This past week in Moab, I witnessed a critical driver error result in some pretty extensive damage to a nice LX450. The bad part, is that it was one of those "guided tours" vehicles, and had a couple of paying customers in the back seats. Luckily no one was injured, but had there not been a massive rock wall there, I would've been coordinating a rescue effort. And to add to it, these "guided tour" vehicles all run solo. Had our little group not been there, it could've been REALLY bad, as we were about 3hrs into the trail on a very low-traffic day.
So, here's the story and pics of damage for ya'll to assess.
Running Elephant Hill trail in southern Canyonlands NP. We stop for lunch in a shaded area just before dropping down "SOB Hill" and continuing the trail. It may be hard to tell from the pics (as they never do justice), but it's a pretty tight area with a 3' ledge that you have to decend while making the turn.
[URL="http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d99/tim_korn_99/Moab%202013/b2f27d17daafe24ac67665caeb7e406b.jpg"]
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http://s33.photobucket.com/user/tim...013/5362d8037dd384ea0c853cce319e92d4.jpg.html
As we're eating lunch, I see a LX450 approaching. Now I met this same guy a couple days prior on White Rim Trail, so I was already familiar with the vehicle. It's well equipped, has diff locks, ect. The driver is/was a nice guy, though he definitely wasn't a cruiserhead. He did mention that he runs this trail several times a week, so he was familiar with the obstacles. Keep in mind that this is the same trail that, at the beginning, has several TIGHT/STEEP switchbacks that require backing down/up as there isn't enough room to turn a cruiser around. So, lets just say that this guy is pretty used to backing that LX into some pretty sketchy areas without a spotter.
It was that reason alone, that I didn't offer to spot the guy through SOB Hill.... Probably a good choice, as I probably wouldv'e been standing in/near the impact zone...
Anywho, he decides to back down the first little ledge on SOB Hill, so that he will be lined up for the next part. Easy enough.
Upon backing off that first ledge, he's very slightly off line, and the rear passenger tire drops a bit more than he's expecting (keep in mind this all happened within a couple seconds so there was no time for me to say anything).
Well, I'm not exactly sure what happened next, and I don't think that the driver is either. My thought is that he panicked when that back tire dropped, and meant to slam on the brakes.
But.... he nailed the throttle instead.
BANG BAM SMASH. Horrible noises that you never want to hear.
He kept that throttle PINNED for about 5 seconds after impacting the immovable rock wall, as you can see by the holes that the tires dug while in reverse...
Here is the aftermath, like I said earlier, he's very lucky that the wall was there. On the other side of it, is a big drop...
As you can see, it's pretty smashed up. The rear doors wouldn't open, and you can see that the top of the rear driver door is sticking out away from the body.
The driver was pretty shaken up, as to be expected, and I just worked on calming him down for a while. The passengers were fine, but I was most concerned for the driver, as it was still a 3hr drive out of the trail, and he was shaking pretty bad.
I went over and did an inspection on the LX. None of the suspension components were damaged, and it was still driveable, so I let him run it.
Here are a few better pics of the rig. And as you can see, the frame is pretty trashed, and it even bent the roof line/roof rack.
So what do you think, can it be saved?
So, here's the story and pics of damage for ya'll to assess.
Running Elephant Hill trail in southern Canyonlands NP. We stop for lunch in a shaded area just before dropping down "SOB Hill" and continuing the trail. It may be hard to tell from the pics (as they never do justice), but it's a pretty tight area with a 3' ledge that you have to decend while making the turn.
[URL="http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d99/tim_korn_99/Moab%202013/b2f27d17daafe24ac67665caeb7e406b.jpg"]
[/URL]http://s33.photobucket.com/user/tim...013/5362d8037dd384ea0c853cce319e92d4.jpg.html
As we're eating lunch, I see a LX450 approaching. Now I met this same guy a couple days prior on White Rim Trail, so I was already familiar with the vehicle. It's well equipped, has diff locks, ect. The driver is/was a nice guy, though he definitely wasn't a cruiserhead. He did mention that he runs this trail several times a week, so he was familiar with the obstacles. Keep in mind that this is the same trail that, at the beginning, has several TIGHT/STEEP switchbacks that require backing down/up as there isn't enough room to turn a cruiser around. So, lets just say that this guy is pretty used to backing that LX into some pretty sketchy areas without a spotter.
It was that reason alone, that I didn't offer to spot the guy through SOB Hill.... Probably a good choice, as I probably wouldv'e been standing in/near the impact zone...
Anywho, he decides to back down the first little ledge on SOB Hill, so that he will be lined up for the next part. Easy enough.
Upon backing off that first ledge, he's very slightly off line, and the rear passenger tire drops a bit more than he's expecting (keep in mind this all happened within a couple seconds so there was no time for me to say anything).
Well, I'm not exactly sure what happened next, and I don't think that the driver is either. My thought is that he panicked when that back tire dropped, and meant to slam on the brakes.
But.... he nailed the throttle instead.
BANG BAM SMASH. Horrible noises that you never want to hear.
He kept that throttle PINNED for about 5 seconds after impacting the immovable rock wall, as you can see by the holes that the tires dug while in reverse...
Here is the aftermath, like I said earlier, he's very lucky that the wall was there. On the other side of it, is a big drop...
As you can see, it's pretty smashed up. The rear doors wouldn't open, and you can see that the top of the rear driver door is sticking out away from the body.
The driver was pretty shaken up, as to be expected, and I just worked on calming him down for a while. The passengers were fine, but I was most concerned for the driver, as it was still a 3hr drive out of the trail, and he was shaking pretty bad.
I went over and did an inspection on the LX. None of the suspension components were damaged, and it was still driveable, so I let him run it.
Here are a few better pics of the rig. And as you can see, the frame is pretty trashed, and it even bent the roof line/roof rack.
So what do you think, can it be saved?
....... or fubar'd OEM
Cheeseman in the background I believe?
