Thread: Roadster vs 4x4 on fwy

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Originally Posted by Steves32

I'm ready to buy an enclosed trailer!

They are not safe in a trailer either ...





My 32 roadster was invited to the Grand National Roadster Show in 2007. I had it loaded up for the 2500 plus miles trip across the country. This was January 2007. Just about 75 miles outside of Memphis TN ... I had a White Cadillac SUV with 22 inch rims run into my truck at 70 MPH, causing the trailer to sway, lose contol and turned the trailer and rig 180 degrees around on Interstate 40 @ 50 to 60 MPH. Hit the guardrail ... broke the straps loose on the 32 and it slid over into the side wall of the Pace Trailer. The truck and trailer ended up backwards in the median.







Tore up the truck also ...



Fortunately I had two brand new spare tires already mounted ( in case ) so we just had to limp back home 700 miles ... and NOT have the 32 in the show.
But not to be stopped, the wife and I bought air fare and flew on out and had a decent time in LA anyway.

And the Cadillac SUV just kept on going ...

Holy crap Deuce!
That's some scary stuff!

Insurance update:

So far- I called Grundy to report the claim. They couldn't have been more understanding. An adjuster is suppose to contact me within 24 hours to make an appointment to look at the car. I can take it to a trusted hot rod shop of my choice.
So far- so good.

It does seem thin there- especially at the top edge. No way am I going that route again w/ the bolt-on upper mount- this time I will have shock towers welded to the top & sides of frame rail- even if I have to pay the difference. If it was cracked there before- it was hidden by powdercoat.
This is a TCI frame.

Originally Posted by Steves32

Holy crap Deuce!
That's some scary stuff!

Insurance update:

So far- I called Grundy to report the claim. They couldn't have been more understanding. An adjuster is suppose to contact me within 24 hours to make an appointment to look at the car. I can take it to a trusted hot rod shop of my choice.
So far- so good.

It does seem thin there- especially at the top edge. No way am I going that route again w/ the bolt-on upper mount- this time I will have shock towers welded to the top & sides of frame rail- even if I have to pay the difference. If it was cracked there before- it was hidden by powdercoat.
This is a TCI frame.

I have a TCI frame for my 'A' but would not have considered one for a '32. I ( my opinion!! ) don't like the 4 piece welded up design they sell. There is just too much chance of what you experienced and the fact that the heat affected zone from welding (MIG=higher heat then TIG) goes all the way around. ASC with the stamped 'C' shape plus boxing seem to be a lot more desirable(to me, anyhow) and you only have the heat zone in two places. Regardless, you have the TCI frame, it is a reasonable quality and it needs to be fixed. There are ways to go about that successfully and I, for one, would appreciate it if you keep us updated on both the repair and Grundy.

Originally Posted by IC2

I have a TCI frame for my 'A' but would not have considered one for a '32. I ( my opinion!! ) don't like the 4 piece welded up design they sell. There is just too much chance of what you experienced and the fact that the heat affected zone from welding (MIG=higher heat then TIG) goes all the way around. ASC with the stamped 'C' shape plus boxing seem to be a lot more desirable(to me, anyhow) and you only have the heat zone in two places. Regardless, you have the TCI frame, it is a reasonable quality and it needs to be fixed. There are ways to go about that successfully and I, for one, would appreciate it if you keep us updated on both the repair and Grundy.

I'm with you, Dave.... I've put together a bunch of Deuce frames, every one of them from ASC rails!!!!! They are strong, and when reinforced and boxed properly will take a heck of a pounding....one of mine was thoroughly crash tested when rearended by a (what else) drunk driver.... They hold up well.
Also built a fast one for a guy, low 10's with no twist or flex, good stuff!!!

Originally Posted by Steves32

Holy crap Deuce!
That's some scary stuff!

Insurance update:

So far- I called Grundy to report the claim. They couldn't have been more understanding. An adjuster is suppose to contact me within 24 hours to make an appointment to look at the car. I can take it to a trusted hot rod shop of my choice.
So far- so good.

It does seem thin there- especially at the top edge. No way am I going that route again w/ the bolt-on upper mount- this time I will have shock towers welded to the top & sides of frame rail- even if I have to pay the difference. If it was cracked there before- it was hidden by powdercoat.
This is a TCI frame.

yep check the other side you still need to pull on more them one surface so you want the shock mounts grabing the in side of the box frame this can be done by making up towers that would get welded to the face of the rail and go thru the rail and plug welded to the in side of the rail if you look at top of your rail you will see that it came loose from grinding to thin the cracks work a way from the holes from the shocks from over working the thin steel if mounting a shock that steel needs to be 1/4 thick .that the way i see it any ways if you look at the cracks rust and the cracks will be worn smooth on the break and the lower shock mount is crack that could of been like that before? from trying to do all the work ?

Though hard to tell apart from 1/8 in, that looks to be about 10 gage (0.1345 in) to me which is standard for '32 frame rails. For instance American Stamping makes them like that and it is probably who most people buy from. But American stamping rails are channeled, only the inside is boxed.

A beefy design would be 1/4 inch rails or reinforcement per Pat above. But hey, this frame (uh, the whole car) is just not designed to withstand 4x4 encounters. But then neither are NASCAR's ............

Kitz

kitz look at the photos you can see were the side of the rail peeled up and you can see powder coat was and no welding to the top of the rail ? still if the hit should of bent the steel and rip it but no cracks or missing parts crack and gone from what happen you just can not mount a shock to thin plate and not think it will not crack out and fail .i am not trying to be a pain in the ass .i just want to make sure STEVE has seen what i see ? what i think is going on with your frame and after all this it gets fixed better then it was

Deuce

The show must go on, good out look after such a bad accident and no one got hurt. You may have to shed a few tears later but deal with that when that time comes. Got to give you an A+ for attitude.

Richard

Whew! Dats ugly! It's hard to believe that anyone would put a shock mount bung on one side of the rail, but then it is Total Cost Involved.

Here's a couple pictures of how I prefer it. These are ASC rails, so you can see the formed outer C channel (if you look closely you can see the die marks on the top side). Just a note; in addition to ASC the Dearborn Deuce folks make a stamped rail as well, both 10 gauge, I believe that TCI is using 11 gauge for their welded up rails. This is a mock up setup so ignore the overly long hardware. If you look at the inner and outer rail faces you can see where there is a tube welded in the box section clear through. This spreads the loading on the shock tower to both the inner and outer rail sides. The setup you've had puts a lot of leverage on just the one surface and you've seen the results. While a welded bracket would spread the load over a broader surface, it's still working on just the one side. Done right, there's nothing wrong with a bolt on bracket like these, and as you mentioned it does have more of a period look. I suppose the insert tube could be threaded to allow the fastener to only show on the outside and be capped and ground smooth on the inside (for appearance sake), but then you'd be missing the benefit of spreading the load as equally.

Bob
I find your picture w/ the through frame mounts very interesting. Both of yours are behind the X member. Mine are at the X member, so there's no access to the other side like yours.


Well- I know who's frame I'll use if I ever snag that 32 3 window project I've been lusting over for years!

Well, you are taking it to people who have a rep for knowing what to do. Just a commentary for general discussion. The bottom of the front crossember is open, so there is limited access. From your description they must have a plan to get in behind there to add the "plate". Depending on how much space needs to be allowed for spring travel, they may or may not have room to put a piece in there to act much as the inner boxing plate does. I'm not as familiar with the TCI method, but there's another variation on '32 front cross menber mounting that is done frequently. In mine the cross member spans full width within the rails before boxing which allows for more welding surface area. Some companies will box the rails then face weld the front cross member to the boxing plates. There are probably thousands of rods out there with it done that way and their front ends aren't falling off, and with good welds it's probably "okay", but I prefer the interlocking method with extra welding. If TCI does the face welding method you may already have an inner wall under that cross member (?).

Agent contacted me at 11am this morning & gave me the claim number & said an adjuster will be out within 48 hours.

TCI may not have even installed the So-Cal type shock mounts. They usually use a weld-on type mount or leave them off so the owner can install whatever type they want. I would be suprised if TCI would just weld the little bungs to the outside of the rails.
Tim

Yup, think I'm gonna switch mine, too!

I have no comparisons as this is my 1st claim on Grundy. I had haggerty for years but they didn't like 10 second ProStreet show cars, so I went with Grundy. They have been wonderful through the whole process.

I only have a few pics as my camera recently died. I'll try & post some when I get time.