Truck Drives off mountain from String Trail (4W309)

crash2 · Aug 10, 2009

1982cj7 said:
The 309 runs from the shoestring trail up on top of the cliffs where you can look out over the rock garden. The rock garden trail takes off of it at the bottom. There are no good or reasonable ways down that cliff.

I have looked at every downhill in thru there and they are not only VERY steep--but your on a surface that has no stability to it....

As for the cage-you can tell where an exo cage(alone) is weak--no matter who builds it..

Brian H · Aug 10, 2009

Being he is a northern someone has to know the guy. I really hope they are ok.

WAYCRAZY · Aug 10, 2009

How many rolls can a extremely well built cage handle ?Not defending the cage in question but the guy that witnessed the wreck said they rolled 10-12 times.How would a pro built cage look after that?

WHITE TRASH1 · Aug 10, 2009

WAYCRAZY said:
How many rolls can a extremely well built cage handle ?Not defending the cage in question but the guy that witnessed the wreck said they rolled 10-12 times.How would a pro built cage look after that?

not saying a probuilt cage would be perfectly shaped still by any means but that cage is extremely poorly designed, NO cross bracing or triangulation and the welds didn't hold for ****. A nicely designed cage or even tube chassis would be bent and twisted but it would not crumble like that one did.

Brian H · Aug 10, 2009

WHITE TRASH said:
not saying a probuilt cage would be perfectly shaped still by any means but that cage is extremely poorly designed, NO cross bracing or triangulation and the welds didn't hold for ****. A nicely designed cage or even tube chassis would be bent and twisted but it would not crumble like that one did.

X2...:awesomework:

Broken Again · Aug 10, 2009

Brian H said:
X2...:awesomework:

X3

Poor design, poor welds, and prolly poor material.

Sadly, the guy prolly pushed the limits of his his rig thinking he had a good cage. Not sayin that happened here, but it's not uncommon.

My hopes for a quick recovery for all involved.

Brian H · Aug 10, 2009

Broken Again said:
X3

Poor design, poor welds, and prolly poor material.

Sadly, the guy prolly pushed the limits of his his rig thinking he had a good cage. Not sayin that happened here, but it's not uncommon.

My hopes for a quick recovery for all involved.

I did the same.I also over estimated my driving skills which .:awesomework:

rockabilly · Aug 10, 2009

however dumb they are or how poor of a fabricator the are, just glad to see they're alive

dirtyhall · Aug 10, 2009

I hope all involved are ok.

slednecks1124 · Aug 10, 2009

WHITE TRASH said:
not saying a probuilt cage would be perfectly shaped still by any means but that cage is extremely poorly designed, NO cross bracing or triangulation and the welds didn't hold for ****. A nicely designed cage or even tube chassis would be bent and twisted but it would not crumble like that one did.

I agree but atleast the cage that he had helped in saving their life. That just shows the importance of quality when you are building or having someone build something like this for your rig.:awesomework:

I would of hated to see what kind of damage a roll over like that would of caused to a truck without any sort of cage.

But damn.....what the hell was this guy thinking???? :eeek:

Turtle Bite · Aug 10, 2009

We were up saturday and saw the excitement. We got up there just as the helicopter was airlifting the passenger up. From where he drove off, you were looking DOWN at the helicopter as they were airlifting the passenger. Not pictured is the cooler with around 40 beers scattered about.

We ran into the guy driving the white 4-runner who was with them and helped them air up their tires. He drove out to manashstash campground with a front flat. The passenger did have multiple life threatening injuries, the driver only had minor cuts. Both the driver and passenger were unconscious after the roll but they were woken after a bit. The cage was 100% inadequate, even in a single roll or flop it would have seriously failed.

Anyone know how there are going to get the rig out of there?

Jay Luke · Aug 10, 2009

"Anyone know how there are going to get the rig out of there?"

X2

Ed Bister · Aug 10, 2009

Jay Luke said:
"Anyone know how there are going to get the rig out of there?"

X2

The same way the quad got up there......there has to be a way if that quad got up there then a good well built 4x4 will make it up there no porblem. just have to drag it out. :eeek:

trailsnail · Aug 10, 2009

trail coyotes will pick it clean

Boonie Buster · Aug 10, 2009

crash said:
I have looked at every downhill in thru there and they are not only VERY steep--but your on a surface that has no stability to it....

As for the cage-you can tell where an exo cage(alone) is weak--no matter who builds it..

I think the only part of that cage that honestly saved them (from worse injuries and/or death) is that B-HOOP.... Had it been a top halo tied to B-pillar POSTS, it probably would have also broke and that cab would have been flat...

Even if it was a well-built cage, you still risk hitting your head (helmet or not) or just blunt force trauma... scary scary roll...:booo:

WAYCRAZY · Aug 10, 2009

How his cage was built was not my concearn . I really wanted to know how well a pro built cage would hold up . Thanks trashy for the answer :awesomework:Bent up but not distroyed . Welds still intact.
After talking to a few more peeps found out the cage was built out of pipe! For those who are thinking about cutting corners....Don't!!!!!

WAYCRAZY · Aug 10, 2009

When I ran into the guy in the white 4runner his rear was of the bead and the rim was distroyed.. Sounds like tires were a issue for him.

97zjvinny · Aug 10, 2009

Damn......glad to here there ok.

Maybe they blew a bead? :scratchhead:

Duck Dodgers · Aug 10, 2009

POSTED ON Sunday, August 09, 2009 AT 09:43PM

Man injured when truck rolls down cliff

Yakima Herald-Republic

ELLENSBURG, Wash. -- A 25-year-old Woodinville man was seriously injured after the truck he was in rolled off a cliff near Ellensburg on Saturday afternoon.

Authorities believe alcohol was a factor in the accident, which took place on a rock slide outside the Manastash Campground in Shoestring Ridge.

The passenger, Mark Olliver, was in satisfactory condition at Seattle's Harborview Medical Center late Sunday evening, hospital officials said.

Authorities have yet to identify the driver, who they say boasted that he could go down the steep rock slide and then climb back up, according to the news release from Kittitas County Sheriff's Office.

Right after starting down, the front end of the truck caught a rock, wheeling it some 400 feet down the cliff before it came to rest on its side. A Snohomish County Sheriff's Office rescue helicopter airlifted Olliver to Harborview.

The case remains under investigation.

The Kittitas County Sheriff's Search and Rescue Unit, Kittitas Valley Fire and Rescue, Department of Emergency Management and U.S. Forest Service also assisted.

--------------------------------------------------------------

I hate to beat a dead horse....

I hope everyone comes out of this okay. There is a lot of conversation about the exo. Seems to me if they had not been drinking this may have not happened. Again booze and wheeling don't mix.

nikki_88 · Aug 10, 2009

I was there, I know what happened I actually saw the whole thing. If it wasn't for the welds they would BOTH be dead. Mark is in Harborview but his condition is unknown. The driver walked away without serious injuries.