April 5, 200718 yr An old car is never going to be as safe as a newer one. This is 80's technology. Even the crash tests when the vehicle was new are not going to be the same when the vehicle is 20+ years old and rusty. Drive defensively, don't speed.....oh wait it's a Subaru Just drive defensively.....cause you can't speed!:-\ It is true that safety wise Old cars can't compete, However Older cars seem to combine safety and survivability. New cars you get in a accident the car is usually totaled are the damage is very expensive. Older cars tend to stay together better, Do I make since?
April 5, 200718 yr An old car is never going to be as safe as a newer one. This is 80's technology. Even the crash tests when the vehicle was new are not going to be the same when the vehicle is 20+ years old and rusty. Drive defensively, don't speed.....oh wait it's a Subaru Just drive defensively.....cause you can't speed!:-\ It is true that safety wise Old cars can't compete, However Older cars seem to combine safety and survivability. New cars you get in a accident the car is usually totaled are the damage is very expensive. Older cars tend to stay together better, Do I make since? Yah, you do have a good point. All the crumple zones pretty much crumple as they are supposed to.. even in a low speed collision. Like you said, its pretty much a tradeoff.
April 5, 200718 yr Im just asking because my saab is a TANK.It took a 10 mph rearending from a fully loaded fullsize work truck(3/4 ton truck+ all of the wrenchs,tools,lead pipes,etc) and it did nothing to my car.I wasnt even sore.The problem is now that I am going to be driving the subie for a while I don't want to get dead... Ok I wont worry about it.When its my time,its my time... you sound like you're on your death bed, lol. i hit an '05 taurus at about 30mph? around there AMAZINGLY... barely did any damage to the taurus, i think because of the angle. here's a pic of the damage. may be a little hard to see, but the windshield's spidered cuz the idiot in the passenger seat wasn't wearing his seatbelt. he was fine though, other than a concussion and being soar all over. you shoulda seen the steering wheel... i COMPLETELY folded that thing against the dash. i like the way the steering wheel's designed though, you can tell it's meant to callapse if you hit it.
April 8, 200718 yr Im just asking because my saab is a TANK.It took a 10 mph rearending from a fully loaded fullsize work truck(3/4 ton truck+ all of the wrenchs,tools,lead pipes,etc) and it did nothing to my car.I wasnt even sore.The problem is now that I am going to be driving the subie for a while I don't want to get dead... Ok I wont worry about it.When its my time,its my time... My fist Subaru, an 85 wagon took a rearending as well. Bought it for $1000 and I had it for 2 weeks. My GF was driving me home from the dentist(tooth pulled). She stopped for a yellow, and the guy in the electrician's van behind us did not(talking on cell phone:rolleyes: ) he hit us doing about 35, we were almost completely stopped. We were both fine. The rear gate was pushed in about 6 inches, but amazingly still opened and closed just fine after removing the bumper and fiddling with the latch linkage. Didn't even break the glass. I did have a custom trailer hitch installed which reinforced the whole cargo box floor area. Insurance paid me 2100 dollars for it(in 1999) and I got to keep it. That car was affectionately known as Smash Bandisoob. Had it for another year and put 20,000 miles on it with the smashed gate. Then the High range gearset busted so I was stuck in low. Morale of story, I don't feel safe UNLESS i'm in a Subaru.
April 11, 200718 yr Just a general saftey note to everyone from an auto engineer that's spent a few years doing crash-worthiness testing: Nylon Seat belts (the ones everyone has) lose half their strength due to degradation every year, and after a maximum of four years most sanctioning bodies deem belts unsafe for use, most of those are every 2 years. Needless to say, our 20-odd year old belts are pretty weak - Replace them if you feel you are likly for a high speed frontal crash. If you use a 4-point harness, ONLY use Shroth unless it's specifically low speed racing or off road and the harness is only there to hold you to the seat during manuvers
April 11, 200718 yr Just a general saftey note to everyone from an auto engineer that's spent a few years doing crash-worthiness testing: Nylon Seat belts (the ones everyone has) lose half their strength due to degradation every year, and after a maximum of four years most sanctioning bodies deem belts unsafe for use, most of those are every 2 years. Needless to say, our 20-odd year old belts are pretty weak - Replace them if you feel you are likly for a high speed frontal crash. If you use a 4-point harness, ONLY use Shroth unless it's specifically low speed racing or off road and the harness is only there to hold you to the seat during manuvers Well, I fell asleep at the wheel once in a 89 honda civic hatchback (this was in '01) and drifted into the ditch running parallel to the road.. after a little while, the car hit a culvert where someone's driveway went over that ditch, and it sent me into a spinning roll that I wound up landing on the roof, leaning against a 6 foot high guardrail between the sidewalk and a canal... The seat belt held me fine, and that one was 12 years old at the time.... it actually bruised my ribcage.
April 12, 200718 yr Out of curiosity, what is the breaking strength of the belts when new? Or what should it be to be "good"
April 12, 200718 yr Here's (click) an interesting page by a sanctioning body, but it doesn't give actuall strength numbers. For testing, FMVSS 207 and 210 requre a static load hold of 3000 lb each for the lap and shoulder belts simultaneously for 10 seconds, but that's primarily to test the anchor points in the body. The belts themselves were always certified by the supplier and I never got into that piece.
April 12, 200718 yr Here's (click) an interesting page by a sanctioning body, but it doesn't give actuall strength numbers. For testing, FMVSS 207 and 210 requre a static load hold of 3000 lb each for the lap and shoulder belts simultaneously for 10 seconds, but that's primarily to test the anchor points in the body. The belts themselves were always certified by the supplier and I never got into that piece. http://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/DOT/NHTSA/Vehicle%20Safety/Test%20Procedures/Associated%20Files/TP-209-05.pdf I think thats what you want, as it states the breaking force of the belts. nipper
April 12, 200718 yr I think thats what you want, as it states the breaking force of the belts. nipper And then some... Looks like the webbing breaking strength is about 4500 LBs. That is within the range of force I can apply... I just need a clever way to gauge the tension...
April 13, 200718 yr http://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/DOT/NHTSA/Vehicle%20Safety/Test%20Procedures/Associated%20Files/TP-209-05.pdf I think thats what you want, as it states the breaking force of the belts. nipper Nice find, I never would have thought to pull up the FMVSS spec, even though I referenced the ones I'm familiar with. DUH. *hit's self on forehead* Dave, what exactly are you thinking of doing with this information? Going to pull out an old set of belts and see what it takes to snap them? If you do, please post your results!
April 13, 200718 yr Dave, what exactly are you thinking of doing with this information? Going to pull out an old set of belts and see what it takes to snap them? Well, I do have a box or 2 of old belts... A video cam & digital cam. and: http://home.comcast.net/~davidtief/toys/dynahoe4.jpg All I need is a way to gauge the force and decent weather..
April 13, 200718 yr What the F is bolted on the bumper of the subaru in the pic? In other matters, you could put an inline pressure gauge on you hydraulic supply and do the ratio-math to figure out how much force your bucket applies for a given pressure, then watch the gauge and pull away! That's how we do it in testing, except we actually record the pressures and convert to lbs. I'll think of a more creative way soon I bet
April 13, 200718 yr What the F is bolted on the bumper of the subaru in the pic? 12' full length roof rack. All aluminum. I can haul 3-400 Lbs up there. Full view, but small: http://home.comcast.net/~davidtief/House/Outside/house3.jpg I thought of the gauge in the hydraulic system after posting the previous message. I have to look at where to mount, etc. and order one up.
April 13, 200718 yr Does Subaru still make new seat belts? Or do we just gamble our seatbelt strength?
April 13, 200718 yr a new outback wagon hit me in the rear one wet morning going down pines to get on the freeway she felt so bad she was crying but no damage done to either cars so oh well s**t happens
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