Fires!

al1tonyota said:

Another thing that has helped on mine is the exhaust is wrapped from the head flange all the way to the tip my power steering has boiled over and puked on the headers but it doesn't catch fire just smokes like crazy!

Click to expand...

I have to disagree with that. Exhaust wrap becomes a wick after it gets soaked with oil,trans fluid and whatever else. When my old buggy lit up it was the wrapped muffler that was the hardest to put out. The new buggy won't have any type of wrap or canvas tool bag or anything that will absorb and hold flamable liquids.

Yes J-Ducks extinguisher mounts are simple ,affordable,and durable ,,,,,I just welder mine straight on ......

Having them is great, carry 2 myself, but knowing how to use one makes a huge difference. It's not a point and shoot kind of thing.

The lack of extinguishers on hand has bothered me since I started wheeling. I have seen more fires put out with dirt and beer than I can count. I have always looked out for myself by making sure my buddies had one near by or on hand if I decide to get extra violent with a hill. For my buggy I have plans to plum a extinguisher that can fog my motor like JJ has in his. I don't want to deal with burnt parts much less me.

The-Boss said:

The lack of extinguishers on hand has bothered me since I started wheeling. I have seen more fires put out with dirt and beer than I can count. I have always looked out for myself by making sure my buddies had one near by or on hand if I decide to get extra violent with a hill. For my buggy I have plans to plum a extinguisher that can fog my motor like JJ has in his. I don't want to deal with burnt parts much less me.

Click to expand...

Got any more info on the motor fog extinguisher?

ridered3 said:

Got any more info on the motor fog extinguisher?

Click to expand...

polyperformance has some with 3 nozzles that u could mount engine bay fuel cell 10lbs and 5lbs highest one is 606 small price considering everything else on ur buggy

The-Boss said:

The lack of extinguishers on hand has bothered me since I started wheeling. I have seen more fires put out with dirt and beer than I can count. I have always looked out for myself by making sure my buddies had one near by or on hand if I decide to get extra violent with a hill. For my buggy I have plans to plum a extinguisher that can fog my motor like JJ has in his. I don't want to deal with burnt parts much less me.

Click to expand...

Am I the JJ you speak of?

Ever since the thread on Pirate about Doc's rig burning to the ground at KOH I've had a paranoid fear of my rig doing the same. (I think mainly because he seems like such a nice, level-headed guy and his rig was just so perfect in my eyes. Also because he wouldn't have got out if someone hadn't been nearby with a sharp knife.) I mean that literally, I have woke up some nights after having nightmares. The original plan was to ride my wife in my rig (which I don't do anymore) and the thought of possibly listening to her burn to death in a rig that I built and couldn't save her from would not be something I could live with. (Literally, I think I would commit suicide.) Yet I can not afford the $1000+ systems that some can, which really are only good for spraying the places that you aim them at during the build. (What if a fire starts somewhere else?) So I got 3 Halon hand-held extinguishers and mounted them in plain sight. Two are on the passenger side, one by their feet, another on the dash board where a spectator can easily reach in. The third is by my feet attached to two nozzles that spray the engine compartment, particularly the exhaust areas. It doesn't even have to come out of its mount to work, I simply pull the pin and squeeze the trigger and the engine compartment gets doused.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/saf-54-1416/overview/

These are simply mounted to a -an bulkhead on two corners of my firewall with braided stainless line going from the nozzle on the extinguisher to the bulkhead fittings. Its not quite as nice as the pre-built systems but better than nothing. I got the idea from my shop-mate, Mark, who used to be an airplane mechanic. He says some planes used similar systems since its not like the driver can exit the vehicle to manually extinguish an engine fire at 3000+ feet.

Right now I am using the mounts that came with the extinguishers but they are kind of cheesy. I've seen ton's like Jduck's but they all look like they would rattle to me, do they not??? That's one thing I do like about the stock cheesy ones, they do not rattle at all.

ridered3 said:

Got any more info on the motor fog extinguisher?

Click to expand...

I'll try and post some pics of mine up tonight, i put a suppression/fog system in my jeep this summer. I got it from one of the local Ultra44 guys out here in utah. I think he said he paid $300 for the setup. It has 4 nozzles under the hood and 2 down by the tranny and tcase. Just pull a pin in the event of a bad enough fire and its all taken care of. Sure its a one time use until you change the bottle which is about $35. Pretty cheap compared to what we already have in our 4x4's.

patooyee said:

. I've seen ton's like Jduck's but they all look like they would rattle to me, do they not??? That's one thing I do like about the stock cheesy ones, they do not rattle at all.

Click to expand...

I've got Two from JDUck just under my legs in both driver and passanger seats. If you spend some time with them and use anti-sieze on the brackets you can get them so they dont rattle and they'll come off easy enough when they need to.

Another thing ... I have heard horror stories from race fans who have listened to drivers burn to death. My father also fought in Vietnam. Its hard to get him to talk about the war, but the one or two times in my life that he has talked about napalm and shed tears while doing so was enough to put the fear of God in me about fires.

The biggest thing to think about, an extinguisher is more to give people time to get out. Equipment can be replaced, lives can not. If you had of had severaul right there waiting to put on Justin's buggy I doubt you would have saved it. Glad everyone got out safely. One big thing would have been a fuel cut off. But once it went up, I'm pretty sure he focused on getting out instead of trying to kill the power. Maybe have a big red push button kill switch. Even a fuel shut off by the tank would not have helped much from the video I saw, the flames was all over the fuel cell.

Most of the race cars I work with all have battery kill switches along with a pull cable for the fire system in the car that is clearly visible from the outside of the car so if a fire happens the pit crew or track safety crew can use the system if the driver is not able to. They also have nozzles pointing in the cab at the drivers legs. I plan on putting an on board fire suppression system in my buggy with one pointed at the drivers legs one for the passenger and some in the engine bay and pointed at the fuel cell.

Here is a video on the ColdFire system.

Stay Safe with Speedway's Cold Fire Suppression System

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Cold-Fire-Suppression-System-Complete-1-Liter-System,57527.html

This little "kit" outta do it for full body and buggies.

I am surprised that their are no safety checks when coming into the areas we enjoy, no check for fire extinguishers, batteries bolted down , cage tie connections, seat belts, I mean to me and many others these things are a no brainer and for the most part people put alot of time and money into their rigs and safety devices, but how many of us have been on the trail or parking lot next to something that looked like it was pulled from the salvage yard, I'm not hateing on anyone but it only takes one or two occurances of fire or bodily harm or worse, and if it hit's the media they will be after us and the parks. It's just the world we live in.

patooyee said:

Am I the JJ you speak of?

Click to expand...

Yep

Great thread. I work for a Caterpillar dealer. Every machine I have worked on for the past 15 year has a main power disconnect switch. I have never seen one fail. The switch is installed between the ground post of the batteries and chassis. Through the switch and everything electrical stops. These switches can handle even large twin starters, I figure 600+ amps and live their life in harsh elements. The switches are all metal contruction.
I have one mounted in my Jeep within reach of the driver. Through the switch and the ignition,fuel pump,ecu etc stops. This switch would cover all the elctrical issues of engine and fuel pump running after a fire. Catch cans, firewall and having a plan still need to be implemented.
The switch part # is 7N-0718 and runs about $70 at your local Caterpillar dealer.

I wanted to hop in here on this discussion. Adam thanks for mentioning my product.

Some of you have seen my product some of you haven't .

============

Modified by admin.

Vendor advertising is only allowed in the Vendor Forum. SO I copied this post and started a new thred there. Here is a link

http://www.hardlinecrawlers.com/forums/index.php?topic=21269.new#new

While the item advertised is perfect for this thread, it is better placed in a section that allows advertising.

JohnG

Fire protection has been a HUGE concern of mine, especially now that my kids are big enough to ride on the obstacles if they choose to do so. Everything in my buggy that contains a flammable fluid has has the containment of those fluids thought out and planned for in the form of hose routing and catch cans. I am also doing a master kill with solenoids at the fuel cell to shut down the fuel. Like JJ, I just don't know if I could live with myself if my wife or kids were hurt during a ride or rollover. I originally had planned to keep atleast 8 fire extinguishers on my buggy (two in the engine bay, two in the front seat cabin area, two in the rear seat cabin area, and two underneath the buggy). They may not be enough to put out the fire, but they should buy those precious seconds needed to get clear of a fire.

Doing some research, it seams the foam style systems are the best for flammable fluid fires. I just found this kit which is priced very reasonably
https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/productselection.asp?Product=2426
I will most likely be buying and installing one of these kits in my buggy

Our 2013 rules already required a fire extinguisher to be mounted in any vehicle racing in the SRRS, and we also had a couple on site just in case... We have now invested the $$ to have atleast 8 10lb extinguishers onsite at every hill we race on. Im glad Justin and his passenger got out ok, it would be very bad for our whole community to lose someone like that.