Toliver's runaway tire. (1 Viewer)

[Mooseman]

On my MW axles for the Ford 9 inch rear-end, the studs have a .6875 diameter shank that actually drives the wheel, if you go to a .750, it will not fit most rims in use now.

I'm pretty sure that no one that has posted on this topic knows exactly what happened, yet, all kinds of "solutions" are being offered.

I would love to see a very slow speed playback of tolivers wheel coming off .

 

[Paul]

Alan, I appreciate your input on this topic, and I hope you understand I'm not trying dump on NHRA or anybody else just for the heck of it, I just think they need to handle situations like this a little better. Regarding your comment:

Do you think NHRA should issue a statement, or call a press confrence every time there as a failure of some type?
Alan

When its a simple and fundamental component like a wheel stud that failed without any other impact other than acceleration, yes they absolutely should have a standard process, like, I hate to bring them up again, NASCAR follows.

1) Impound the parts that failed before they get lost or mishandled.

2) Issue a statement to the public and the teams that NHRA has impounded the parts and is investigating this problem. Typically done in NASCAR the day after the race.

People on this forum would love this step, as it would prevent threads like this one from goobering up all the much more important silly season discussions (just kidding fellas, I guess). Seriously though, step 2) is important to let the public know they are on top of this problem and care about safety issues in general, it builds a positive perception of the organization instead of a negative one.

3) Either use internal technical resources or if required external tech resources to figure out what happened.

4) Issue a final statement. This could range from a conclusion that it was an isolated incident and no changes are required, to a requirement for a more controlled procedure for torquing and replacing the wheel studs, or possibly a requirement for stronger parts.

Of course it doesn't make sense to do this for every parts breakage that occurs in drag racing, but it does make sense to do it for some, and wheel studs definitely fall in the category.

If the wheel had come off when the car was going faster and had gone into the stands and hurt somebody, would everyone feel that the approach taken so far with the issue was good enough and kept the public informed enough on what was going on to prevent this from happening again?

Paul T.

 

[Z28LT1]

I know it sounds like a hassle, but a driver or a spectator could get killed from a tire coming off like that, it was very lucky the car wasn't at full speed yet. Paul T.

I thought you were being paranoid Paul, but the worst has happened. Time to think of something to prevent these things from running away if they come off.

 

[.]

I'll eat some crow on this one too. I thought Paul was making to big of a deal about this back then, but now I see he was right to be concerned. Hindsight is always 20/20.

 

[Paul]

This was a terrible tragedy. I wish I had been totally wrong about my concerns and that it hadn't happened.

My thoughts and prayers are with all those who were directly affected by the accident.

 

[Toejam]

Nancy, I appreciate your input, but for a critical component like this, you can't afford to take the "sometimes it just breaks" approach. Certifying and testing fasteners is an area that is pretty mature thanks to the aerospace industry, and with the correct application of procedures like a careful design review and procedures like magnafluxing it would be possible to make a failure like this extremely unlikely.

A good metallurgist can look at the failed studs and tell you why they failed, over stressed (ie underdesigned, fixable), defective material (fixable through better testing and specifications) or fatigued through overuse (fixable through magnafluxing or similar).

Paul T.

Paul- Metal fatigue is inevitable with this stuff! Longer studs could be stronger, but even they will break at some point! I don't think there is anyway you can guarantee this stuff never happening!

 

[Kenny B.]

This isn't the first time we have seen tires come off in this sport. Watch this video of Larry Dixon crashing at Memphis. Keep an eye on the rear tire. I can't find the other video but it shows the tire bouncing through the spectator camp ground!!!
YouTube - Horrific dragster crash

Or how about this clip of Eddie Hill's blow over...Big Mac even points out the tire being thrown from the car.

YouTube - 1989 NHRA WinterNationals

Point is...both of these events took place at much higher speeds then Browns weekend accident. Unfortunately this is one of the reasons why they print the disclaimer on the back of the tickets. "Enter at your own risk" is a theme that NHRA drag racing is based on. We all know the risks involved every time we strap into a car, standing on the starting line, sitting in the stands or even walking through all the liquid spilt in the beer gardens. Drag Racing has risks involved everywhere...but the big question is how can we make the events safer? I think maybe a larger stud might be a good start...? Tire and wheels assemblies are made as stong as possible yet as light weight as they can be... two conflicting ideas. This is a tough fix...and who says that next time it wont be a body panel or chassis part?
This is an unfortunate event for drag racing and sports in general, but lets not forget how safe the sport actually is....Dedicated to safety is still the moto in NHRA. Fans are killed in baseball parks from foul balls, hockey pucks have entered the stands and killed...but that is the risk the fans take by going to these events...its unfortunate but there are risks everywhere.

 

[Mooseman]

Wheels and tires coming off isnt new. Theres even videos of it happening years ago. When Eddie Hill had his blowover, Pisano Matsubara car as seen on Funny Car Summer, There is a documentory out there is on youtube I think about Dick Landy and he is at ontario motor speedway and there is a clip of a twin engine gas dragster losing a wheel. There are probably hundreds more examples in drag racing alone. The thing with this one is someone unfortunatly got hurt, you can do the coulda shoulda woulda thing until the cows come home but it wont change anything. I am sure the people involved are taking all the steps to work out why it happened and make sure it wont or at least less likely to happen again.

 

[Roadsters]

Wheel tethers

This is a duplicate of a post I made earlier in another thread.

NHRA crew chief John Medlen working to add wheel tethers

From ESPN, by Terry Blount

John Medlen, a longtime crew chief at John Force Racing and one of the leading safety innovators in the NHRA, is working feverishly on a plan to add wheel tethers to cars before the next event March 11-14 at Gainesville, Fla. Medlen is working with Lee Beard, the team manager at Don Schumacher Racing, the organization that fields Brown's dragster.

"I'm working on the tethers right now," Medlen said Tuesday from the JFR shop in Brownsburg, Ind. "It's very doable. The axles on these cars are pretty thin, but I think we've found a way to do it. I'm hoping we can get it done by Gainesville, but that depends on getting approval from the NHRA. We want this to become mandatory, but we have to make sure we don't cause a new problem and weaken the axle. I think we can figure this out," he said.

Wheel tethers made of steel cable have been used in other racing series for over a decade because of tragic incidents in the late 1990s.

Complete article on ESPN