F100 and Accidents

[1972F100]

Been thinking about the construction of the F100 in terms of stoutness and durability. Got me wondering about it's accident-worthiness. I understand how modern cars are built to dissipate energy on impact and provide a safety cage around the passengers. What got me thinking about this was a friend at work who got into a little fender bender in his F250 superduty. A young driver pulled out in front of him...she caught him in the bumper with her left front fender. His bumper was bent, while her car spun a couple of times and ended up a far distance from the intersection, totalled, but unhurt.

Have you been in an accident in your bump and did it hold up as well as you thought, or was it worse off?

Thanks
Douglas

[eggman918]

I have not been in a wreck in my bump but I have rolled it about 15 years ago and drove off a 400' "cliff" and I an still driving it.
I have added late model 3 point belts and I feel VERY safe,we live where there is a lot of 18 wheelers I think I am safer than in
a modern car with all the passive safety gear that they have.
Steve.

[NM5K]

Dunno. In some aspects they are pretty stout. IE: lots of weight, and heavy sheet metal.
In other aspects, probably not so safe. IE: most likely no real crumple zones, easy to get
flung around the cab if no belt on, etc..
If my truck hit my toy car, it would probably squash it like a bug.. :/
Not much heavy metal on that car.. And I keep my head on a swivel when going through
intersections. The only plus to the toy car is it's lots more maneuverable. So I have a better
chance of dodging other vehicles. And I've had to do that a couple of times since I've had it.
I had to dodge an old fart that pulled out in front of me about a month ago. He was lucky I
am pretty quick on the wheel, or I probably would have given him a swat in his drivers side
door. Also was dry pavement, and I have new tires.
With the truck, most other dinky cars on the road seem to try to stay out of my way.. :/

[Racer Z]

IE: most likely no real crumple zones,...

That is a valid point. I rebuilt the steering column on my 70 F250 recently. Took parts from my 69 parts donor. Both have a solid steering shaft. (My 74 Chevy C10 had a collapsible steering shaft as mandated by Federal law.) If we (I) get into an accident that bends the frame, the steering wheel will be slammed up into my chest and face. The frame is pretty stout though, it will take a lot to bend it.

Now, let me compare that to my 84 Honda. I jacked it up on the sub-frame rail . . . and the frame bent. Pushed the floorboard right up into the cabin. I took a piece of plywood, long 4x4 and a sledge to it and after a few whacks it was flat again.
Bet that will never happen on your Bump, no matter how rusty it is. (The Honda has no rust.)

My 73 Datsun 240z has a bent sub-frame/floorboard in the same location. I think it fell off of a lift once. I took the same plywood, 4x4 and sledge to it. Ten whacks and it never budged.

[71highboy]

i was rear ended by a 17 year old girl who was talking to friend and not paying attention but i had a steel tubular bumper on the back so it crushed the hangers but that was about it.except for the whiplash me and my grandson got from it.

[Caseys71]

Never been in a wreck in the bump and hope I never do get in one . However with the little bit of actual driving the bump's got on it from when I first bought it I feel much safer in it than any other vehicle just based on how stout it is built compared to newer vehicles. With that said without 3 pt belts in it things could get a little hairy if you were to actually get in a wreck I.E. forehead on steering wheel contact , or worse the dash. Other then that I would say there is nothing keeping a bump from being just as safe as a newer car even though we don't have air-bags that deploy from multiple directions.

[fireguywtc]

There are a lot of variables when it comes to accidents and injuries, but when it comes to bumps and high energy type crashes they are not one of the best to be in. Even the new superdutys have some crumple zones built into the front frame. However, bumps are still inherently safe as long as everything is in place and you always wear your setbelt. A should belt would be even better and fairly inexpensive and easy to install.

As far as safety goes, the best defense in a good defense. Practice good driving habits, keep our old trucks at reasonable speeds, keep your windows and mirrors clean, and don't get distracted (especially don't text and drive). As always the best accident and safety feature is to never get into an accident in the first place. Most accidents are preventable.

[basketcase0302]

Douglas,
There was a thread here recently, (within the year) where a bump owner lost his life. I believe it was out West if memory serves me correctly...the thread turned into more of a discussion of shoulder belts as i believe this pour soul only had our factory lap belt on when it happened?
Maybe someone else remembers the thread?
Gotta' admit though, I feel pretty safe in my bump even with just my simple lap belt. I think about all the "can opener-jaws of life cars" on the road now!

[BobbyFord]

I was stopped, sitting at a red light and some moron while busy texting, plowed my truck from the rear going est. 30-40 mph. He never hit the brakes or skidded so I had no clue, all of a sudden I got the big blue flash. I was previously sitting behind the limit line and when I gathered myself and sat up I was sitting out in the middle of the intersection dazed (luckily the intersection was clear when I got blasted out there).
The idiot was driving an S-10 pickup, he got out of his vehicle with half a cell phone in his hand...


I tried to open my driver side door but the bed had hammered the cab corner into the door. I unhooked my seatbelt and exited out the passenger door with the intention of dismantling the other driver, I made it to the rear of my truck and realized I was about to pass out so I got on the ground. Evidently, when my head blasted out the back window, I also bent the metal around the window with the top of my head...

These trucks are very tough. Had I been in a uni construction vehicle instead of a full frame construction vehicle, I think I would have been worse off. A newer model headrest seat would have prevented my head going through the rear window. I left in a bus with a collar on. My x-rays were negative for any fractures (thank God) but I had a severely strained neck.
While I was on the stretcher, I called my girlfriend because I lived about a half mile from the accident scene. Needless to say, the other driver's POS left on a flatbed. My girlfriend drove my truck home.

The impact "diamoned" my frame as well as bent both rear frame rails. It cost me $1000 to have my frame straightened and lasered. The impact was also strong enough to break my battery hold down and mash the battery into the hood.
I wish I could have gotten my hands on that guy.

[DuckRyder]

"strong" in this case isn't really what you are after because the energy of the collision has to go somewhere. Newer vehicles have "crush zones" which help to absorb and dissipate energy so you don't have to.

I can tell you that in my experience you are much better off in a newer vehicle in an accident...

[Racer Z]

This thread isn't about how to do safety upgrades, is it?

As a road racer, I am on a forum that discusses safety issues and how to add safety devices to cars. There has been many a heated discussion about this topic and I have heard it all. There are good sound reasons to add safety devices and there good sound reasons to remove safety devices.

My objection to upgrading a vehicle to a 3-point belt is this: The vehicle does not have the proper mounting point for the new shoulder belt. In our Bumps, we are talking about the sheet metal near the door just above the shoulder (human shoulder). The cab at this location is double walled. Yes we can hide most of the hardware so that it looks clean, but, the sheet metal alone does not have the strength to support the forces of a crash. In a hard crash the bolt will pull out and the user will be worse off than without the extra strap. You would need to find a way to give this new mounting location the full support it requires.

If you want to get serious about safety, remove the bench seat and install bucket seats. I don't mean the flat seats from a Mustang, I mean racing buckets with hip and should supports to keep you from sliding sideways. Now, lets toss in a set of 5-point racing harnesses with 3 inch belts so the don't dig in and try to cut through your skin.

A single strap across your chest only offers support in one direction, from a head-on collision. Once you start to go in any other direction, you can easily slip out of the single belt. And, since this is usually a continues strap, once one point fails, the other two no longer have any support. Bang, we are completely unbelted just when we need it the most.

Now we are secured into our seat and we won't go anywhere, even in a roll over. Awesome. But at a cost. The cost is mobility to move around and adjust the radio, pull the brake (parking) release, adjust the mirror, heck, I bet you won't even be able to reach the ignition switch. Lets not overlook the extra time it takes to connect all 5-points and adjust each strap.

We have not even discussed the proper support we need to add, so that the new seat(s) and new 5-point belt(s) are properly secured. That would take a thread all to it's self.

But wait, how much will this cost? An inexpensive racing seat is about $300 and a set of 5-point belts is around $200. That's per person and we want to people in the cab. Now we're up to $1,000

I ain't gonna do this type of upgrade anytime soon. I'm perfectly happy with my 2-point lap belt.

[mr_josh]

"strong" in this case isn't really what you are after because the energy of the collision has to go somewhere. Newer vehicles have "crush zones" which help to absorb and dissipate energy so you don't have to.

I can tell you that in my experience you are much better off in a newer vehicle in an accident...

That's exactly right. People are fooled by the amount of damage that newer cars appear to take in an impact, but they're built so that the area around the cabin is soaking up the blow of an impact while keeping low(er) the rate of deceleration that is felt by the passengers.

A pet peeve of mine is when people get rear-ended and say, "Wow, their car was a real piece of crap because my car hardly had a scratch and their car was totaled!" Well, their car's front sheet metal folded up where it was supposed to.

[Racer Z]

In the typical rear-end collision, the car doing the hitting is on the brakes, hard (usually) and this forces the front end to drop. The two bumpers that were the same height while the cars were at rest, are no longer at the same height. The car doing the rear-ending, their bumper drops below the other bumper. Now it is sheet metal & plastic hitting a bumper.

It's not really a fair fight and we can't same one is weaker than the other.

I hit a parked car with my Pinto once. I wasn't really going very fast, I was still in first gear. I jumped on the brakes to try and stop, but I doubt if I even slowed down. I took out my grill, radiator, hood, both fenders, both head lights and the fan. Never even put a scratch on my front bumper, it was a 2x4 and would have shown even the slightest touch.

The other car? It did not show any damage. It was newer than my 73 Pinto and a whole lot bigger, maybe a Buick Regal. I think it had those shock-mounted-bumpers.

[71highboy]

I was stopped, sitting at a red light and some moron while busy texting, plowed my truck from the rear going est. 30-40 mph. He never hit the brakes or skidded so I had no clue, all of a sudden I got the big blue flash. I was previously sitting behind the limit line and when I gathered myself and sat up I was sitting out in the middle of the intersection dazed (luckily the intersection was clear when I got blasted out there).
The idiot was driving an S-10 pickup, he got out of his vehicle with half a cell phone in his hand...
[ Image ]

I tried to open my driver side door but the bed had hammered the cab corner into the door. I unhooked my seatbelt and exited out the passenger door with the intention of dismantling the other driver, I made it to the rear of my truck and realized I was about to pass out so I got on the ground. Evidently, when my head blasted out the back window, I also bent the metal around the window with the top of my head...
[ Image ]
These trucks are very tough. Had I been in a uni construction vehicle instead of a full frame construction vehicle, I think I would have been worse off. A newer model headrest seat wouldative for any fractures (thank God) but I had a severely strained neck.
While I was on the stretcher, I called my girlfriend because I lived about a half mile from the accident scene. Needless to say, the other driver's POS left on a flatbed. My girlfriend drove my truck home.
[ Image ]
The impact "diamoned" my frame as well as bent both rear frame rails. It cost me $1000 to have my frame straightened and lasered. The impact was also strong enough to break my battery hold down and mash the battery into the hood.
I wish I could have gotten my hands on that guy.

bobby you didnt get whiplash from that ?when i got rear ended my head hit the back window pretty hard but did not break and me and my grandson both ended up with whiplash.