Seat belts

[bob888]

I am ordering Crow seatbelts and have some questions re mounting hardware. Vans calls for a NAS517-5-9 (5/16) screw through the cabin top and Crow says people have told them they are using 1/4 inch screws. The other attach points in the manual are AN4 but there is a bushing shown in the manual. The hole in the attach hardware supplied by Crow is 1/4; so are we drilling these out to accommodate a bushing? I would appreciate input from anyone who has the Crow belts installed.

[bret]

I'm just a lonely 7a builder but, my thinking on the bushing, ( I did make these on mine) is to allow the buckle end to rotate and still have the proper Tq on the fastener. Also, under a load, the buckle will self center for maximum belt to hardware contact surface area for maximum strength.

[N520TX]

I literally went through this just last week. My CROW harnesses arrived with 1/4" mounting holes on the shoulder belts. I called them, explained that they had to be 5/16, and they promptly sent me new attach brackets that I easily swapped out. All is good.

[paul330]

I had the same with Hooker.......

[Drippy]

Just curious did you go with 4 identical style seat belt sets - meaning did you go with 5 point front and back?

What are the thoughts on pads or no pads?

Thanks

[chrispratt]

I just replaced the Hooker Harnesses on my RV-8 with the Crow 5-point system, front and back. I bought the system with the shoulder pads and I do recommend them as they seem to spread the pressure over a larger area during turbulence.

Regarding the 1/4 inch hole. That's what works for the -8 both front and back. I'm not sure why others need a 5/16" hole but perhaps the plans have changed over the years. My plans are 1999 vintage and call for Castle nuts and cotter pins to allow for movement at the attach points. Since you referenced torque, Im assuming you are not using Castle nuts. Perhaps that's a change.

The only installation adjustment I had to make was to add washers on either side of the mounting holes for the two seat straps for the front seat due to the gap in the belt anchors (the ones that attach to the floor per Vans plan). The Hookers had spacer inserts to compensate for this. For the Crows, I simply used some superglue to hold a standard AN washer on each side of the belt's attach hole to keep them from slipping during the install. They fit and work great.

I like the Crow system due to its simple release mechanism. My wife has a hard time pulling open the Hooker style latch and during an emergency this could be an issue.

While I am new to the Crow system, so far at least, they seem to hold snugger than the Hookers. In my experience (11 years with the Hookers), all their straps tend to loosen up during flight. That's why I replaced them -- I got tired of continually pulling the lap and shoulder straps down tight in turbulent air. We'll see if the Crows work better.

During installation, you may find there is a lot of "extra" belt for some of the Crow straps. In my case it is the crotch straps and the front seat shoulder straps. Once you get them set up the way you want, you can trim or hide the extra length.

I also noticed that the crotch strap on the Crow belts is basically not adjustable in flight. So you'll need to experiment to find the right length for your body size. By contrast the Hookers did have an adjustable crotch strap that you could tighten once settled into your seat.

Chris

[Drippy]

Chris,

Thanks for the info.

Mike