectly. The only problem I see is that the drivers right and passengers left seat belt is buckled to the seat and not the car itself as is necessary. I may drill a hole and install it correctly, not sure yet.

 

Thanks!! I do feel a difference in the chassis stiffness. My car is a daily driver. My kids enjoyed being picked up from school in it, especially high school. Now my youngest is graduating and she has her own hot ride, a 2002 Toyota Celica GTS, TRD Action Package with 6 speed manual.

By the way, 2 of my 3 kids passed their driving test in my car, first time takers, and mine is a 6 speed manual. I honestly didnt mean to build such a modded car. It just became very modded over time. But, my mods are mostly functional with good bang for the buck- if it makes it faster, I want to do it.

 

I would tend to agree that the passengers in the back may not be well protected at certain speeds. Recent car models have a very quick belt locking mechanism. Good. But if you watched some crash tests on TV, shoulder belts look more like rubber bands at 35 mph and above.

Watch this crash test of the Maxima:
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/c...U=51&HBX_PK=pi

 

^^^ And if the bar dont kill/injury you, it might trap you in. I personaly think it really isn't a good idea to leave it in.

 

I doubt it would trap anyone. And I think it would aid in side impacts, even. If I put padding on it, that would help.

 

I'm thinking about doing this can I get a link to the guy who sold you this cause I may hit him up as well.

Also, how often do you really have people back there? I think in the entire time I've owned my car I think I have a person sit in the back seat maybe once every 6 months.

 

My kids all have their own cars, so I dont have many people back there.

Talk to Andy Truong - trader.nas@gmail.com Let him know Mark with the black 05 Maxima sent you.

 

Thanks!!!!

 

well i'm thinking if ur going to go with the harness bar for the seat support...you should go for the whole 6-point H bar for the interior support...i mean you do track it...so i think u'd need the extra support...