i caught that a couple minutes after my post and editted to reflect properly, displaced disgusted strikes again
It makes me sad and sickened to hear about this. Ive always wondered how a roadster would hold up in a collision. My condolences for everyone envolved. Im truely sadened to hear about these guys. HAMBers............. take this unfortunate news as a wake up call. Look your rod over and ask yourself, "Just how safe is this? Could it be improved?" When it comes to my safety, screw traditional items that conflict with it. UPDATED Future Hotrod Build Checklist: (You can do ALL this without the fear of your rod looking *****) -Kill switch on DASH. -KICK *** *NEW* seatbelts bolted to the frame, not to the floorpan. -*NEW* disc brakes in front with dual resevor master cylinder/new brake lines -Possible rollbar bolted to the frame. -Include K or X member in fully boxed frame -Check over EVERYTHING for binding or sticking in suspension, steering and linkage systems before ever starting the motor. -Bearclaw door latches -Safety gl*** in front, tempered gl*** on sides -Tires with 60% rubber or better -Horn that works -Bright headlights, possible 3rd brake light -driveline safety hoop, bolt-on ****** and motor cross members -fire extinguisher(s) in the car (not in the trunk) -small bag of "universal" tools -I-beam axle instead of tube axle! Did you guys see Tet**** Shots post of that roadster with the snapped tube axle?? Ive never seen anything like it! Im guessing, but Id have to imagine if an I-beam axle hit the same thing it may bend, but not turn into that mess of the tube axle. I pray the driver pulls through his recovery strong and healthy
You know what else ****s? So far 3,516 have viewed this thread. 64 have replied in it. Maybe 4 of us will actually spend time safety checking our cars, and even then most of those 4 won't even use a wrench. If you give a ****, you'll prove me wrong. I'm checking mine Saturday. wheels and all.
I got to ride to Bisbee in Kevin's T this past summer....the ride of my life.... I sure hope he pulls thru ok. Man that ****s about Danny, my deepest condolences to his family
Yeah, I saw it, what's the deal there, aluminum tube axle maybe? Does anyone make one? A beam might bend, if it's Forged, but I have to wonder about a cast one.
Upon reading the news article, it said that the car got out of control under braking, and that the accident was equiptment failure. That kind of wreck reminds me of a stupid thing I did with my camaro in high school. I changed the rear end out in my shop cl*** on a friday. I did not have time to hook up/ bleed the rear brakes. I thought , who needs rear brakes? The fronts are discs, and they are what stops the car. At midnight I was giving a buddy and his girlfriend a ride home. I thought i was on a 2 block road that was straight up to the stop sign. I wasn't , I was on the next road up that had a big curve in it. I was doing 60 to 75 when I got suprised by the curve. I dynamited the brakes , and the rear of the car p***ed me like I was standing still. All I managed to do was put the clutch in and get in nuetral. We spun at least 3 times. when we came to a stop the right rear roof pillar was a foot away from a big 2 ton 57 chev flat bed bed. I learned a valuable lesson about brakes that night. I got lucky that I didn't kill anyone.
Looks OK to me. Somethings got to give. In welding cl*** we had to break a part and you wanted it to break anywhere except at your weld. I'd say this one was welded very well. It's a toss-up whether you want something to break or bend. One isn't better than the other always.
Yes, I understand it will fail somewhere, but I was referring to the color of the metal in the break itself, it doesn't look like steel. I had never heard of anyone making an aluminum tube axle which is why I asked. If it were steel though (***uming for a minute that it isn't) I would expect a tube with that heavy a wall would deform rather than break (as I expect it would be tube, instead of cast pipe). I realise that would just send the failure elsewhere (like the hairpin, or the bolt it's held on with maybe?) but it seems weird it broke the way it did. Or is that fatigue induced and why alot of people warn against tube axles and hairpins / split bones?
The seat belt wouldnt cut you in half if your seats were bolted to the frame as well. Why would you bolt your seats to the floorpan only and not to the frame? Doesnt sound too safe to me! Id mock up where my seats would be and fab in a section in my frame for the seats, seatbelts. Make it large enough for future adjustments or possibly a different seat change. Everyone has different ways of building a rod. maybe its original floor, maybe not. If it was channeled, it may have a seperate structure below the floorpan that rests onto of the frame. you just have to bolt the seats/seatbelts to something that will give you the best results in a worst case senario. If you think there could be a possiblity of your body raising off the frame in a crash, maybe you should look into the engineering of the build and maybe include more body mounts and stronger body/frame mount solutions. (.02)
Man, what a shame. My condolences go out to the familys and friends. I've been tinkering with the idea of putting a roll bar in my T. I currently don't have seat belts thinking the way some have about being thrown is better than being stuck inside. After the lady wreaked her T coming home from Louisville a year ago that pretty much made up my mind. She was lucky to be thrown because it landed upside down on the guard rail. Now, I'm thinking I'd be better off with a roll bar and some seat restraints. I also need to sit lower in my bucket. Thanks for the information. With the short wheel base, these cars just get away from us so fast. My prayers go out to the family. Love from the T-Bucket world... monkey
I'm not a preacher and I'm a totally"whatever"guy,but this sad story got me thinking of how many *****in' lookin model T's mention in the build up:NO front brakes.
That ****s...I feel for those involved, and I can tell ya'... Its O.K. to be paranoid! check your **** over and over...most of us are not engineers, and many of us are working with, at least in part, the remnants of an earlier hot rod incarnation ( yeah, yeah...I know, everything was built perfect, then, before "rat rods" NO, it wasn't, rose colored gl***es, bruthas...) I LOVE having the cage in mine...belts too...something VERY bad may be a quick inspection away from taking your life. You cannot catch everything, but you can TRY! Very sad photos to look at...
Prayers to the familys. Its always sad in any instance when this type of thing happens. And as weve all seen some good advice has been given. So to be cliche, take a minute, be safe. the life you could save could be your own and anybody elses.......
A sticking throttle can happen in any car not just rods. Modern cars are fly by wire so you just need the computer to make a mistake and you've lost control. Kill the engine - it's the only way, but most people won't think of it til it's too late. Things happen just too quickly and instinct tells you to slam on the brakes. My '05 GM is "fly by wire" and just last week I discovered that if you touch the brakes while driving (I was trying to light up my trailer with the brake lights in the dark to check my load was still there!) the engine cut out! Quite simply really - the computer won't fuel the engine if you're trying to slow the car down. But you don't need a computor to achieve the same result. Just install a relay to the ignition with a feed from the brake light switch. Brake lights on = ignition off. Simple and will work on traditional cars too, in fact there's nothing high-tec involved. Ed
OK here's the latest: Danny Nennenger Visitation sch; Visitation is at Southlawn Mortuary,south park Monday 17 sept. 2007 from 4pm-9pm..........M*** will be on Tuesday @ Santa Cruz church on 22nd 18 sept 2007 @ 10:30 am.......if your around it would be nice to have the hot rodders show their respects,as far as Kevin I have no news at this time.....
Just to add to your safety checks....... MAKE SURE YOUR ENGINE/FRAME/BODY ARE ALL BONDED WITH GOOD BONDING STRAPS!!!!! One of my instructors at my aviation mechanic school was just telling me about a case where the electrical/ignition system of the car (a hotrod A, a long time ago) was "searching" for a ground because it wasn't properly bonded.....end result was the throttle linkage welding itself to the firewall at wide open throttle and the two guys in the car got decapitate when their A rear ended a big truck. He says it wasn't all that uncommon in the early days. My sincerest condolences and hope the survivor recovers fully and quickly! Johnny
Yeah, my old 73 Datsun pickup did that. Left the ground strap off, cooked 2 throttle cables before I figured it out. My brother just did it with his 340 Duster, heated up the shift cable pretty hard.
OK so here's the lateset I got on Kevin.....he is still in La Jolla and has been up graded from critical to serious,the good news is they are doing surgery on his back to install metal plates since he broke it,doc said if ya gotta break your back he hit the right place he's got a 50/50 chance to walk again (seat belts?)...thats the latest just give him those good vibes/prayers etc. more when I get it
Thanks for the update Kent. Speaking of updates, I checked mine over like I suggested, found only one throttle return spring. Took care of it.
Uhm, not to sound morbid, or speak poorly of anyone, as I wish the best for the deceased's family, and a speedy recovery for Mr. Kevin, but has anyone heard more specifics of what caused the crash? Was it a mechanical failure and / or a brake lockup problem as was suggested earlier in the thread?
yes it was the brakes....last I heard nobody has taken it apart or really cares until Kevin gets better,not even sure where the T is,Kevin was/is a mechanic for a living so odds are is was just a fluke or something broke...just my thoughts.......for the record the Tucson area roddrs at the Little anthinys cruise last weekend raised over 500 bucks to help out and so did the guys at the n/w Pavillions cruise......this was way KOOL
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