New for 2014

[Ed Fernandez]

Not for nothing but a few years ago a T/S car lost a collector at Atco doing a burnout and launched it into two spectators.I Very horrible scene.I know one of them and he's still feeling the effects.

[treessavoy]

This is just stupid or a payoff to lokar!

JimR

[Mark Yacavone]

Originally Posted by Ed Fernandez

Not for nothing but a few years ago a T/S car lost a collector at Atco doing a burnout and launched it into two spectators.I Very horrible scene.I know one of them and he's still feeling the effects.

Eddie, I hear ya, but have you ever seen tech guys check collectors to see if they are securely fastened? I haven't.

Who got your seat in the Geo?

[Pedigo Perf]

I saw two collectors fall off during burnouts last year. A Top Sportsman car in Denver ran over his while smoking the tires which ejected it out from the rear of the car like a pitching machine. I believe It hit a lady in the face and she required medical attention. Could have been much worse however.
You can't expect the tech people to crawl under a car that is 3" off the ground and check all the bolts. Besides, maybe the "required strap" company it will pay contingency on this.

TP

[bert powell]

Originally Posted by Ed Fernandez

Not for nothing but a few years ago a T/S car lost a collector at Atco doing a burnout and launched it into two spectators.I Very horrible scene.I know one of them and he's still feeling the effects.

Ed, sounds terrible but some questions need to be ask. What was the cause of the failure? Did the collector have bolts in it to start with (I have seen a couple times cars without bolts- just drove on or just one bolt)? Did a weld fail?

As a side note, has anyone seen any 1/4 bolts sheared in two on a collector? How about any tab weld that broke and the collector fell off?

I have been enhanced enough to go IHRA racing!

[bert powell]

This enhancement just addresses the collector falling of, what about other stuff? How about a piece of 1/4" ballistic plate the width of the car hanging from the bumper dragging the ground. This would deflect most everything falling of the car!

Not making light of the people getting hurt but in each case I would bet the bolts were left out, not routinely checked for tightness or the welds were cracked and routine checks under the car for this were not performed. What happens when the bolts are left out of the Lokar tether and the collector?

[Mark Madison]

Maybe I should put a couple of them high tech lanyards on my strut rods.
Mark Madison

[Doug Domm]

I am not an engineer but what am I missing here? My collectors have 2 substantial tabs on each collector and bolted together using locking nuts. These locking nuts can sometimes be a son of a b to undo when needed. I did go to the Lokar site and had a look at this new fangled clothes line apparatus, while at that site I also tried to find their DOOR TETHERS that all the traditional stockers will be required to have in 2014 when all these new "STOCK" approved cars running in the 8's by then are blowing our doors off!

[Pedigo Perf]

Originally Posted by bert powell

This enhancement just addresses the collector falling of, what about other stuff? How about a piece of 1/4" ballistic plate the width of the car hanging from the bumper dragging the ground. This would deflect most everything falling of the car!

Not making light of the people getting hurt but in each case I would bet the bolts were left out, not routinely checked for tightness or the welds were cracked and routine checks under the car for this were not performed. What happens when the bolts are left out of the Lokar tether and the collector?

I suppose another way NHRA could address this issue is to DQ or even fine any racer that has parts fall off his car during an event. Which would you prefer?

Header bolts are notorious for vibrating loose for obvious reasons. My collectors are welded, but when bolts are used they should be used with locking type nuts. Most aren't.

[KRatcliff]

I agree with you. My nuts are locked and don't fall off.