Guy stuck in gut with tree during trail ride.

[miljeep]

I saw this posted on another site and figured I would share it here. It just goes to show that you never know what will happen and should be prepared for almost anything.

The scoop....

Basically the guy was driving along the trail and a tree was down with the sharp broken end pointing towards his oncoming jeep. With it being so cold, the frozen tree punched through the grill of his JK (2007 wrangler) and then through the engine compartment, then the firewall, then into his gut.

Here is a link to the forum where they posted it originally.

http://www.s4wda.com/index.php?topic=1059.0


Here are some photos from that club's forum:

[TexCJ7]

so do you think he will give me his jeep now

[miljeep]

I guess they did not use the CB to warn the other driver of the stick in the trail. One guy posted "i remember when i drove by that tree and it had a nice point in it". I know if I saw it I would have at least radioed back and told them to watch out for it and if anything, keep their tires clear of it.

[TexCJ7]

is the guy still alive

[miljeep]

Last I read, he should recover ok. they said if it went in just a little more, then he would not have been in great shape.

[vajeeper]

Wonder how fast he was going....

[miljeep]

Don't know, but it looks cold up there and from the looks of it, it was probably very cold for a long time. That tree being frozen must have been pretty hard to punch through the firewall. I can see the grill, and then sliding around some engine parts, but that firewall is tough enough to drill through let alone shove a stick through it. It sucks and I feel bad for him, his family and the club, but at least they handled it well. He could have been riding alone, then he would have been screwed.

I know I carry a CLS bag and my GPS. We also have a lot of military law enforcement and medical folks in the clubs I belong to, so that helps out a lot. I know at one club event they had a basic first aid class. That was pretty neat for the folks that were doing it.

I went through a school where the put us in the back of a car blindfolded and drove around a bumpy range while they sprayed fake blood on us and expected us to provide first aid to someone in the back seat. It was supposed to simulate getting off the X and providing medical help. I suggested a class like that to the club and they laughed. I thought that something similar to that would be good (minus the blindfold and spraying fake blood) to simulate even trying to do basic first aid in the back of a moving jeep on the trail as you try to get the person to the hardball and show how hard it could be.

[korisu56]

That'd be a gnarly class. Definitely interested.

[WV_Outdoorsman]

Yikes, that's gonna leave a mark. I would have never thought that stick would have punctured the firewall like that.

WVO

[Rabies99]

On my last trip to Iraq I was a truck driver driving the M1070 super HETs. They are BIG if you know what I mean. http://home.earthlink.net/~araybin79/het.jpg
I miss my ol' girl.


We were doing convoy with some contractor drivers interspersed in our convoy. The genius Pakistani in front of me didn't put away his cheater bar and it bounced off his truck into mine. Doesn't sound like much, but the 'cheaters' we used are basically a crow bar 5 ft long and weighing about 30-40 lbs. This thing went through the firewall of my truck and through my DCUs missing my leg by a fraction of an inch.

I was not very pleased to say the least.

[miljeep]

Damn. Did ya kick his a$$?

[Pacifier]

Sounds like a reckless driver to me.... /images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/frown.gif

[korisu56]

Damn dude. I guess the term 'close' counts for more than horseshoes and hand grenades now...

[Rabies99]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: miljeep</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Damn. Did ya kick his a$$? </div></div>

I managed a little one-on-one 'counseling' before I was pulled off. /images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif
Truck driving over there was a dangerous job. I didn't need the people in my convoy trying to take me out with their stupidity.

[TexCJ7]

is that trailer a go hoffer

[Rabies99]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: TexCJ7</div><div class="ubbcode-body">is that trailer a go hoffer </div></div>

a what now?

That is the M1000 trailer. 10 axles (5 per side),4 tire per axle, and for those who don't want to do that math, that make 40 tires on the trailer alone (I got really good at changing tires). The rear three sets of axles are hydraulically turned as the cab turns. The weight limit is supposed to be 70 ton, but that M1A2 is about 75 ton and I've hauled dozers pushing 85 tons. With that much weight it's not going anywhere fast. Top speed of 45 mph..... going downhill.... with a tailwind. As for any offroad... if the ground isn't hardpack, it will be after the truck drove over it.

[HillBillE]

Saw that o another forum, nasty, to say the least. Had a log come thru the floor of our homemde skidder, didn't get hurt bad, but it'll make ya have to change your shorts!

[cknx77]

Holy crap!! after looking at those pics and the damage, I don't know about the new jeep..........:(

[theyeti1775]

Yup saw that before, he had to be going hella fast to get that kind of puncturing.

Either that or the Firewalls change a helluva lot in the JK's.

[cknx77]

I followed the links to that accident and it said he was going about 10 mph........

[theyeti1775]

I followed the links to that accident and it said he was going about 10 mph........
I would call bulls#!t on that one. :D
Take a small finishing hammer(the head is about the size of that stick point) and swing it hard against the firewall do you puncture it?
I bet your swinging harder than 10mph impact too.

[gunnersmac]

Either way, the pics are impressive... and the point is also valid, you gotta be ready for anything, and you never know what you're gonna run across.

[cknx77]

I dunno, with the mass of the jeep at 10 mph and all of the impact force concentrated in one very small area on the firewall.........:eek: Hello, tree!

[trailsnail]

Haven't any of you ever put holes in the floors of Hummers with a pick ax? It isn't hard, and I don't think that the jeep is that much thicker.