Followup question about rolling

i would let go of the wheel, fold my hands over my head and face and plant my feet firmly against the floor, and hopefully enjoy the ride. i don't have any first hand experience. but, i have often thought the same thing. i have been a paramedic for 26 years and have run on several cj, yj and tj accidents. most have faired pretty well. most of the trail accidents i have been on were rather low impact roll-overs and the riders were able to shake it off. the best part for me was riding in some guys jeep to get us to the patients(had to leave the ambulance back at the trail head). i would personally feel better having a four point harness holding me in. mmmmmmmm, maybe i will install one soon, i often worry about my 7 y/o son. i would also worry about broken arms by having a deathgrip on the steering wheel being jerked back and forth. be safe!

One thing I learned at the orchard driving tractors is keep your thumbs on the outside of the wheel...

Earle

Travis,

Having "been on my head" a few times in everything from race cars to sand rails (never in my Jeep however), the number one thing you must do is keep your arms and hands from going outside the boundaries of the roll cage. This isn't easy to do, but luckily in a Jeep you will most likely be going very slow when this happens, so you have some time to think about it. A death grip on the steering wheel is a good idea, but at least 4 point harnesses with arm retraints makes this a no brainer. Not the most comfortable set up for a fun day of wheeling, but works very well.

RR

Get a full 6-point roll cage, for one. You will want frame gussets welded on to bolt the cage to in the driver and passenger footwells.

DO NOT get those cute little velcro hand hold things that go on the roll bars. If the passenger is holding onto them during a roll over, they will suffer serious injury to their hand. You should hold the steering wheel, and your passenger should hold the grab handle over the glove box door. Mashing a dent into the floor with the brake pedal is something you have to play by ear. The death grip on the steering wheel/grab handle is a requirement, mashing the brake is probably a good plan, but not helpful - depending upon the direction of the roll over. Mashing the brake at the exact wrong time can actually be the cause of a roll over that would otherwise not have occurred. But, it is a considerably different thing to be sitting in a pile of shit (literally your own) and watching the planet turn upsidedown, and standing at the bottom of the hill wondering why the idiot is using the brakes at that particular moment.

The Number 1 Goal during a roll over is to keep yourself inside the confines of the roll cage, the best way to do that is to hold onto the steering wheel of grab handle -- depending upon which seat you are occupying at the time -- and hang on. I understand your impulse to cover your face, but this can allow you to flop from side to side and possibly go beyond the confines of the roll cage.

Most offroading accidents that we see are very low speed, indeed sometimes the vehicle has stopped moving entirely then tips over, and over. I have never seen one where the vehicle occupants did not walk away, but cleary there are many that get some serious injuries. I have just had the great fortune to not be involved in any of those.

I have been over twice, once as a driver and once as a passenger and the 'death grip' is the way to go.

I wheel on 'really' twisty stuff and can't wear a shoulder strap, it does some bad damage sometimes so only wear the lap belt. Hanging on is the only way to go.

Sometimes letting off the brake can stop a roll too, so you have to think quick to get out of it in maybe one piece. (you and the Jeep)

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

If he hadn't been on the brakes, he would not have rolled over.

It is easy to sit here and watch the video, and say that he should not have been on the brakes, but it is much different when sitting in the Captain's Chair guiding the ship.

*cough* No comment. ;-)

On Mon, 03 Nov 2003 14:42:41 -0800, L.W.(ßill) Hughes III shared the following:

-- Travis

meek shall inherit the earth. After I'm finished with it.:wq!

5 point harness with wrist straps to keep the impulse of holding the immovable object back with appendages from pinning said appendage between roll cage and the aforementioned immovable object.

In terms of prep, the debris in the cockpit is brutal, trapped in there with you. Tool boxes, jacks, coolers, and passengers rapidly tumble like in a dryer!

When its happening, with a harness, cover your face and head (feet on dash?) otherwise, just hang on! (not a bad idea, helps to keep the hands and FEET in the vehicle)

Nothing increased my testicular size greater than the new race seats and 5 points in my VW rail buggy. 103 measured feet between takeoff and landing. Best of many jumps that day. (and road legal 2boot!)

Frank

...on the alt.cheech&chong forum this would have a whole other meaning! ;-)

Death grip on the wheel for the driver. On the chicken bar (over the glove box) for the passenger. Feet on the floor (or brake). You want all of you to stay inside the cage the entire time. That said, I dont wear my shoulder belt off road much. It bothers me, locks up an the most awful times, and I cant reach things I need to reach with it on (HAM radio, front locker, etc). However, I have installed a 3" lapbelt. I was wearing it at the time of my roll. I got some really nasty bruises due to carrying my keys and pocket knife at the time, but they healed up pretty fast. I dont know on the ignition, I turned mine off as soon as I thought I had stopped rolling. Eventually I plan to put racing seats and 4/5 point harnesses in my rig. One reason I ended up without thinking about it much, with the death grip on the wheel was that being doorless, I was worried that I might get a shoulder out and have it sanded off on the rock. I do beleive that hitting slick rock is akin to going down on a bike on the pavement. Major road rash.

My roll is at:

in case you havenot seen it and want to. (Lord knows that damn near everyone else in wheeling has! )

Sounds like a guy I used to fly with. If he wasn't actually making the takeoff or landing it was feet on the instrument panel, lap and shoulder harness locked, hands gripping the frame uder the front edge of the seat. Seems he had 'survived' 3 takeoffs in the F89 where an engine failed after max refusal speed and prior to min single engine speed (otherwise known as the suicide box) and claimed that he learned from the experience.

One of the best parts of flying maintainance test was the FOD check where we rolled inverted and gathered up all the crap that fell from the floor up onto the canopy. I have a pretty good seletion of wrenches and screwdrivers garnered that way over the years. Really good sticks could suspend things in mid air then use throttle and rudder to bring them within easy reach.

Having seen the damage that the puny little lap/shoulder belts do in any significant impact makes me wish I had a good a/c rated 3 inch set of shoulder harness with a 4 inch lap belt when things fget rough.

103' Damn that's a good one. Best I ever pulled off was on the Minas Basin mud/sand flats. (highest tides in the world) A hair over 90'. That rear engine sure would let those Bugs fly.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's