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Crow Enterprises - harnesses

rjcthree

Well Known Member
I ordered 2 harnesses from Crow Wednesday of last week they arrived Tuesday (today, CA to OH). Exactly what I ordered - 5 pt, 2" pull down, pads, camlock, black. When I called and told them is was for a Van's aircraft, they asked simple 'tandem or side by side?'. Nice that they know what they really need to know.

$155 each, as described.

Great workmanship, timely delivery, good people. Call, the owner may be picking up the phone. Gotta love it.

And the replacement racing shoes I ordered are good too, but that's another story (mmmmm . . . Miata . . . race tires . . . coil overs . . .).:cool:

Sidebar idea, I may buy a single layer suit for phase 1 testing, seems like a little bit of insurance, and a greasy flight suit kinda sounds cool.

Rick 90432
 
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Met the owner

I was staying at the Mariott in Denver(week-end rate) and got in the elevator with a guy who was wearing a tee-shirt with the Crow emblem. I told him I had Crow seat belts in my airplane, and he replied, I am Don Crow, the owner. You never know who you are going to meet in an elevator.
 
Arnie, I installed my crotch brackets per the factory. Spacing was fine....EXCEPT the tang that came on my Crow seatbelt is ~1" too short. I could have called Crow and got the correct attachment piece. But I elected to machine some new ones.
 
Yep, stock spacing works fine. There is a little flex in those parts after they are riveted in anyway.

It is best to ask for the longer buckle/attach point. It keeps the webbing away from those edges of the cutout.

Luv my Crow's!!! Best value out there in harnesses! Get the camlocks..they are sweeeet!
 
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Don is fine with deleting the big "CROW" text labels on the shoulder belt faces.

2" or 3" webbing is your choice.

Machined aluminum bushings to adapt the anchor tangs to our AN4 size is now included.
 
Hardware

Dan - do you mean they now offer the long anchor hardware with a smaller bolt hole?

I've been wanting to upgrade to Crows, but in the past they always used really short hardware that was awkward to retrofit into a flying RV (interfered with anchor brackets). Or longer hardware with the wrong size bolt holes. Is that what they have fixed?

Matt
 
No fix.....I guess what I got was the longer anchor tangs with oversize holes, but they include the bushings to sleeve those holes down to 1/4".
 
Hi
I looked on Crow website and did not see any info for the RV .Any one have a web site that shows the options for Crow belts.
Thanks
 
Looks like they now include the longer ones with a reducer bushing.

Dan - do you mean they now offer the long anchor hardware with a smaller bolt hole?

I've been wanting to upgrade to Crows, but in the past they always used really short hardware that was awkward to retrofit into a flying RV (interfered with anchor brackets). Or longer hardware with the wrong size bolt holes. Is that what they have fixed?

Matt
 
Contact?

Dan, Who did you speak with at Crow to get your harnesses (with the reducer bushings)?

I phoned them today and talked with Fred, but he had no idea what I was talking about: He said their long anchor hardware has a 7/16 hole, and they have no machined bushings to reduce it. Said I would have to machine my own.

Is there someone else I should talk to there?

Thanks!
Matt
 
You can also just drill a hole in the longer one up from the factory hole. There is plenty of room and edge distance.
 
I originally made bushings on my lathe for mine, but the larger brackets stuck out so far they were almost touching the seat backs. I ended up drilling holes and cutting the ends off. For the two in the back I used the smaller crow brackets and ground a tiny bit off of the clevis on the seat belt cables.
 
Andy, looks like that bird is coming along!! Hope the DRDT-2 worked out good for you!

Yep, the parts are now mostly in one big airplane-ish pile! The DRDT-2 was awesome. It's with another builder now, helping build a 3rd RV! "Big Blue" was very well made, and I liked the beefier box steel.
 
Has anyone actually talked to someone at Crow about the bushings? I received my harnesses about a month ago, with no bushings. Today, I called and talked to someone (didn't get the name) that said they don't make the bushings.

Wouldn't be that difficult to make them myself, but I'd rather avoid it if possible.

Thanks...

-Rob
 
Crow

I wrote down everything Brantel had suggested. Talked to Fred himself. He said they include the longer brackets now.
They showed a week ago, look great but no bushings. Looked at it for awhile, read some of the forum suggestions and just decided to drill fresh holes to correct size. Worked great. The new hole you drill for the crotch strap is good as it allows you to position the strap so that it is not pinched in the crotch strap vans bracket. The two brackets for the over the shoulder will need new holes drilled too, and to fit properly a little grinder time. Will post a pic if I have time later.

Nice belts, good price.

b9f8z5.jpg
 
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I'd rather not add a hole in the bracket, which means I need to find something with an 1/4" ID and 7/16" OD. Any ideas?
 
Lowes

Rob,

I would go to the hardware store and try to find a bushing the correct size or close. Also I think I read where someone used AN washers to fill the gap. I am watching this thread since I plan to get a Crow harness when time comes.

Cheers
 
Yep, I'm headed to the HW store today to see what I could find. I was hoping a standard 1/4" AN washer would work, but its OD is 1/2.

Will update the thread if/when I find something. Thanks...
 
No holes

I'm wondering if they would make attach hardware with no holes. Then drill our own to proper size.

Bevan
 
Couldn't find anything that would work perfectly, so I'm just going to make bushings from the 3/8" OD aluminum tube. The holes in the brackets are about 15/32", so not ideal, but should be good enough.

-Rob
 
Crow does not make these brackets, they buy them. They had a hard time finding a bracket just like we need at a reasonable price.

I'm wondering if they would make attach hardware with no holes. Then drill our own to proper size.

Bevan
 
Crow Harnesses

I just got my Crow Harnesses last week. Great service, fast shipping, and exactly what I ordered.

As you all have noticed, Crow is shipping all RV harness with the longer end fittings now. On the crotch strap, at least, I have decided that I am going to drill a new 1/4" hole up from the existing 7/16" hole. Then I will cut off the existing hole leaving plenty of edge distance.

This will put the crotch strap in a much better position for ease of installation and will help reduce chafing of the belts against the bracket.

When I get the exact location of my this new hole, I will post it.
 
So . . .

If I have a bunch of bushings made up for 1/4" bolts, people may be interested?

I'm going to do it for my own needs - but my local machinist could bang out a few more sets.

Rick 90432
 
If I have a bunch of bushings made up for 1/4" bolts, people may be interested?

I'm going to do it for my own needs - but my local machinist could bang out a few more sets.

Rick 90432

Absolutely. You'd have a monopoly on bushings with a 1/4" ID and 7/16" OD, apparently.

-Rob
 
Hey

Could that be the key to my financial independance and the way out of the corporate rat race? Bahahaha!

I'll do the homework this weekend and see what my machinist thinks. I'm thinking aluminum. 6 per airplane, I'm thinking.

Rick 90432
 
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I'm making up 12 sets

I'll give this a shot. I'm having a few sets of bushings made up - I have to confirm 6 or 8 per 2-seat RV, assuming crotch strap, not sure about single shoulder?

I'm going 6061t6, simple to fit, not intending to be a press fit. 1/4" hole.

I'll update this when I have more info (couple days).

Rick
 
Sounds good.

I'm planning crow harnesses front and back in my RV8. Please put me down for appropriate number of bushings.

Let me know when you are ready for payment and shipping info.

No hurry on this.

Thanks very much.
 
Yes, I'd definitely be interested. I'd need 12 for the RV-10 (3 per seat, no crotch straps).

Thanks!

-Rob
 
Set of Bushings

If I have a bunch of bushings made up for 1/4" bolts, people may be interested?

I'm going to do it for my own needs - but my local machinist could bang out a few more sets.

Rick 90432

Rick, I'm interested (committed). Can you put me down for a set? Let me know the cost.
 
Steel

Shouldn't they be steel same as the material they are replacing? I would think there would be an awful lot of force applied in a crash.

Bevan
 
I doubt it matters if it's aluminum or steel. The bushing is just a dead spacer, so it's not adding any strength. In the event of an accident, having some "crush" space may even absorb some impact. Take a look on the McMaster website (www.mcmaster.com), they probably have a washer/bushing that will work. Hmm... A quick search came up with this, which is Nylon but would serve the purpose. Might stop some rattling noise too.

If McMaster doesn't have one, try Seastrom manufacturing (www.seastrom-mfg.com). They have an amazing assortment of washers, surely something will be the right size.
 
First batch

I have had the first batch made up, got them today. I'll do the QC work and so forth tonight. They were not cheap, as for this first batch I used a local small machinist who is trying to feed his family on this stuff - seeing as his primary job of Minister at a local church isn't.

I'm looking at $20 per 2 place airplane (8 bushings) shipped via USPS. I have 8 sets available. Aluminum, alodined.

I will look for other options - but what I expect to do first is pester Crow to provide them in the future :)

I'll be in contact with everybody on the thread who expressed interest, in order, probably tomorrow. It's ok to change your mind.

Rick 90432
 
Just to confirm,

The brackets need to be bushed from 7/16" down to an AN-4 bolt size - is that what these are? If so, I'll take 2 sets for 2 RV-8s (8 bushings total? 5 in the back and 3 in the front)
 
Bushings

Guys, right now I'm about out-I'm waiting to hear from two guys which may or may not free up a set or two. Regardless, I'll check on ordering a second set and let you all know.

They are as you describe, 6061t6 alodined, 0.473 od, .25 I'd, 0.193 thick . They are a very light press fit into the tabs.

Rick
 
Another 72 on the way

I'm having another set of bushings made up. Again, these bushings convert Crow harnesses tabs with 7/16" (really closer to 15/32") to 0.25" dia. They are alum and lightly press in. $20 shipped for a set of 8 (enough for a 2-seat RV with 5-pt Y harness. For other qtys ask. Contact me via pm, I expect the parts tuesday. I'll take everybody in order.

Rick 90432
 
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Bit of a shock here...I ordered Type 304 Stainless Steel Lid Support Self-Opening, 90 Deg Max Angle, 5.5 lb from McMaster last night for $35....great tip from Matt Dralle and JT for the forward baggage area. Got a reply back that they can't export to Canada due to restrictions....for a push rod? Wow.

Gonna have to send it to the inlaws address in Florida. :confused:
 
same experience

Yes, I suspect self imposed restrictions but still they couldn't explain it to me other than to say "security reasons" when I wanted to order some stainless screws. I told the manager that we're on the same side and how many guys we've lost recently fighting the bad guys in Afganistan. Still no change in policy. Go figure. Dissapointing really. :eek: I'm sure (hope) that it's not the typical viewpoint here on VAF but it's sure very disheartening to hear it coming from a national US supplier.

Bevan
7A
 
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