Central WA Baja

[dustymojave]

Now let me see....The car says "DTR Construction" on the sides, doesn't it? So that means the injuries occurred as a result of advertising your business, right...So this should be on your Workmen's Comp insurance... and BTW, the car, truck and trailer and travel expenses should be tax deductible, right?

[Piledriver]

....... decided that suspension seats are "dangerous" because they let your body move in relation to the belts. So of course, on sites like RDC, suspension seats are getting a thorough tongue lashing. But then not everybody else has 40"+ tires with sidewalls to flex + 28-36" of wheel travel to cushion their butt. Solid seats like the TT guys are using these days will break your back from direct impact in a VW-based offroad car. Just like using old school fiberglass buckets back in the 60s.

So what is the "correct/safe" seat/belt setup these days?
Or is it simply a "pick your own favorite compromise" situation?

[CentralWAbaja]

So what is the "correct/safe" seat/belt setup these days?
Or is it simply a "pick your own favorite compromise" situation?

Personally I think you nailed it right there.

I also think even I, who am pretty safety conscious get complacent sometimes. Which was probably the case here with the seatbelt situation. However I also may have actually broke the bottom of the seat web or hit the bottom of the seat hard enough to pull the steel frame inward thus allowing me to hit the bottom of the car. I instantly thought I hit the floor when it happened. Lastly upon final installation of my seats we noticed that the stiff nylon strap that is the bottom web under the butt was coming un-stitched. Rather then sending them back to the manufacturer (Remember brand new seats but10+ years old) I opted to do a woven paracord web there and would reevaluate after this first season. I guess its time to reevaluate now

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Interesting! I have been looking into suspension seats to replace the old style, big butt poly seats I am installing on my black buggy. I was wondering about hard hits and the strapping in the seats. Fuzzy/loose stitching threads would have bothered me to now end if I saw them.

What I think I still am going to do is to use a spray glue to attach the foam to the seat back, cushion and then, using separate pieces to make them, to the side and bottom bolsters for support and holding me into the seat tightly. Not sure just how thick, and kind of foam to use yet. The different kinds of foam is important from what I have been able to glean... so far.

[madmitch]

Suspension seats do require more maintenance. The ones in my Baja need to be tightened up a bit.
I spoke with Cory of Lucas oil short course racing and she favored the poly seat. Of course the best is a full containment aluminum seat but most of those are pricy as with everything else.

[madmitch]

You may also want to slow the last stage of compression on the rear shocks.

[dustymojave]

As I said above Mitch, the full containment aluminum seats are as safe as fiberglass seats of the 1960s. The hard bottom of the aluminum or fiberglass seat is OK IF you have huge amounts of wheel travel and sidewall flex to absorb hard hits. But in a VW-based Baja or buggy, that just is NOT the case. I fell strongly that the suspension seat is the best option encountered so far for such Bajas and buggies.

Of course, like ANY other mechanical thing, if all is not properly built or well maintained, then poop can happen.

If you Mickey Moused the support under the seat Daron, then there is a VERY GOOD chance that is the source of your injury.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

I got thinking about your last post Dusty so I went to look at some of the pictures that I have taken this last year of some newly built or rebuilt/up-dated rails. Since I was not interested in the seats at the time the pictures I do have of them don't really show for sure as to suspension or padded Poly seats. The next time down about a month or less), if they are in the area, I will try to remember to get some information and pictures of just what they are doing. These guys ride not only in OR but in AZ also and a couple of them have more than one rail as CWB said, the sand is different and requires different setups.

Lee

[CentralWAbaja]

Good times!


Set the res to 1080p
https://youtu.be/-ZiXm1cgG48

[madmitch]

Beautiful scenery. I wanna go!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Very cool pix and I love the sound of your rig.

I have never been able to ride Winchester Bay so that was really cool to see especially with the "Specific Ocean" in the background. The "Bay" area seems to be more open (less trees) than the Southern Dune Area that are not more than 10 miles away. Weird!

That whole closed off area used to be open to ride.

Thanks for the video. Lee

[CentralWAbaja]

Well, this could get interesting....7 weeks after breaking my back, my health insurance company is now asking for my auto policy information. Have I mentioned lately how much I despise insurance companies.

[TimS]

Me too. While we are on the subject, everyone needs to be careful because we are finding a bunch of insurance companies have inserted clauses that will deny claims due to trauma if alcohol is found in your system. This includes falling on ice down stairs, etc. We have stopped checking alcohol levels for the most part unless clinically or criminally indicated.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Well, this could get interesting....7 weeks after breaking my back, my health insurance company is now asking for my auto policy information. Have I mentioned lately how much I despise insurance companies.

How is your back doing CWB? Bad backs are no fun as I was born with one but suddenly doing damage like that has to be really bad.

Lee

[CentralWAbaja]

Me too. While we are on the subject, everyone needs to be careful because we are finding a bunch of insurance companies have inserted clauses that will deny claims due to trauma if alcohol is found in your system. This includes falling on ice down stairs, etc. We have stopped checking alcohol levels for the most part unless clinically or criminally indicated.

Fortunately I had not had any alcoholic beverages for the day or two prior.

How is your back doing CWB? Bad backs are no fun as I was born with one but suddenly doing damage like that has to be really bad.

Lee

Doing OK Lee. I have an MRI on Nov 9th and they will decide then if we are doing surgery. They did release me from my hard plastic shell so my attitude is better LOL. Slowing me down more then I wanted but in reality as I get older I just keep healing slower and slower.