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Hello,
I have a Momo seat in my car that I purchased and installed in 2019. The sticker says "not valid after 2023", which from my understanding means that I either need to install a seat back brace so I can continue using it or get a new seat. My dilemma is that I like to use the seat sliders to make it easier to get in/out of the car, which makes adding a seat back brace problematic. It seems like there's an obvious answer to this question, but are seats treated like a consumable item, they just get replaced every "X" years when they time out? I understand they are under stress, and I'm a safety advocate, but there's nothing wrong with my current seat and I hate to put it on a shelf simply because the sticker says so...
Also, when/if I buy a new seat, when does the sticker date get set? When it leaves the manufacturer or when it gets sold to the end user? If the former and I order one from a retailer, what's to prevent them from sending me a seat they've had on their shelf for 3 years that will expire in 2 years, vs one that's fresh in from the manufacturer and will be good for longer? Is that a thing? I bought a window net last year in the fall to replace the one in my car that had expired and the new one had an expiration date that was only 6 months away! So I was only allowed to use a brand new net for 6 months, which makes zero sense to me... I called the retailer on it and they discounted it for me, but still...
I'm curious how others deal with this. Are belts, seats, nets, fuel cell bladders, fire bottles etc... treated as consumables and just replaced every 5 years? Maybe that's just part of the budget and I just need to suck it up!?!?
The safety requirements are set by the organization that you race with. They are relatively consistent from organization to organization, but not always. For example, in PCA Club Racing window nets do not expire. Yes, you can consider belts as consumables. Fire bottles just have to be recertified.
You could say the same for harnesses, at least in most cases. If stored properly, they are probably good for longer than the stamped date. But we're required to replace them, so we do. I think it's pretty much the same for seats if you don't want to have the back brace. Personally I run an out of date seat with a back brace.
... in PCA Club Racing window nets do not expire.... Fire bottles just have to be recertified.
I did not know that in PCA Club Racing, window nets don't expire... that's good to know! My fire bottle had to be emptied and refilled/recharged to be recertified when it expired.
Originally Posted by winders
I would just install the seat back brace and deal with getting the ingress/egress issues….how short are you?
I'm 6'-0" tall - not short, but not overly tall either. I am pretty skinny, which is helpful. I'll do some experimenting with ingress/egress while keeping the seat fixed. I know I can do it, it's just so much easier w/an extra 6" of room.
Same situation with me. I like the slider to make getting in/out easier. I just keep my seat up to date. In PCA Club Racing, at least in SPB, the rules state you either run a seat back brace w/ no regard for the seat date, or if you don't have a seat back brace then you must run a current date seat.
Same situation with me. I like the slider to make getting in/out easier. I just keep my seat up to date. In PCA Club Racing, at least in SPB, the rules state you either run a seat back brace w/ no regard for the seat date, or if you don't have a seat back brace then you must run a current date seat.
Is running a seat back brace safer? Yes.
Also as per the rules.. "If the seat is within 3” of the firewall, a seat back brace is not required but the area between the seat and firewall should be padded with high density foam." At 6'3" Im 2" from the firewall fortunately. But that doesn't help the OP in a 911
Also, when/if I buy a new seat, when does the sticker date get set? When it leaves the manufacturer or when it gets sold to the end user? If the former and I order one from a retailer, what's to prevent them from sending me a seat they've had on their shelf for 3 years that will expire in 2 years, vs one that's fresh in from the manufacturer and will be good for longer?
My experience with OMP is the date will be reset after the first of the year. Those seats hit the US market in the March-April timeframe. Suspect other manufacturers will operate on a similar timeline. I purchase a lot of products from Ron at Discovery parts. He will work with you to get you the latest seat so you do not have to worry about it being a year old when it arrives. We have many excellent sponsors that I am sure will do the same. OG and Naro Escape come to mind, but I am sure there are many others.
I have a similar question. I need new seats and belts. I would like to purchase them with the latest effective dates as possible. Would any of our Rennlist contributors who are in this business comment on how the date system works? I realize it's a loaded question as you would prefer that consumers buy now, but I don't want to give up an extra year if I don't have to. Thank you! @NaroEscape@Stable Energies@ApexPerformance
Dates on seats (and harnesses and nets) are set by the manufacturer and dated when they ship them to us. So we all try to sell them as quickly as possible to keep the expiration dates out as long as possible. Sparco, OMP, Racequip, Cobra all date “for the year”, not month. Same with FIA belts now too.
if we have seats/harnesses/window nets sitting around at years end we usually discount them because the usable life is now shorter.
The risk you run by waiting until the new dated products come out is that sometimes it doesn’t happen until March or April. I know a bunch of the manufacturers won’t release the new year models until all the previous year inventory is sold. Yes…it’s all a game.
Now…to address the expiration frustration everyone has:
- Belts/harnesses first - you’ll hear UV degradation and all thrown around, and while there is truth to it, let me point to something we can relate to better. Think about every time you strap into your car, you pull the belts tight right? Every single time you do that, you SLIGHTLY weaken and stretch the fibers of the belt. And every time you engage the cam lock, it wears just a bit. Over and over you are weakening the materials and lowering ther safety effectiveness. That’s why we replace them.
- Seats. Most seats are attached to the car through a mount with four relatively small bolts horizontally into its side. The receiver threaded “nuts” are molded into the fiberglass/carbon fiber. Constant jostling, sliding forward and back, and even just your weight stresses the bolts and the “nuts” and can loosen in the structure of the seat to the point of cracking and failing. Honestly the stresses a seat sees is pretty extensive for something so important.
- Window and center nets: I got nothing here. I see zero reason to ever date expire these. If they’re frayed or worn, replace. Otherwise I see no reason so it’s nice that PCA doesn’t either.
Dates on seats (and harnesses and nets) are set by the manufacturer and dated when they ship them to us. So we all try to sell them as quickly as possible to keep the expiration dates out as long as possible. Sparco, OMP, Racequip, Cobra all date “for the year”, not month. Same with FIA belts now too.
if we have seats/harnesses/window nets sitting around at years end we usually discount them because the usable life is now shorter.
The risk you run by waiting until the new dated products come out is that sometimes it doesn’t happen until March or April. I know a bunch of the manufacturers won’t release the new year models until all the previous year inventory is sold. Yes…it’s all a game.
Now…to address the expiration frustration everyone has:
- Belts/harnesses first - you’ll hear UV degradation and all thrown around, and while there is truth to it, let me point to something we can relate to better. Think about every time you strap into your car, you pull the belts tight right? Every single time you do that, you SLIGHTLY weaken and stretch the fibers of the belt. And every time you engage the cam lock, it wears just a bit. Over and over you are weakening the materials and lowering ther safety effectiveness. That’s why we replace them.
- Seats. Most seats are attached to the car through a mount with four relatively small bolts horizontally into its side. The receiver threaded “nuts” are molded into the fiberglass/carbon fiber. Constant jostling, sliding forward and back, and even just your weight stresses the bolts and the “nuts” and can loosen in the structure of the seat to the point of cracking and failing. Honestly the stresses a seat sees is pretty extensive for something so important.
- Window and center nets: I got nothing here. I see zero reason to ever date expire these. If they’re frayed or worn, replace. Otherwise I see no reason so it’s nice that PCA doesn’t either.
10-22-2023, 03:00 PM
Seat Expiration Dates
