Roll over cobra incar video, non fatal

Howard Jones

Supporter
Willow springs a few years ago. complete miracle. Landed on it feet at least 4 times. I was there but didn't see the crash. After looking at the car and pieces it looked like the driver side lower rear a arm came off under max load.

 

Rick Muck- Mark IV

GT40s Sponsor
Supporter
If I recall correctly this was a few years ago and the cause was the rear LCA failing as the BDR cars use BMW suspension that are taken from wrecks, junkyards, etc.so this may have been rusted or otherwise compromised.
 

Randy V

Moderator-Admin
Staff member
Admin
Lifetime Supporter
He got really lucky.... After having raced Cobras and crashing, I would heartily recommend not only a HANS Device but Arm Restraints..
 
Wow, very lucky escape this.. I'm very curious to learn how/why this LCA failed.. these things are bullet proof and also fairly low loads.
Also: BDR did indeed use reconditioned rear 'trailing arms' and upper control arms. The lower control arms at the rear are new pieces though.
(they've moved to new suspension design without any refurbished parts since 2018 I think)
 

Howard Jones

Supporter
One of the through bolts could have come out, fatigue (crack) failure of the arm structure itself, ball joint, etc. If I remember right it was all torn up pretty bad on that corner, with that violent of a shunt it is really hard to figure out exactly what broke and in what order even if you had the time to thoroughly inspect the pieces, I didn't.

I helped do tech inspections a few times for a west coast cobra oriented event and was struck by the single roll over hoop design used on many cobra replicas. I asked a few guys what they though about their roll hoop design/ potential effectiveness. Mostly blank stares were the result. There is a reason the factory five challenge series cobras have a full A + B pillar box cage with many cross braces and gussets.

I posted this video again, yes Rick it is a few years old, to add to the discussion on roll cages. Track cars would be a yes IMHO. Street ONLY cars would be better served with a firmly braced, rear only, full width hoop. Its the dual use cars that are, or can be, a real problem. I Looked at different styles of head protection, including rugby helmets and other associated sports head gear, for street use in such a car but never came up with something.

In any case, Ya really lucky.............
 

Julian

Lifetime Supporter
Many organizations use the basic broomstick test between front fender and roll hoop, where the top of your helmet must be clear under that line. Also I don't know many organizations that permit open cars to run without arm restraints these days.

As a Time Trials Tech Inspector it amazed me what folks would turn up in for track, often blindly loaded to the hilt with unsecured junk that becomes projectiles in a crash.
 
One of the through bolts could have come out, fatigue (crack) failure of the arm structure itself, ball joint, etc. If I remember right it was all torn up pretty bad on that corner, with that violent of a shunt it is really hard to figure out exactly what broke and in what order even if you had the time to thoroughly inspect the pieces, I didn't.

I helped do tech inspections a few times for a west coast cobra oriented event and was struck by the single roll over hoop design used on many cobra replicas. I asked a few guys what they though about their roll hoop design/ potential effectiveness. Mostly blank stares were the result. There is a reason the factory five challenge series cobras have a full A + B pillar box cage with many cross braces and gussets.

I posted this video again, yes Rick it is a few years old, to add to the discussion on roll cages. Track cars would be a yes IMHO. Street ONLY cars would be better served with a firmly braced, rear only, full width hoop. Its the dual use cars that are, or can be, a real problem. I Looked at different styles of head protection, including rugby helmets and other associated sports head gear, for street use in such a car but never came up with something.

In any case, Ya really lucky.............
something like this perhaps?
 

Howard Jones

Supporter
Here's a few ideas I came up with. Before I begin. THEY ARE NOT MEANT FOR MOTORSPORTS. They do not provide the high velocity impact protection that auto racing helmets do, not even close. OK I said that first!

But.............would they work under very limited circumstances such as a low speed fender bender, or a slow slide into a ditch, or even a light crunch into a guardrail. Enough of a shunt to damage the nose or rear clip bodywork but not hard enough to really hurt the chassis or rip suspension pieces off the car.

Just to protect your head from bumping the roll bar hard enough to hurt. The helmet and a best quality tubing padding would be better than nothing.

And........ be suitable to wear given the goals of a lightweight, small footprint, cool with good airflow, and good ability to hear. Note that they all expect hard surface impacts such as rocks, concrete, and ice.

Rock climbing, skateboarding, and snow skiing. Left to right.

I don't know if this is a good idea, but its a option I suppose.
 

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Neil

Supporter
Not a bad idea, Howard.

In addition, effective roll bar padding is something that should be addressed. I've seen all sorts of stuff used as roll bar "padding", including pool noodles. If anyone values their head, a helmet and proper roll bar padding is recommended. As an example of "proper" roll bar padding, take a look at this:

 
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