Known Causes of Model T Accidents

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Model T Ford Forum: Forum 2012: Known Causes of Model T Accidents
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Hal Davis-SE Georgia on Wednesday, July 18, 2012 - 07:17 pm:

I'm kinda curious. There's been a lot of talk about safety here lately, and everyone has there ideas about what is safe and what is not. Everyone who has opened a rear end (Me included) has found babbitt thrust washers in bad shape and had this feeling of impending doom, but most of us, thankfully, didn't actually have a wreck because of it. So let's put all the what if's aside for a moment and report only actual Model T accidents or total loss of control that you are aware of and what caused it. Brake failure? Steering 'going over center'? Negative caster? Broken spokes? Other structural failure? Remember...Only accidents or loss of control. No "That may have failed next time I took her out"'s.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Paul Nicholson on Wednesday, July 18, 2012 - 11:49 pm:

Hal, You are forgetting the biggest reason of all, it is the person behind the steering wheel!!!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Steve Jelf, Parkerfield KS on Thursday, July 19, 2012 - 12:18 am:

No wreck, but almost loss of control: left front blowout. Tire pressure too low. The car wanted to run off the road, but I kept it headed forward until it stopped.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By jack daron-Brownsburg,In. on Thursday, July 19, 2012 - 12:24 am:

I broke an axle once on left rear. Snapped in the middle of hub. Fortunately I was barely moving and car went down on the differential half. Had to chase down the wheel .


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ricks - Surf City on Thursday, July 19, 2012 - 12:43 am:

That's a noble effort, Hal.

Personally, I'm interested in accident causes, as well as knowing what could fail and cause an accident before it happens, like the babbit thrust washers. Most often there is a chain of failures that lead to an unsafe condition. Break the chain and you've prevented an accident.

A wheel with brittle red oak spokes broke on me in late 2002. The wheel slid sideways across gravel before hitting dry pavement at 10 mph.

1> Before that, I couldn't imagine anybody would use anything but hickory on T wheels.

2> I was told that Frank xxx always used white oak, which is not so brittle as red oak, but clearly inferior to Shagbark Hickory.

3> I didn't verify these wheels were white oak, and not crappy red oak.

4> I was in denial that it could matter - until the spokes broke.

5> I started a campaign to rid all Model Ts of spokes made from anything inferior to Shagbark Hickory. Before that, Lang and Snyder offered only oak spokes.

rdr
Kingsburg, Calif tonight, enroute to Oregon


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