Nice showing there! Lot's of folk's with lots of smiles.
Nice showing there! Lot's of folk's with lots of smiles.
Surge brakes work well for stopping and downhill control with no mods required to the towing vehicle. They don’t work as well as electric brakes for holding pointed uphill nor do they give an operator direct control over the brakes.
I looked up the story on the accident. It is a modern truck so it does make a person wonder why the brakes seem to have failed. One of the mods may have been rushed and/or incomplete to make the parade. It was a youngster driving so probably not enough experience driving to think of the parking brake, killing the engine or putting it in neutral. Very sad event for all involved.
Last edited by 51 CJ3; 12-02-2022 at 10:54 AM.
Jeff
'51 CJ3A
'47 CJ2A
I read a couple more articles on the accident and found this:
“ Glass’ arrest warrant following the incident cited him for improper brakes that “were inadequate to control the movement of and stop the vehicle.” ”
But that could just mean he was slightly overloaded and didn’t have trailer brakes to compensate. He did have a history of equipment violations and failures to get his vehicle inspected.
Jeff
'51 CJ3A
'47 CJ2A
I agree Jeff, it looks like a young man got rattled when his brake pedal went to the floor. I saw some video and you can see the truck was modified a lot. Band aid tires on some oversize and offset rims. I bet the brakes are not original behind that tire setup. The front cradle under the engine looks replaced. what a tragedy. You really need to pay attention when you are working on brakes.
Last edited by bmorgil; 12-03-2022 at 08:13 AM.
"You really need to pay attention when you are working on brakes."{
I guess that should be Rule # 4 of Jeep: "Don't skimp on brakes. If the brakes don't stop it, something else will!"
True statement Senior Chief. Brakes are high on the list for things that are on the repair list. Unfortunately, the people with the lowest ability are trying to put together these monstrosities of crapsmanship. Big wheels, stock brakes, extended brake lines and lifted cradles is a recipe for disaster. Trucks running around looking like dogs rubbing their butts on the front yard grass, just isn't a good, practical application of an otherwise good truck... I call them D-bag starter kits, since they are youngsters typically driving.
Its hard to make some people understand there is more to it than just wrenching away with a fist full of dollars. I can only imagine what the engineers would think in a DFMEA meeting, about the modifications made to trucks by the crowd who wants cool and understands nothing. The load rating on that truck as modified would be very interesting indeed. I think we would find the "hauling capacity" of that truck has been greatly reduced. It is not a truck anymore and shouldn't have been used as one.
I remember back in the '90s at the dirt track. One of the hot dog super late model teams had a new Chevy dually that was lowered to the ground that they used to pull the enclosed trailer. About every weekend we would make $20 to tug them out of a rut in the parking lot or the pits. Cool isn't functional, and functional isn't cool.
A good rule to live by gmwillys! You could add functional isn't cool unless it is engineered to be both. And when you engineer you must test and be certain. Case in point, jb's wagon! Cool and functional, with the right stuff.
There is a lot to making it functional and cool. When you modify a truck with "cool" stuff that is not intended for truck work, you end up with UN-cool when the work arrives.
Last edited by bmorgil; 12-07-2022 at 08:32 AM.
JB's ride is an exceptional exception to the rule. He has put a lot of time and effort into making his wagon a perfect all-around rig.