Chassis Failure, Not Team Force (2 Viewers)

[club]

Torco Racing Fuel's Competition Plus.com - Drag Racing's Internet Magazine - ANOTHER CHASSIS FAILURE

 

[Steve Burnette]

I had a guy close to our team that saw the specs on the new Bill Miller chassis and actually seen the proof of its safety, and he said its years beyond the SFI spec, we were actually looking into having the same car built, but NHRA said nuh uh, aint happenin

 

[NitroMustang65]

They need to start making the things out of adamantium

 

[Steve Burnette]

I think when you have a guy involved in racing, who I as well as many other consider a pure genius at what he does, spend his blood sweat and tears to help develop a safer chassis, at least give him a chance to prove himself. The guy is one of the worlds best engineers and if he thinks he has developed the fix, let him prove himself not send him home

 

[none]

...and so it begins

 

["Dr. Dirt"]

It appears when common sense can't prevail, politics will take over?

 

[Rajunz]

Looks like another one going away from Heat Treated tubing.................

 

[Randy]

I'm glad it was caught and I'm glad Melanie is OK. 'Nuff said.

 

["Dr. Dirt"]

Dare we ask who built this chassis?

 

[Dave]

This is very scary. I can't go through watching another Force type of incident. Johnny was very lucky but what's gonna happen to the next driver. It makes me sick to my stomach to even think about it. Every time I see the replay of John's crash I get chills. The most sickening part is at the end where the front end of the car slides to a stop in the sand with no driver area and total silence. It really looked like we lost him, like he was gone. I can't do this again. I am friends with a few drivers and whenever I hear about a chassis failure I really worry about them.

The new Force chassis looks like a step in the right direction but a better fix is needed for the current design. Something is going on with these chassis' and there is a reason they are breaking. A buddy of mine is a fabricator and we talked about heat treating. He said there are different methods of heat treating and the strength and quality of the steel can have a lot to do with the strength and quality of the end product after it is heat treated. He said the way the steel is produced can effect the how effective the heat treating is. One of his company's competitors buys all of their steel from China and that company's products have a lot of strength problems when they heat treat them. Their stuff breaks but they seem to feel they are saving money by buying defective material. Going with that way of thought, I'm curious where some of these chassis builders' material comes from. I'm not trying to turn this into another "Bad stuff from China" discussion, but it's possible that could be the problem.

Dave

 

[Todd]

QUOTING competition plus

"Troxel will drive the back up car in Pomona while a yet unannounced driver will pilot a new prototype chassis fabricated by Chuck Hase. This car will be a heavy frame-rail chassis assembled with normalized tubing."

I wonder if this will be Skuza's return ??????

 

[DrRocket]

QUOTING competition plus

"Troxel will drive the back up car in Pomona while a yet unannounced driver will pilot a new prototype chassis fabricated by Chuck Hase. This car will be a heavy frame-rail chassis assembled with normalized tubing."

I wonder if this will be Skuza's return ??????

Could be Mike will drive it himself???

 

[johnny]

QUOTING competition plus

"Troxel will drive the back up car in Pomona while a yet unannounced driver will pilot a new prototype chassis fabricated by Chuck Hase. This car will be a heavy frame-rail chassis assembled with normalized tubing."

I wonder if this will be Skuza's return ??????

Hawley!

Why anyone still believes in the heat treated cars is beyond me. I was sure Oswald/Corradi were done with them.

 

[Jenn]

It appears when common sense can't prevail, politics will take over?

Then Common sense doesn't stand a chance

 

[Toejam]

You mean the mandated upgrades failed? I wonder who gets the blame for that?

 

[Ugly one]

SFI just needs to add a few more tubes and struts to stiffen' them up some more to get it right.
One nitro funnycar owner in the shop yesterday compared the steering box upgrades to: being designed by a frustrated 3 year with an Erector set that he just got for Christmas. And when you add the rubber bushings and bolts it makes a VERY stable situation .
Your SFI chassis pro "working for the good of ONE"

 

[SST2096]

Recently taken shot of NHRA's tech dept at the annual Christmas party:

 

[Draw 3D]

Recently taken shot of NHRA's tech dept at the annual Christmas party:

I wonder if a picture of some of the "experts" here would look the same?

 

[Buzzz Miller]

Just a quick thought;
O.K. Bill Miller is satan. He tried to build a car that was not exactly to cert of the NHRA and SFI. He may never again pass an NHRA tech, and could be blackballed for eternity. Love him or hate him for offending the powers that be, he could be in the right with the new car or in the worng - and blah-blah-blah.
But the real question- is the data from his testing sound? Are the findings real? Are the equations valid? Are the conclusions sufficient in clarity? If he is really on to something, are we all standing on the sidelines watching the safety of our sport robbed by egos that are not willing to admit fault, but rather cover up, assemble and blackball to avoid truth? I have seen the report and reviewed the findings. I am aware of the problems or the lack thereof for decades in this sport, and know of the problems since heat treated tubing entered the scene.
And as a side note, I spoke for a half hour yesterday with a man that owns a large metal supply and steel fabrication business. He spoke at length with us about tubing, the inconsistancies in recent years from certain suppliers, the reson he uses the suppliers that he does, the problems with heat treating chromomoly, and problems with heat treating facilities and consistancies. His final statement was simple. "Build it with condition N and you will never have a problem. I don't know why anyone that knows anything would not build it with condition N."
I am afraid of the politics. Very afraid.

 

[ROCKY]

I don't want to be an expert. An ex is something that once was and a spurt is just a drip under pressure.