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

I wouldn't say i disagree with you on cost but i would think if a team needs one tether set they will end up needing at least three. One on the car, one on at least one spare axle and one spare set just in case they need it. now add another on the spare car and you end up with four.

When you are at the track you have to be prepared with the parts you need and be able to change parts rapidly. You can't be trying to transfer tether parts from a bent axle to a new one in the work area. You have to have your spares ready to go.

"Approved seats", "front torsion retainers", "front axle tethers"  Just got the WRG notification the other day. I personally dont think this is a major deal, Leflers incident hits home for many of us, Nate Mosers (was it the axle or torsion bars ? ) laying in Dingus lot hits home for us,Steve Kings wreck hits home for us, this is simply evolution, I have no problem getting safer and faster, its gotta start somewhere .. if it becomes more of a hazzard then aid then the racers will speek    besides , heck, I kinda like you guys anyway....  I dont want my axle laying in your lap, and id like to keep my head on my shoulders too, it helps for that speeking thing we type about. its not going to eliminate the problems , but, simply try reduce them..

Well said!

Most of the time a front axle comes out of a frame is the axle is to light weight and brakes or the frame is so light it brakes apart and there is nothing to hold the axle.Most of the time I have seen an axle come out of a chassis it brakes at the panhard bar mount and you get only half the axle flying.

The next thing to look at will be the Tail Tank. The last two of three year I have seen 2 or 3 end up infront of the stands over the fience...

There is a frame tube rule on all cars, so there is no such thing as a car with too lite of frame rails.  The two axels I have seen come out right in front of me it was entire front axel.  I do not know which is strongest a 2 and 1/4 axel with thicker tube or a 2 and 1/2 axel with thinner tube.

You are not sure how many years or how many tanks

Good internet info

solving the split axle,  is to tether both spindles if the front end, NOW, I am not convinced that would be a good thing, these cars are twitchy the way it is ,  and any possibility of safety interupting steering on a sprint is almost souicide, I believe the IRL cars tether the spindles somehow,  im not sure, I havent looked closely to one to understand where on the chassis and wheel assembly that the tethers are ancored too.  I watch only Dirt racing and im from the midwest IRL-Nascar isnt within my reach to be familar with..   I also belive Napcar has tethered the front pieces and they both "IRL,Nascar" type cars are not shared on a common front axle, now,  im just going to comment, WHEN  the axle has sheered completly in half,1/3rd,2/3rds ect  (IMO)  the LH or RH side on impact this the "axle's remains" ,kingpin,hub,wheel asembly is loosely scattering the track still bolted together  or hopefully not beyond outside of the racing surface .. Something to keep in mind is 90% of the time a sprint has lost a complete front axle the entire front clip just forward of the radiator box is completly wiped out... NOW>> what good is it to ancor a assembly to tubes that may not exist upon impact? , the possibility of the item becoming a seperate piece may be lessened if the item becomes "bonded" to a structure that may make its seperation from the chassis more difficult, like i stated earier , this isnt going to completly solve everything,  maybe just try reduce the risk that is present, time will tell if this is something worthy of keeping, a  pass/fail rate has to be explored, every crash isnt the same, but if the items lean towards reducing definete catastrophie then the items will remain manditory and be welcomed by all.  Wolfgang utilized a removeable steering wheel, great idea right? the internals were plastic, bad idea right..  BUT, how would we have ever known, since Earnharts death IMO racers safety has went to a rediculous high, now its second nature, some great ideas and some not,  Hopefully, we just learn something prior to fatality  , I will say this, I wear as much equipment my pocket cant afford,  thats right I said CANT, its expensive, so is the hospital, and loss of wages, i often wonder if im wearing too much? is this starting to become clumsy and a a nuscence. all items are closely hashed over to determine it's worthyness..

have seen alot of mud plugs come off and fly great distance and/or hover in the air 100 or so feet prolly need couple duck dynasty guys with scatter guns in the infield.

Finally the merger of Duck Commander and Big Game will be united, tree stands on light poles !, like long lost  brothers the unity is almost bringing a tear to my eye,  oe wait, thats just somebody running rich, anyway,  The "plug a plug" event is going to be awesome! you gotta use cream of mushroom tho, just to take the gamie taste out of the aluminum,  I hope thier good shots?

like

I personally have issues with the way the left side of the seat/head net reads in that rule. Let me explain...

 I am a bigger sized guy, and I run an "old school" style seat. But I have reasons for this. I also run no left side safety bars, and again I have a reason for this. As it turns out, all the reasons I run what I run happened last year. My main concern is being able to escape the car in the event of a fire. Well, last year I had the low speed line come off after a heat race and of course it lit off. I knew very quick I was on fire and tried to drive to the fire truck but I wasn't going to make it so I locked it up and bailed out. I was able to get out very quickly once I got my leg of my suit unhooked off the steering gear and out and rolled around. Luckily all that was burned was my hands and fngertips and after a couple weeks I was ok. I am just not sure I could escape that quickly with a full containment seat given my size, and I am also not sure how well or how quickly one can unhook a head net on the left side in the hurry as a fire is going on.

 I race at Skagit and don't know if they are going to adopt any of these rules so I guess we will have to wait and see on that. I know the dangers of running the equipment I run, and I am all too familiar with getting injured in any form of racing, thats not my point, I am just looking for the best possible scenario given my size and situation. It is no different when people talk about a hans, They are fine I guess just not for me... ( I don't have much of a neck to injure...lol)

44H

44 im glad you have a sence of humor  on your post, with that being said, your debate is worthy of intrest, I am 175lbs 5-11", i use the left side safety bar, knee gaurds bolted to gear,a Butler full contaiment seat t,defender,  and a Butler scatter blanket- tourque tube ankle padding,  with these safety fixtures in place , and my size is pretty common, (i fit in a standard chassis , no bars are moved for seat gear ect), i also use a oldschool steering gear, the tube follows completly across the drivers compartment, Knee braces clamped to the gear, i too have a difficult time contourting myself in and out of the car,at one point I evaluate all this mess and hope i made the right decision, my thoughts are if im knocked out I cannot fight out of the car for safety, AGAIN, the largest impact i took was my head hitting the LH side of the head restraint, did this help or cause more pain? im not sure, i could have suffered spinal injury without it too? ya just never know,  Leflers incident found a seat altered to his liking, had the alterations not been performed would he still be with us today? we simply dont know? every accident is different and every driver is a different size, I strongly believe this is the reason for the manditations, thier not specific enuff for us, BUT, what are the penalties? its your life, you'll understand your specifics better than anyone else, I hope you find a way of tayloring the rules to your comfort,withot jepordizing your payout,points ect,   44 I admire your heart, bigger guys seem to like to shovel themselves into a Latemodel with the 12" window opening in them, kinda like the snake eating a rabbit,"does this sprint make my butt look fat" yep, "well guess I need a latemodel then", SK is no tiny guy,Donny,Sides, Bill Rose is a big build, not too many  bigger guys run the LH safety bar tho, theres alot bigger size guys in our sport , a closer reevaluation to ones particular reqirements needs to be pursued and delt with accordingly  glad your onboard our wagon. its amazing how some guys can fold up into these things, the older I get the smaller the cockpit feels, but, regardless , I wouldnt give it up for the world..