Interesting story

[shorty27]

I thought some of you may find this interestng.

I was at a local truck pull this weekend.
a Ford F-250 with a standard tranny was pulling.
He was about half way down the track. His wheels were just turning, no spin what so ever.
His clutch was smoking like a son of a gun.
All of a soudden...............BOOM...............
His fly wheel let loose. Went through the tranny housing, a bunch of wiring, up throught the floor, the dash, set off the air bag, and went out through the window. Even took out some steel on a support beam.

Needless to say, he is one lucky S.O.B. that it went straight up because it could have easily taken off a leg or killed him.

He said after that he has having bad luck, but i think he was pretty lucky on this past saturday to not have even a scratch.

Now, how do you explain that to the insurance company ?????

[75K30]

I am suprised that the requrement for a scatter shield, or "Transmision Blanket" was not used.
Most Puller's rules and guidelines have a a mandatory scatter shield requirement, and or the requirement for a 20 ply ballistic nylon, or kevlar blanket.

Many folks under-estimate the forces and loads that the flywheel, and clutch are under.
Aftermarket SFI approved flywheels are always a must. Billet steel is less likely to fail.

There have been several incidents where flywheels have failed, hence the saftey requirement.

Sure glad the driver was not hurt.

[mudseeker]

i bet that was a sight to see!!

[stumpuller454]

would like to see pics of that! WOW

[junior3382]

WOW, I bet he will make sure it does not ever happen again. And I bet his wife let him know how much he would have been missed that night! and if he was not a religous man before, he is now.... I have seen stuff like that at truck pulls, never anything like that exactly, but nasty accidents that make you think.... and stumpuller, I bet give it time, you can find it on youtube, or perhaps even see it on Spike TV's most amazing videos or something.....

[shorty27]

Originally Posted by 75K30

I am suprised that the requrement for a scatter shield, or "Transmision Blanket" was not used.
Most Puller's rules and guidelines have a a mandatory scatter shield requirement, and or the requirement for a 20 ply ballistic nylon, or kevlar blanket.

Many folks under-estimate the forces and loads that the flywheel, and clutch are under.
Aftermarket SFI approved flywheels are always a must. Billet steel is less likely to fail.

There have been several incidents where flywheels have failed, hence the saftey requirement.

Sure glad the driver was not hurt.

The truck class that this truck was pulling in was basically stock. You know, local guys show up with their daily drivers and see what they can do. Not much of any safety rules for this. That is that you hope the insurance company doesn't find out when it goes BOOM.

[mudseeker]

(guy to insurance company)
yeah, i was just cruising down the highway when out of nowhere my truck got cut in half by my flywheel. it was the darndest thing. *scratches head*

[bradrhale]

you laugh at that mud. my brother in law broke a joint in the cv on his 98 chevy. said it just broke on the highway. nevermind that we had to take the steam cleaner to find the axles. truck was red, but i believe the mud was covering the white. tried to get parts store to take it back since he had replaced that one not 1 yr before.

[wild bill]

i guess you can ask don garlett's what it is like to loose half a foot to a clutch/flywheel explosion ! oopp's better think about saftey before you play that hard .

[hotrodpc]

Yes, so very very strange that event did not require Scatter Shield or Safety Bell Housing to avoid that issue. (Trans Blanket would have not done any good on a manual, but does work for Auto trans with much lighter flywheel). Many people have lost feet and/or legs for ths very type of incident in the past. You just do not hear about it as much now because most events are smart enough to require the safety gear.
The driver should have bought a lottery ticket that night. It was certainly his lucky day. His luck is going to run out when he turns a claim into the insurance company. My bets are on, that they do not pay the claim at all under the circumstances that it happened. You just can't take your new car to a crash up derby event then ask the insurance co to make it new again. Almost the same scenario, but not quite.