Tech pics and examples

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hachi

Driver
Many times the question comes up regarding the Expiration Date in helmets. Drift Sessions will be following the NHRA Snell Expiration Dates as listed in the 2010 NHRA Rulebook:

Snell 2000 Expires 1/1/2012
Snell 2005 Expires 1/1/2017
Snell 2010 Expires 1/1/2022

Some helmet manufacturers are now only putting just a tag with the manufactured date inside the helmet. The same will apply to these helmets, 12 years from the date on the manufacturers tag inside the helmet. Basically, the rule of thumb is 12 years on a Snell rated helmet (UNLESS IT APPEARS DAMAGED)

NOTE: When you buy a new helmet make sure to check the Snell label or manufacture date inside the helmet for the expiration date before you leave the store. Make sure it's (S A) rated and not (M) rated Helmet. S A helmet is fire rated and M isn't.

When getting into automotive racing you'll notice every league/division/class will have different requirements on their protective equipment allowed. Most helmets have to be either DOT or Snell SA2000 or better to be on most tracks/ competitive racing. Ok, now thats simple. Just buy a helmet that is SA 2000 or DOT approved. WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There are 2 things wrong with "just" buying the cheapest approved helmet.
1. Approval processes. I came across this and links will be at the bottom but DOT is an organization that sets standards for safety testing on helmets (hence the reasons its required). Well...ANY COMPANY CAN SAY THEIR HELMETS ARE DOT APPROVED! AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!. Scary eh. Well this can be done without any testing or R&D (i can make a helmet in my garage and say its DOT approved without testing it). Because of this not all helmets TRULY live up to the expectations. DOT knows this so every fiscal year they run a test on a random sampling of helmets that say they are DOT approved. So basicly a company can fake it but they might get caught. If DOT tests them and they do not meet their expectations they will call the company out on it and post which specific helmets pass or fail their tests every year. The results can be found here ....http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/testing/comply/fmvss218/
Next your thinking "Ok DOT approval can be potentially misleading, but who cares since my helmet also says it is Snell SA2005/SA2010 approved." Thats exactly right. Who cares if its not DOT if it says Snell on it. In order for a helmet to get Snell approved the helmet is ACTUALLY TESTED by Snell. These requirements are a lot more strict than DOT and if it Passes SNELL it will pass DOT. (ie. DOT drops helmets on an anvil from 4.5 feet and Snell drops at 7.5 feet) For more information on SNELL helmets and which ones are approved go to this link. http://www.smf.org/cert.html Depending on how old your helmet is it will be under SA2005 or SA2010

2. The fit. Yes there are $50 Snell SA2005 approved helmets and ACTUAL DOT passed helmets but the main thing your paying for is the quality and name. Just cause the helmet can pass these few tests does not mean that it can still hold up outside of these tests. So this basically means that a company can build a helmet to pass easily, BUT they may not build a helmet that can exceed these standards. And although I say that the "fit" may not be perfect, the truth is Snell also tests fitment on the head so its going to fit for a manikin but maybe not your head. Theres also the comfort. If this is something that your going to be wearing a lot and sweating in you may want to have a higher quality helmet that can vent the heat and keep you cool even in the hottest weather.

1 more thing to consider is the time before the approval is no longer valid. Some helmets do not have a specific time that they "expire" and some have 1 or 2 years. The general rule of thumb is every 5 years purchase the latest helmet that meets the latest safety standards. But we are not requiring that. How could you go wrong with doing that anyways?

Also when ordering online you might want to consider where the helmet is made. If the helmet is Italian made or Japanese made, the fitment will be different. Sizes and shapes are different.

I basically put this together to share some information that I just found out. So for all those new people getting into the sport and buying your first helmet please keep this in mind.


Basically all of this comes down to how much do you like to gamble with your safety?

I'm also posting up some pics for you to understand other tech issues we are talking about. I will update this as I get more info. :bigthumbu
 

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Seat Harness mounting pics

Mounting the seat harness is very important so use these pics to start you on the right track.
 

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Batt Boxes/Tie downs

If "it" (meaning battery) is located any where besides the engine bay it must be in a covered box.... I don't care if it a hatch or not. Put it in a box!
 

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