EDIT: Man, I love this forum. Dusterbd13-michael gave me the answer we were looking for within 5 minutes of posting.
TL;DR: Avoid these Conquer 6-point harnesses. There's some sketchy stuff going on with the tags, and that's never, ever good when it comes to safety equipment.
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We were looking for new belts to put in our Endurance Racing CRX, and one of my co-drivers came across these Conquer-branded belts:
https://amzn.to/34oaX73
They're $100 cheaper than the next cheapest FIA 8853-2016 harnesses I've found and apparently come with both SFI and FIA tags. It's in the realm of being stupid cheap but not unbelievably cheap.
Unfortunately the FIA lists the original manufacturer names instead of brand names on their list of certified harnesses (e.g. G-Force harnesses are listed as Taiwan Racing Products Co LTD), so I can't tell whether these are legit or not. I know Conquer also sells SFI rated helmets that are manufactured in the same factory as Zamp helmets, but I don't think these harnesses are made in the same factory.
Does anyone know who makes these, and whether they are a legit SFI / FIA rated harness?
I have one in my miata. They sent me a note about them not meeting regs sor sfi despite the tag being on them. Seem like a quality piece for autocross. nevertheless.
In reply to Dusterbd13-michael (Forum Supporter) :
Oh wow. That's a bit shady. Did the note give any details about why, or were they just like "sorry, the tags are a lie. Have a nice day?"
Is your safety worth $100 off? There were a bunch of knockoff harnesses out there a while ago and the steel for the mounting hooks was weak enough to stretch and break in an impact. For safety, go with known entities. Not worth it IMHO. G-Force is a known quantity, and I have tested their stuff.
boxedfox (Forum Supporter) said:
In reply to Dusterbd13-michael (Forum Supporter) :
Oh wow. That's a bit shady. Did the note give any details about why, or were they just like "sorry, the tags are a lie. Have a nice day?"
They offered a refund if i cut the buckle off and sent it and the tag back. Thats it
I wouldn't trust it for a track car. Just autocross.
In reply to Dusterbd13-michael (Forum Supporter) :
That's extremely helpful. Thank you.
I have seen a car autocrossing with the shoulder belts attached to the back of the seat with duct tape. That's not a high bar for some people.
This is the wrong, wrong, wrong place to save money. Buy brand name stuff from a reputable vendor.
https://www.thedrive.com/news/29980/brutal-crash-video-shows-why-buying-counterfeit-racing-gear-online-is-an-awful-idea
In reply to Keith Tanner :
Well that was the thing about these harnesses. I've seen the really obvious counterfeit ones that go for <$80 and have the tags and hologram that don't look right. These happened to be in the price point where they theoretically could be legit if one of the cheaper manufacturers were selling and shipping directly to the consumer, so I thought I'd ask.
It's reassuring to get firsthand feedback from guys like Dusterbd13-michael though.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
Thats what I was thinking of when I replied.
I had to turn down a guy in a Miata who had his shoulder harnesses attached to the thin cover for the fuel pump/trunk wall when he came to a track day. You could pull on the harness and it would flex the panel. I was honest and told him i wouldn't even drive that on the street, let alone the track. Apparently it has passed tech at previous track days for him.
boxedfox (Forum Supporter) said:
In reply to Keith Tanner :
It's reassuring to get firsthand feedback from guys like Dusterbd13-michael though.
The feedback was "the rating is a lie and I haven't actually crashed with them yet but as long as I don't leave a parking lot I feel safe" :)
Toebra
Dork
10/23/20 2:36 p.m.
Stupid cheap safety equipment safe to use? No offense, but pretty sure your answer is actually included in the thread title.
Seems like your state attorney general might be interested in this story.
Keith Tanner said:
boxedfox (Forum Supporter) said:
In reply to Keith Tanner :
It's reassuring to get firsthand feedback from guys like Dusterbd13-michael though.
The feedback was "the rating is a lie and I haven't actually crashed with them yet but as long as I don't leave a parking lot I feel safe" :)
Yep. That's good enough for me to tell everyone I know to not use them.
dps214
HalfDork
10/23/20 2:41 p.m.
Dusterbd13-michael (Forum Supporter) said:
I have one in my miata. They sent me a note about them not meeting regs sor sfi despite the tag being on them. Seem like a quality piece for autocross. nevertheless.
Out of curiosity, they didn't meet any regulations or just not SFI? If they still met FIA (...and you believe that they're telling the truth about that) I wouldn't feel too bad about it...though the "is $100 worth your safety?" argument is very valid.
FWIW autocross only requires a lap belt.
In reply to dps214 :
That i truly don't remember. Its been a year ago at least.
In reply to Toebra :
I thought the same thing when I first found out about Zamp helmets. Their first Snell-rated closed face helmets were so much cheaper than the competition that I was convinced they were some kind of knock-off helmet manufacturer. But it turns out they actually are legit Snell-rated helmets and seem to have saved quite a few heads in crashes. So I was wondering if this was just part of the new wave of entry-level safety equipment coming to US shores.
Demon-Tweeks out of the UK has some actual FIA 6 point harnesses for not a lot more than those. I personally have the Sparco Endurance FHR 6 point in my track car but there is a couple of other even cheaper options like the OMP First 2” Saloon Harness. The Sparco's seem decent but the buckle is a little disappointing, just doesn't have that super stout, high quality feeling you want with something like this. I went with them mainly because they have a pull-down style lap belt which isn't as easy to use as the pull-up but I lacked clearance between the eyelets and my seat to do the pull-up properly with no interference.
Amazon is littered with Chinese knock off bargains. I once worked at a large automaker in engineering. We sent a part for bid to China with an engineering drawing. The part we got back had the wrong mfg number and wrong date and was not as good as the sample. They copied the sample with the other manufacturer's code and date the other mfg made the part.
Be very wary of amazon deals. Amazon does nothing about the counterfeit products except say thanks for letting us know.....
I got some "sfi" belts on ebay in a pinch last year and the tags looked nothing like real sfi tags and also they were stamped to expire within 9 months. berkeleyers. I'm not buying safety equipment from anyone but summit racing anymore
In reply to adam525i (Forum Supporter) :
Good to know. The OMP Firsts are almost $300 if you buy them in the US. I'm on the right coast for importing something like this from the UK so might have a look at that in the future.
