HoseHeads.com | HoseHeads Classifieds | Racer's Auction
Home | Register | Contact | Verify Email | FAQ |
Blogs | Photo Gallery | Press Release | Results | HoseheadsClassifieds.com


Welcome Guest. Already registered? Please Login

 

Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead


Records per page
 
Topic: Leffler accident caused by rf stop falling off Email this topic to a friend | Subscribe to this TopicReport this Topic to Moderator
Page 1 of 3   of  57 replies
sprint7chuck
June 20, 2013 at 10:01:00 PM
Joined: 06/20/2013
Posts: 3
Reply

According to sources at Maxim the right front stop fell off the car causing the accident.The stop was found and the bolt was tight. This is a problem that no one wants to fix. Why dont the sanctioning bodys mandate the use of some kind of retaining system. The fix only costs $50 from Speedway Motors for both front bars. I would like to know if anyone has had this happen to them. This safety concern needs to be addressed before we lose another driver.




Wpafan
June 20, 2013 at 10:16:10 PM
Joined: 07/22/2011
Posts: 65
Reply
didn't that happen to wimmer at Kokomo
It's not if!   It's when and how bad


RM7
June 20, 2013 at 10:41:28 PM
Joined: 06/20/2013
Posts: 2
Reply
Is that not the same or pretty close to the same problem Brandon Wimmer had a week or two ago while racing at a WoO race just after his heat race finished when Johnny mistakenly blamed Sammy for wrecking him?


larryitis
June 20, 2013 at 11:06:27 PM
Joined: 12/21/2010
Posts: 840
Reply
How legit is this? are you 100%? can anyone provide more detail, an explanation for those of us that don't get to work on a sprint car, pics? My understanding was that he went hard in to the wall most likely caused by some kind of mechanical failure, then the car whipped around & the left side of the cockpit hit the wall hard. which impact caused his death? I have a lot of questions.
Follow me on the social medias! ; twitter - 
larryitis   Facebook - Michael Collins 

Some Guy In Texas
June 20, 2013 at 11:19:52 PM
Joined: 08/09/2008
Posts: 500
Reply
Didn't TMAC have this happen not long ago?

trecraft
June 20, 2013 at 11:40:35 PM
Joined: 11/15/2008
Posts: 597
Reply
Reply to:
Posted By: Some Guy In Texas on June 20 2013 at 11:19:52 PM
Didn't TMAC have this happen not long ago?


Many of the teams already run these. Just makes good safety sense.




trecraft
June 20, 2013 at 11:55:46 PM
Joined: 11/15/2008
Posts: 597
Reply
Reply to:
Posted By: larryitis on June 20 2013 at 11:06:27 PM
How legit is this? are you 100%? can anyone provide more detail, an explanation for those of us that don't get to work on a sprint car, pics? My understanding was that he went hard in to the wall most likely caused by some kind of mechanical failure, then the car whipped around & the left side of the cockpit hit the wall hard. which impact caused his death? I have a lot of questions.


Sometimes in life you might have to settle for less than 100%.



ksprinter
June 21, 2013 at 01:19:26 AM
Joined: 08/13/2005
Posts: 59
Reply

I have had this happen. When i went to running a 1050 bar in the right front and with ti front stop it would walk off, had one come off, put new ti stops on and within 2 races same thing. I thought this was well known its been going on for a while. The easy fix is run steel or alum front stops, havent lost a stop nor has it walk on me.

 



pcitysmitty
June 21, 2013 at 07:35:53 AM
Joined: 07/12/2009
Posts: 75
Reply
Reply to:
Posted By: larryitis on June 20 2013 at 11:06:27 PM
How legit is this? are you 100%? can anyone provide more detail, an explanation for those of us that don't get to work on a sprint car, pics? My understanding was that he went hard in to the wall most likely caused by some kind of mechanical failure, then the car whipped around & the left side of the cockpit hit the wall hard. which impact caused his death? I have a lot of questions.


I had heard the stop was found in turn 4. I guess it has been confirmed. Still an unfortunate accident. No one is to blame. We run a simple piece of 1/4" allthread through ours with washers on the ends to help hold stop in place. It is a pain when changing bars, but if it could prevent this it well worth it. RIP #LEFturn




BMcLain21
MyWebsite
June 21, 2013 at 09:45:48 AM
Joined: 04/14/2007
Posts: 562
Reply
The reason they came to that conclusion is brcause all the other bolts were tight and still connected to what they were supposed to be connected to. The rf stop came off causing the car to whip around. When the left side hit the wall it caused his head to whip really bad causing extreme stretching of the major tendons in his neck and crushing his C1. Apparently he had shoulder support on his seat but nothing for his head. He had the head support removed early because he was complaining it limited his vision.
Brandon McLain
United Sprint Car Series Driver
2014 Season
National Rookie of the Year!
National Points - 8th
Southern Points - 3rd
Asphalt Points - 3rd
18 Races, 3 Top 5's, 14 Top 10's

65
June 21, 2013 at 09:51:52 AM
Joined: 08/09/2007
Posts: 57
Reply
Reply to:
Posted By: BMcLain21 on June 21 2013 at 09:45:48 AM
The reason they came to that conclusion is brcause all the other bolts were tight and still connected to what they were supposed to be connected to. The rf stop came off causing the car to whip around. When the left side hit the wall it caused his head to whip really bad causing extreme stretching of the major tendons in his neck and crushing his C1. Apparently he had shoulder support on his seat but nothing for his head. He had the head support removed early because he was complaining it limited his vision.


I have a picture of his car as my desktop, and you are right! It does look like the helmet side supports were removed from (or left off of) the seat, and he was running head nets instead.



BMcLain21
MyWebsite
June 21, 2013 at 10:09:49 AM
Joined: 04/14/2007
Posts: 562
Reply
He still had his nonwing tendencies of looking left a lot. He actually had the seat that could have saved his life at his shop and didnt want to use it
Brandon McLain
United Sprint Car Series Driver
2014 Season
National Rookie of the Year!
National Points - 8th
Southern Points - 3rd
Asphalt Points - 3rd
18 Races, 3 Top 5's, 14 Top 10's


Eric Smith
June 21, 2013 at 10:52:59 AM
Joined: 11/29/2011
Posts: 243
Reply

Can someone share what the solution is that comes from Speedway please? I would like to look into it to make sure it doesn't happen to me.


.  

CSMoses
MyWebsite
June 21, 2013 at 11:00:12 AM
Joined: 02/09/2012
Posts: 10
Reply
My guess is they're talking about the torsion stop retainer kit 940-37007. It retails for $25.99. http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Moose-Blocks-1200-Torsion-Stop-Retrainer-Kit,46854.html

sprint7chuck
June 21, 2013 at 11:00:25 AM
Joined: 06/20/2013
Posts: 3
Reply

The kit Speedway motors sell is a 3/8 all thread rod with large washers made to fit the bar and a lock nut to hold the stop and arm on the splines. I installed this on my car this week and are racing at knoxville this weekend.




brettco
June 21, 2013 at 11:01:12 AM
Joined: 12/03/2004
Posts: 517
Reply
Reply to:
Posted By: Eric Smith on June 21 2013 at 10:52:59 AM

Can someone share what the solution is that comes from Speedway please? I would like to look into it to make sure it doesn't happen to me.



Don't use titanium stops. I wouldn't put much faith in allthread/ its grade playdough.

MoOpenwheel
June 21, 2013 at 11:10:05 AM
Joined: 07/27/2005
Posts: 637
Reply
Reply to:
Posted By: brettco on June 21 2013 at 11:01:12 AM
Don't use titanium stops. I wouldn't put much faith in allthread/ its grade playdough.


What does titanium have to do with it? I've seen this happen when the pinch bolt doesn't have enough threads. It torqued down on the shoulder of the bolt before it pinched the bar enough. Cost a friend a couple cars and some pain before they figured it out.

Camberlink
June 21, 2013 at 11:10:30 AM
Joined: 06/30/2009
Posts: 18
Reply
Reply to:
Posted By: brettco on June 21 2013 at 11:01:12 AM
Don't use titanium stops. I wouldn't put much faith in allthread/ its grade playdough.


I have had a RF stop fall off and I only use 4130 steel stops. The all-thread only is to retain the stop from being "hammered" off due to the RF bar not being under tension the majority of time and sliding back and forth in the torsion tube, effectively "hammering" it off the torsion bar.




meatbag
June 21, 2013 at 12:16:22 PM
Joined: 07/10/2007
Posts: 947
Reply
There is literally 100 things that "could" happen. You can't prevent them all. On the same note however, don't forget to torque your arms and stops. If you only use a regular wrench, it's your fault
do it in the dirt

BMcLain21
MyWebsite
June 21, 2013 at 12:25:31 PM
Joined: 04/14/2007
Posts: 562
Reply
If you torque make sure you torque wrench is cslibrated properly. Zemken git sent to the hospital at carolina cause of that
Brandon McLain
United Sprint Car Series Driver
2014 Season
National Rookie of the Year!
National Points - 8th
Southern Points - 3rd
Asphalt Points - 3rd
18 Races, 3 Top 5's, 14 Top 10's



Post Reply
You must be logged in to Post a Message.
Not a member register Here.
Already registered? Please Login





If you have a website and would like to set up a forum here at HoseHeadForums.com
please contact us by using the contact link at the top of the page.

© 2024 HoseHeadForums.com Privacy Policy