[Tejas@perioimpl]

Ouch! I just dented / scratched / broke something in my 4x4.

A very bad feeling when that happens while offroading. But then, someone comes along and says:

"Dents and scratches aren't damage, they're badges of honor!!"

Then you feel happy and strut along thinking, "Hmm... maybe i'll make a bumper sticker out of that..."

So what's your story? How did you dent / damage / break your rig? And what could you have done / not done in retrospect. Let's learn from mistakes.

Here's my story:

Pintle hook screws stripped.





Why: Trying to pull with jerks during recovery using a wire rope.

How it happened: First mistake: never snatch using a wire rope. Thankfully chassis wasn't damaged. Second: Pintle hook didn't have sleeves as pointed out by spike arrestor in this post:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/4x4-ve...ml#post1780695



How to avoid it?: Got the mounting changed. Use wire rope only to pull but not snatch. Invested in a kinetic energy strap for snatch recoveries.

Another one:

Bent Foot step.



How it happened?: While trying to get out of a ditch.

Why it happened?: No clearance for departure angle. Was too lazy to remove footstep.

How to avoid it?: Got the footstep removed asap.

So what's your story?

[DHABHAR.BEHRAM]

Dear Tejas - original design of pintle hook has sleeves. If people do not know, there is nothing that Spike Arrestor can do about it. In my CJ340DP MH01P8300 (sadly sold in 1996), I had procured a pintle hook minus bolts and minus sleeves from CST road for 50 rupees in 1995. I used Matador LCV wheel mounting studs and wheel nuts to attach the pintle hook to the K member of the chassis. The studs were assembled from outside and the nuts from the chassis side, with locknuts on them (the studs are long enough). 5 mm thick plain washers were used between the pintle hook and the rear bumper to prevent the pintle hook from digging into the rear bumper and damaging it. The sleeves are for the same purpose + also positioning of the pintle hook when a trailer is actually hitched so that pull can also happen if the trailer is at 90 degrees to the vehicle with Stainless Steel army nudge steps are fitted. Because these are wheel nuts, they are M12*1.5, 10.9 grade and 1.5 times the diameter in length so the stress level on the threads is reduced. I had drilled small 120 degree tapers on the chassis inner side to match the nuts chamfer. If these studs and nuts can take the full load of a 1.6 ton payload LCV, they can never slip in a relatively soft pintle hook application. There is no way this arrangement can slip. Simple! But then you need to become crazy enough to think like this naa! Now you know? I get what I want!

In my opinion, there should be no footsteps in our hardcore 4WD vehicles at all. 521 did not even have the spare wheel on the tail gate. The rule is "remove everything". I have purposely crashed the tailgate of 521 into hillocks so many times to stop the reverse slides in EXAMM 2010. One instance was the climb after the sheer drop which I believe only 521 successfully cleared. I also remember jumping over a boulder during a crossing in EXAMM with Sharath clicking away merrily. I did it on purpose!

Another area for CL340s is the fuel lines. They pass outside the LH long member and if they hang down, they can get damaged. Ideally they should be routed inside the "C" section of the long member.

Best regards,

Behram Dhabhar

[Sudarshan]

Originally Posted by Tejas@perioimpl

So what's your story? How did you dent / damage / break your rig? And what could you have done / not done in retrospect.

Broke my ( Jeep's ) chassis , after a 5 day long Travel cum expedition cum OTR Tour .

It was a crack ,started from the bottom of the chassis & was around 1.25 inch long . 3/4 th of the vertical member was still intact . I discovered it in a routine inspection ( done after every such drive ) .

I took the body off ,called the welder ( didnt own a welding machine then ) , we made it boxed up to GB cross member.

Let's learn from mistakes.

Yes recommended , every such mistake costs a bomb & life perhaps.

Lesson learned in my case , one needs to prepare the vehicle for the desired job Or in other words right tool for the right Job . Never use a thing not meant for the purpose .

So what's your story?

this was ,( some other too ) BTW ,can road mishaps be shared ?

Sudarshan

Edit : forgot to add something
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/4x4-te...after-otr.html

Also people from this OTR can share their experiences about what happened here>> http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/4x4-ex...-tungarli.html