Req for pix: window net setups
 

Can anyone share pix of their window net setups? This is virgin territory for me. Also, on a track car that would have passengers, do you install one on the passenger-side, too? It makes sense that you would.

I only use the net when racing not for DE's so there is no passengers. You need to look at a lot of racecars until you find a net set up that will work for you. Some things to consider are: Can you remove it easily when you don’t want to use it? Or will it fold away out of the way when not in use?
Some of the nicest setups I have seen are the top is attached to the role cage and the bottom is attaches to the roll cage door bar with a bent rod that folds nicely beside the seat when not in use.

What Tim describes is exactly what I did.

Something to consider -- you don't want the net to be hanging down when you want to get out of the car in a hurry. So a permenant attachment at the top is most likely not ideal. But by the same token you don't want it in the way if the car is upside down. Watching the video of the Targa Newfoundland recently reminded me that cars do go upside down. So ideally a secure attachment that can be removed at either the top or the bottom would be best. Now how you do that...

I just use arm restraints. VARA lets you have one or the other. If I need to get out fo the car, all I do is unbuckle the cam lock on my belt and my whole body is free to get out. No need to worry about messing with a window net. I did not want the hassle of installing also.

I really like the Schroth design. It attaches to the rollcage using hose clamps. The "release" at the top right is similar to a safety belt with the female portion attached to the net:

http://www.hmsmotorsport.com/pimg/s/Window.Net.jpg

Sold through another vendor.

Well, I'll show some pictures, even though the installation I rigged for mine would probably run into trouble, come tech time.

The good part: TRE Motorsports made my cage with the tabs already welded on. At the top of the A-pillar, where all three bars meet, there was a tab coming out perpendicular to the top bar, which I bolted an L-shaped bracket to which I then bolted the male part of the net attachment buckle to.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1110393140.jpg

Back on the hoop itself, up along the top bar, there's an identical tab:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1110393294.jpg

Along the lower of my two door bars, there were two more tabs. The easy way to describe their specific location is that they're directly below each of the two upper tabs. Here's the one in back:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1110393372.jpg

And here's the one in front:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1110393407.jpg

They are obviously much lower than any net would extend, but that's the way I guess it's done.

Now, the bad part. I threw my net together in a hurry, and I don't have any welding equipment. Here's the net I got:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1110393474.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1110393781.jpg

The top and bottom webbing is actually a sleeve that a steel bar slides into. I used a smaller diameter bar on top. The top of the A-pillar has the female part of the car seatbelt buckle. For the the top of the B-pillar, I inserted the steel bar into the hole in the tab that's on the roll hoop, bent it 90 degrees, and added a snap-on pin. This allows it to swing down 90 degrees when it's not in use, getting it out of the way. For the lower corners, I looped 1-inch webbing through the lower corners of the net (over the lower steel bar in the sleeve) and then down around the side bar.

I did all of this completely on my own, ignoring the instructions, so it's very likely the wrong way to do it. I keep meaning to look at some other installations to see what I missed.

I got a RJS Racing net from this source. The net and the installation kit together were less than $50.

That is interesting. I got dinged on my NASA annual tech inspection because one of my window net mounts was attached with 2 metal hose clamps. They wanted it welded on. They also didn't like straps used to mount the net, I ended up using aircraft cable. On my car, aft portions of both top and bottom rods go through holes on tabs coming off the cage, the bottom held in place by a cotter pin. The top front is a seat belt buckle, similar to the Schroth design, the bottom front is attached to the cage (down and forward) by a length of 1/8' steel aircraft cable. The lower end of the cable is wrapped around the door bar, and connected to itself with one of those chain links with a threaded section on one side, I can't remember what they are called.

If you want, I can try and post some pictures.

Tom

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1110407723.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1110407731.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1110407741.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1110407977.jpg

Cool, thanks!