Thread: Be careful out there.

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I think we have all had those scary experiences. My worst one ever was outside of Montreal on a rainy day. A small semi was sideswiped by a car and it tore the gas tank (yes, gas, not diesel) off the side of it and sent it tumbling thru the air right at me. I took the ditch and it ended up about 10 feet from the side of my car - right where I would have been. The worst part - a local cop set a flare in front of it which I picked up and threw in the puddle in the ditch my car was occupying. The cop was PO'd (didn't speak English) until I showed him the hole in the tank still draining the 50 or so gallons of gas.

I guess I was lucky when I had my 'bucket - the only real pant cleaning episode was losing my brakes at Syracuse when I popped a non-DOT braided front steel brake line. This new car has Russell DOT braided steel lines.

Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

It's pretty scary when the tires going past you are higher than you are. We went slow, but people were blowing past us and cutting in and out all around us. Trailer trucks are another story altogether.
Don

I'm glad every one is ok!
I hate to lose original metal any time!
Sounds like every day driving to me!
I sit low, and no fenders! Both my Trike and my Mustang sit low, but thats the way I like it.

Pat

The other aspect of old vehicles is their own braking systems. If you have a 30s car that had later model hydraulic drums installed they still ain't like today's brakes. Even cars engineered with drums can't stop like a newer car with 4 discs on fully independent suspension.

The rub here is as you're cruising the smart asses whip around and cut into your lane as you are anticipating coming to a stop ahead and you are proportioning your braking. Well now that the jerk is in front of you it gets more exciting. Same goes for freeway except the speeds are way more dangerous.

If ya got old-style brakes ya gotta leave lots of stopping time and space whether you immediately think you need it or not.

Don, Next time you head up Ocala way, try 301 and give yourself a little extra cruise time. When heading south to Florida, I usually pick up 301 up at Callahan (301 and A1A) and follow it all the way down to Dade City. Most of it is 4 lanes, but from Belleview to Bushnell is single. A lot of quaint towns and horse farms along the way, usually a very pleasant drive. Beats the hell out of looking at bumpers in your rearview.

I never gave blown truck tires a thought until a friend was trailering his streetrod home to Florida from PA and an 18 wheeler blew a tire. Part of the tire carcass hit his streetrod sitting up on the trailer and although damage was light to the all steel car, it would have been totally different if it had hit another vehicle, especially a roadster with little or no cabin protection. Now when I get along side of the big rigs I hurry right along, cause you can never know when something might happen.

Twitch wrote:
If ya got old-style brakes ya gotta leave lots of stopping time and space whether you immediately think you need it or not.

My 57 has original drums, front and rear, and it takes nearly as long and far too stop the old lady as it does a freight train.

It can get up to speed quickly, but a different matter when braking. Even the 34 which has 4 wheel discs won't stop as quickly as my daily driver. I always leave extra room for the old vehicles. No use ending up in someone's trunk due to my own stupidity.

Mopar you nailed it. Even conversions to disc don't stop like a modern car that was engineered with them relative to all their other components.

it's rough, but I don't see anything that isn't fixable.

that should buff right out!!......

Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

Brian, I've also worried about those truck tires blowing up near me. I see rubber fragments strewn all over the roads down here, I guess the heat kills them.
Don

Big Rig tires shredding are usually a recap coming off. The only axle that requires new tires are the front axle.

I was on my way home from the local cruise. 7 PM, 4 laned road, speed limit 35 mph. This knucklehead suddenly pulls out from a driveway, in front of me. Slammed on the 40 Ford binders and locked her up. If I hadn't swerved to the right, I would have center punched him.

Even driving back to the motel from the Street Rod Nationals, there was a real nice 40' Ford Coupe in front of me. I switched to the right lane to get on the freeway. As I pull abreast the 40', he suddenly decides to switch into my lane. I locked up the binders and he swerved back into his lane.

I usually think that guys with rods drive better than most, but this guy blew that. His 40' was probably worth 4 or 5 times what my 31' is worth. You would think that he would look before moving.

Here's a couple more pics Don (the owner) posted up of the accident scene;