Structural Integrity (1 Viewer)

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One of my closest friends died this past summer in a rollover on I-5 in a Ford Bronco II.  The roof was pancaked in and he was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident.  When I saw the following picture I was amazed at the difference in the structure after laying on it's roof.

The following is a direct quote of Drexx Laggui...

"On 19Apr2003 (Saturday), my sister Demy Laggui was driving Amando Mendoza's FZJ-80. She was going to I-880S from US-101 in San Jose (California, USA) when another car hit her. According to police and medical responders, they've seen crashes like this before, and people die. Her seatbelt and the structural integrity of the Toyota Land Cruiser saved her life. The FZJ-80 was upside down when she was rescued, and luckily she suffered only bruises from the seatbelt and cuts from broken glass. She was discharged quite soon from the hospital afterwards."

Edit: Scroll down page for picture. I am good at making little red x's :G
 
Nice red X! :D
 
Rogue - pic didn't work dude.

A good buddy of mine rolled his 80 awhile back. Faron Faulk. It was one of those freak of traffic things and luckily he's still with us. These 80's really are tanks and that's one reason why even though they suck gas like I do diet cokes, I take it on every trip. My family is way too important.

Hail the 80.
 
Wow! good to hear everyone came out OK!
 
Very glad to hear that all are ok - yet another reason for a barrier
 
The 80 is a tank. I was rear ended again yesterday. Out of the 5 times I've been hit from behind in the past 5 years this was the first male. Reciever pushed in his bumper. New pintle hitch trashed his grill and radiator. Last person that hit me did $2800 damage to her Acura. So far the only vehicle that has done any damage is when my 40 rolled down the driveway. :slap:

Good to hear Drexx's sister is OK. It looks like Amando has a cadidate for a topless war wagon. :D
 
The Pic...
 
It's surprising that the sunroof is still intact!!

Glad to hear everyone was OK.
 
Glad to hear it was a walkaway.

It looks like it's time to call Yomamma.
 
Glad to hear it was a walkaway.

Ê It looks like it's time to call Yomamma.
LOL! Yeah Yomamma is an expert on restoring these things.
 
"These 80's really are tanks and that's one reason why even though they suck gas like I do diet cokes, I take it on every trip. My family is way too important. "

thats what im talking about!!!!!
i tell everyone i know that they(80's+landcruisers in general)are way safe and Junk hit the nail on the head "My family is way too important"

besides being killer 4x4's they are just the best out there!!!!

doug
 
Did the government or the insurance institute ever do any crash tests on the 80's? I've never seen any on the 100's either?
 
Funny you should ask pitbull...have you noticed all those consumer reports about vehicle safety for SUVs? They always compare the toy (not Toy) things like the Kias and the Hondas, but I've NEVER seen any of them do the safety tests for an LC.

I suppose that's probably becuase they consider these trucks, but if you're going to refer to it as an SUV, then they should include it anyway!

Tom
 
I wonder if it is because the LC's and the LX's are low production vehicles so they don't test them? Problem is if they are not tested you really never know how safe they are.
 
An anecdotal story:

Several years ago I had to get a frame for an 80 that hit/was hit very hard on the left front frame horn. The vehicle was very new and was repaired instead of totaled. The impact took out the front bumper, radiator support, radiator, a/c condensor, hood, left fender, flare, gravel shield, both headlights, grille, both front suspension arms, front axle housing, one engine mount and put a huge diamond in the frame.
I saw the vehicle before the repairs were started. From the windshield back the body was perfect. The roof was perfect, all doors lined up and functioned properly and all glass was intact.

I do not know the impact speed but it was below airbag deployment which is generaly around 30 mph +/-.

I was very impressed with the post-impact condition of the passenger compartment. The driver and passenger were un-injured.

;) As the repair progressed, the owner bitched about how long it took to get the frame from Japan instead of kissing the bent one that most likely saved her from serious injury, or worse...

D-
 
it does not look like the cruiser was ever crash tested in a lab, but their owners have been crash testing them for us for a wile and the data is kept by the insurance companies I consider that data more accurate prediction of real world chances, crash tests are biased twards smaller cars IMO


in the 95-97 you are 33% less likely to be injured (more accurately injured enough to cost your insurance company money) in an FZJ80 compared to the average car,
http://www.hwysafety.org/vehicle_ratings/ictl/previous/ictl_0399.pdf


the 00-01 FJ100 fairs a better with 57% less http://www.hwysafety.org/vehicle_ratings/ictl/previous/ictl_0902.pdf

here is the menu if you want to look at other year ranges
http://www.hwysafety.org/vehicle_ratings/ictl/ictl.htm

the cruiser is the safest toyota but the rest of the fleet is pretty poor as they sell a lot of small cars/trucks/suv's, safety is one place large American cars/trucks do well


*edit* here is the death data, cruiser is not listed, not enough of them out there to make a statistic?

http://www.hwysafety.org/srpdfs/sr3507.pdf
 
Just several weeks ago, my neighbor's wife was hit in the rear quarter on a mountain curve not far from here. The impact sent her F-150 Crew Cab into a lateral roll, and finally into a ditch after an unknown number of rollovers...

17.jpg


I would call your attention to the center of the top of the cab: Even though the pillars held up surprisingly well, the cab all but caved in on the poor gal. I had the opportunity to spend some "quality time" with this truck in my neighbor's back yard before he had it hauled away. There was precious little room in the cab, friends...
My concern - as to the 80s - is what sort of fate would one of ours suffer in a similar rollover at speed? Just how well would the roof hold up, after all, even if the pillars do not collapse?

BTW, she did not "walk away" from this one. For you medical and EMT types, she suffered a concusion, with C2, & C3 fractures (guys, just think of it as a broken neck...). Just got back from a visit, and she is surprisingly chipper for a women who just came within a fraction of an inch of becoming a permanent cripple (think: Christopher Reeves).

I've spent a lot of time studying the roof of my 80 of late, with no particular satisfaction that I would have faired much better...

R -

PS: She is up and walking - sort of (in a brace, of course) - and will recover, thanks to the automobile and truck gods...
 
Interesting you should point out that roof damage Ron, I currently have my heavy duty roof rack rails installed. I was going to pull them off after ski season and before fishing season because of wind noise.

Since these heavty duty steel rails tie into the gutters and thus pillars, I bet they add quite a bit in the way of protection (couldn't hurt). Maybe I'll just live with the higher levels of wind noise with the view that they help in the safety dept.

Riley
 
If you are worried....install a rollcage.
 

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