Thread: A Bad Crash

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On the original hi boy car---It had some sort of torsion bar suspension? any photos somewhere from before the accident??

Originally Posted by jerry clayton

On the original hi boy car---It had some sort of torsion bar suspension? any photos somewhere from before the accident??

Jerry, I have seen photos of that car in magazines and the car in person at the Los Angeles Roadster Show, it was a first class build. The front suspension was similar to what you would expect to see on sprint car front suspension technology. The torsion bars ran along side (maybe inside?) the frame rails. Nothing like what you would expect on a common High Boy street rod today.

The car was around for a long time and ran something like 160 MPH in the quarter. I can only assume that it felt safe and stable at speed or it would have been changed. Unfortunately, after a crash it's sometimes hard to tell if breakage was "the cause", or "the result" of the crash.

One more consideration on any type of accident, is speed. There is something about running in a pack of roadsters going down the highway. There are many times when our club is headed on a trip there are speeds in excess of 100 mph. All it takes to get everybody going is for one car to pass another. Unsafe, absolutely, fun, beyond measurement.
Ken

Hi Ken and others on this thread,
I fully believe in the gust of wind been the cause of this accident as in NZ we suffer from high wind gust, NZ been a narrow set of islands surrounded by oceans. I used to drive large tractor units towing 4 axle semi's and I know what force nature can turn on to give the unexepted a fright. I also believe that the front axle damage is just the result of the crash,nothing more...
Ken I will finish by just saying that my prayers are still that your friend has a full recovery....

And when things happen in a short wheelbase, high hp rod, they happen very quickly. I personally hate those seams you run into on bridges on interstate highways and brace myself every time we hit one. Some are nothing but every once in a while you get one that moves you sideways a little. In a regular car you never really notice them, but riding on 80 year old suspension technology they can be pretty unnerving. They are particularly scary when a car or truck is right next to you in the next lane.

Don

I also believe it most likely was the wind that caused it. I drive the shit out of my car & have been blown over a lane before I realized what was going on. Driving a roadster takes 100% concentration but it's exhausting on a long haul.

I have very little doubt as to the wind being the cause. I was extreamly supprised how much the wind will move me around. And I haven't been moved nearly that much but it is unnerving enough that I avoid the interstate when is gusty around here. And will generally keep speed at about 55mph max when its like that. I was comming out of Mohave one night on a motorcycle and a gust hit me and pushed me almost over. I suppose the higher cg and light weight make these older boddied cars more susceptable. It's almost worse than driving my old ford cargo van. But you really expected that. And it rolled the body more. My little truck is sprung fairly stiff so it doesn't give as much before it wants to physically move the truck.

P.S. Hope for a full recovery for those involved.

Originally Posted by Steves32

I also believe it most likely was the wind that caused it. I drive the shit out of my car & have been blown over a lane before I realized what was going on. Driving a roadster takes 100% concentration but it's exhausting on a long haul.

ANYBODY WHO GETS BEHIND A STEERING WHEEL OR HANDLE BARS OF A VEHICLE SHOULD BEEN GIVING MORE THAN 100% CONCENTRATION... As my dad told me when he taught me to drive was....." treat all other road users as complete thick DICKS WITH VERY LIMITED concentration spans" if one does that , one may live long enough to enjoy mean years of driving...

Originally Posted by Whiplash23T

ANYBODY WHO GETS BEHIND A STEERING WHEEL OR HANDLE BARS OF A VEHICLE SHOULD BEEN GIVING MORE THAN 100% CONCENTRATION... As my dad told me when he taught me to drive was....." treat all other road users as complete thick DICKS WITH VERY LIMITED concentration spans" if one does that , one may live long enough to enjoy mean years of driving...

I agree with Whiplash... I was always taught to be a defensive driver. Anticipate EVERYTHING from careless drivers, unexpected animals running on the road, wind gusts, just about everything. I always think that the next driver may not see me and in that event, be prepared. I'm not a slow driver either... I'm also not the fastest one on the road... I'm a half fast driver.
Jerome

We have a lot of half fast drivers on the roads down here. You guys are right on the mark about driving defensively, even in our daily drivers, but especially in our rods. When my two Sons turned 16 and started driving (we all remember those nights of laying half awake until we heard their cars pull into the driveway at night) I told them they had one goal when they pulled out of the driveway. That goal was to get back home alive that day, nothing else mattered.

Besides the several accidents we have discussed on this thread there have been a few others involving hot rods worth mentioning. The blue bucket pictured below was driven by a young lady named Megan. I met her at Turkey Run a few years ago, very nice lady and very lucky to be alive. She was traveling on some interstate at about 70 mph and the car downshifted somehow and it threw it out of control. It ended up laying on it's side against the guardrail, and Megan was thrown clear into the woods. I believe her injuries were some ribs and maybe a punctured lung, if I recall correctly.

The green rod upside down in the ditch was singer Brian Setzers (Stray Cats) old rod, and had been sold to someone in someplace like Sweden, where this accident occurred. I am not sure if the driver of this one survived or not.

So while statistically wrecks involving hot rods aren't common, they aren't impossible either. They sure does sicken us when we see them and wake us up to the risks we take playing in traffic with cars and trucks that make us look like ants size wise.

Don

Yeah you really have to drive like everyones trying to kill you. Those pics, especially the second one is disturbing, to say the least. Cars, (newer ones) are alot safer in gereral. And people walk away or survive some very serious crashes. I think that is partly to blame for the way some people drive. In their larger suv's, but even the smaller cars, the door bars, crumple zones, air bags, anti lock breaks, and so on. Most have been involved in an accident or know some one who has, and they arn't worried about getting in a wreck as much because they have all that safty equipment to protect THEM. When you get behind the wheel of any motorized vehicle, you are taking your life, and possibly other lives in your hands. Driving is dangerous. And it won't supprise me if one of those idiots kills me. I drive alot every day in my business, and I watch all those jerks almost kill someone every day. So after I see those pics, and hear of steering arms breaking for no aparent reason, kinda gets me paroniod. But it took me alot of years to finally build one so I'll still drive, but you can be sure I'll be watching everything like a hawk and checking those bolts and so forth very often.
Ok off the soap box..............

Yall be careful now.....here.

Here is another one, it happened yesterday. He ran off the road and rolled over on it's side. That's all I know about the accident. I will know more when every one gets back from the run.
Ken

I wonder if that front chrome axle was cast metal, HUH!!!
It sure looks like it is, I think some of you already covered this on here.
Kurt

http://www.dailynews.com/ci_15780236?source=most_viewed

Sigh. This is just becoming all to commonplace. What is going on?


Don