Almost a tragedy

[Chief Master Sergeant]

Randall Turner and his two kids just escaped a nightmare accident in his daughters EB. Driving along I10 when a rear axle sheared and the tire came off. Sent them into the center wall, which the Bronco started to climb. He was able to get it off the wall, but over correcter, sending it at a 90 degree angle across three lanes of traffic. Thank God he t-boned someone, as they would have gone off a bridge. Luckily he was driving and not his daughter. Everyone is okay, but this freaked me out. A little too close to home and makes me want to pull and inspect my axles. At any rate, you guys and gals be careful out there driving these things.

 

[crab]

And your Prius!
Sorry couldn't help it, but life is full of dangers and you can't prepare for them all. Just try to enjoy life befor it's over!
Thank goodness nobody was badly hurt!

 

[JGbronc]

Glad everyone is ok! Could have been a sad day for sure.


So how bad is the Bronco now?

 

[Pedestrian]

Definately scary stuff, glad everyone is ok.

 

[Justafordguy]

thank goodness everyone is ok. regular maintenance is so important no matter what you drive. everyone needs to keep a close check of all your families vehicles.

 

[DirtDonk]

Was it the axle for sure? Or could it have been the more common bearing failure?
And either way, were they aftermarket or original equipment bits?

Glad they're ok too. Bet they're all still a bit shaken though!
Presumably the person at the receiving end of the t-bone was ok too, but I don't want to forget to ask about them too.

Any other circumstances you can relay to us so that others that are in the same general set of circumstances can be on the lookout?


Paul

 

[bronconut73]

Makes me glad I upgraded to my 31 spline Moser's.
I am glad to hear everyone is ok especially after such a bad accident.

 

[blamejane]

Thanks for the info Chief, and very glad to hear everyone's okay. That must have been super scary!

 

[Broncmeister]

Glad everybody is OK. Something happened to me and the wife last night too, scared the crap out of us. We were going to a double birthday party (mine and a friend of mine) and their farm is about 15 minutes out of town. On the way there on a paved country road my headlights just went off. it was pitch black, and I was driving about 50. I got her stopped before rolling it into the ditch but we were very scared. Flashers still worked and that gave me enough light to get there and for the rest of the trip the headlights kept flickering on for a bit and off for a bit. Needless to say I have a new headlight switch already on the way.

 

[JGbronc]

Glad everybody is OK. Something happened to me and the wife last night too, scared the crap out of us. We were going to a double birthday party (mine and a friend of mine) and their farm is about 15 minutes out of town. On the way there on a paved country road my headlights just went off. it was pitch black, and I was driving about 50. I got her stopped before rolling it into the ditch but we were very scared. Flashers still worked and that gave me enough light to get there and for the rest of the trip the headlights kept flickering on for a bit and off for a bit. Needless to say I have a new headlight switch already on the way.

You run Halogen headlights, right? We have ran into that issue. The H4 conversion fixed it.

 

[Broncmeister]

thanks for the advice. Where do you suggest I get the conversion kit?

 

[broncnaz]

Kinda know the feeling last march on y way to the AZ stampede I blew a front tire going 75 down I-10 went across 3 lanes of traffic in a hurry luckliy no one was on the side of me and I didnt get into the median it could have turned out a lot worse.

Not knocking inspecting your axles but you may not alway be able to see something is wrong so Its probably luck if you find something wrong and can be a false sense of security if you see nothing.

 

[JGbronc]

thanks for the advice. Where do you suggest I get the conversion kit?

I actually need to rephrase what I said. Mine still runs the regular Halogens, but I have the relay setup like an H4 conversion. Similar setup, different bulbs. I think the stuff in mine came from a local parts store (Probably AutoZone). Need 2 relays, connectors, and wires.

There was an article in issue #3 of Bronco Driver, which was the reference used on mine.

Also, I found this link, which might help:
http://classicbroncos.com/headlight-upgrade.shtml

 

[Chief Master Sergeant]

I won't know much more until I see their rig. He said it looks like the axle snapped right off. Probably going to help him pick it up tomorrow. He said the rig faired better than expected. Scared him so bad he said if he gets it back on the road she won't ever drive it again. I'm just glad they're okay. His daughter is a member of the LEBC and won best young driver two years ago at the Round Up.

 

[Broncmeister]

I actually need to rephrase what I said. Mine still runs the regular Halogens, but I have the relay setup like an H4 conversion. Similar setup, different bulbs. I think the stuff in mine came from a local parts store (Probably AutoZone). Need 2 relays, connectors, and wires.

There was an article in issue #3 of Bronco Driver, which was the reference used on mine.

Also, I found this link, which might help:
http://classicbroncos.com/headlight-upgrade.shtml

Cool, I will dig it out and read up on it. Thanks.

 

[Broncmeister]

I won't know much more until I see their rig. He said it looks like the axle snapped right off. Probably going to help him pick it up tomorrow. He said the rig faired better than expected. Scared him so bad he said if he gets it back on the road she won't ever drive it again. I'm just glad they're okay. His daughter is a member of the LEBC and won best young driver two years ago at the Round Up.

I'd say this one was just pure bad luck then, defect in manufacture of the axel. Hairline crack finally gave way?

 

[sprdv1]

Yikes. Glad it wasn't worst man.

 

[jw0747]

defect in a 40+ yr old axle? good luck in trying to prove that. a "qualified" forensic inspector would laugh out loud while showing you the exit.

my rear tire started wobbling before the axle broke. watch for it.

 

[xcntrk]

Glad everyone is alright. That's scary no matter how it happened.

But that said, how does a broken axle shaft make the tire come off? Isn't that the purpose of the bearing and retainer, to keep the axle locked into the housing? ?:?

 

[jw0747]

tire and wheel don't come off. tire, wheel and broken end of axle come out of axle housing in one piece. it's a sight to behold.