czwalga steve czwalga Ultra Moderator Location: Pittsburgh, PA Join Date: 09/16/2011 Age: Settling Down Posts: 376 Rally Car: 95 awd celica |
No crew, no cell phone service, spanning the entire rally, HQ and all. Without a serious set of winches I dont think we were getting it out on our own anyway. I do have a steel cable come-a-long that I bring, which is good for minor things, wouldnt have done jack in the situation we were in. I'm confident that if I parked my truck and winched the car, it would have pulled my truck well before the car. There was no grip at all, heavy sweep tried to pull me out with knobby tires and I didnt even feel a jerk on the car. Could have maybe used trees, but they would have been on the other side of the road, then the cables/straps would be digging into the ground due to the angle. Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/12/2013 06:49AM by czwalga. |
heymagic Banned Infallible Moderator Location: La la land Join Date: 01/25/2006 Age: Fossilized Posts: 3,740 Rally Car: Not a Volvo |
Pretty sure I said with out assigning blame...the organizer should be made aware. Maybe there is another wrecker, or another wrecker could be found if someone asked. Maybe not, but nothing will be done or looked at if the right people aren't aware of the issues.
We used to have a gal (yeppers a thin little gal too ) that followed our events with a tow truck. She loved rally and would retrieve our cars for a mere pittance...without further damage. That was before the days of organized sweep fleets. So again...has the organizer been informed? |
Morison Banned Godlike Moderator Location: Calgary, AB Join Date: 03/27/2009 Age: Ancient Posts: 1,798 Rally Car: (ex)86 RX-7(built), (ex)2.5RS (bought) |
Agreed, the issue should be mentioned to the organisers.
What I've seen is that where there are rallies, there are often off road 4x4 groups who are not only experienced in recovery but who also LOVE doing it. Having a handful of these guys at the back of the pack can make all of the difference in the world to clean recoveries. First Rally: 2001 Driver (7), Co-Driver (44) Drivers (16) Clerk (10), Official (7), Volunteer (4) Cars Built (1), Engines Built (0) Cages Built (0) Last Updated, January 4, 2015
|
czwalga steve czwalga Ultra Moderator Location: Pittsburgh, PA Join Date: 09/16/2011 Age: Settling Down Posts: 376 Rally Car: 95 awd celica |
|
I think I know the guys who did this; they are actually pretty talented. I had never before seen 2 diesel 4WD trucks pulling in tandem in a coordinated fashion, with the front truck pulling the 2nd truck in series, but they did it well to get a car up a near vertical 50' bank in RWV in 2011.
So why they messed up on this one is a mystery. Did they somehow miss seeing what was holding the car back? Was it a tree, or actually a stump?? I've been in such circumstances myself, and I just TOLD them what I wanted done in no uncertain terms when they were going to do a 'less than optimum' pull, and placed the hooks on the car myself. Won't hurt to let the chairman know but I am not sure what he can or should do about it; at that point, you're in charge. Well, good luck gettin' it straightened out. Mark B. Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/12/2013 06:08PM by starion887. |
rallyfast18 kevin lester Mod Moderator Location: pacific northwest Join Date: 06/26/2013 Age: Midlife Crisis Posts: 33 |
I didnt mean in just this instance ..but in general as far as self recovery. And as a worker and stage captain i have seen instances where purely pro wreckers would be required(example: wyeth and nathalie on dayton stage were 75+ feet over a rope only hillside in 08?). But typically a good setup and you could manage it yourself.
In the northwest we have a great sweep crew who is a bunch of trained offroad guys. They get the job done in most every case. Olympus has been reclaimed! Now t.v. needs more rally coverage in general! Watch w.r.c. on mavtv...ratings will keep it airing. |
rallyfast18 kevin lester Mod Moderator Location: pacific northwest Join Date: 06/26/2013 Age: Midlife Crisis Posts: 33 |
well the dayton stage moment was '07. heres a lil clip thats likely never been seen. sorry about the quality it was the last moment the camera ever captured..rain 3 - cellphone, rf radios and camera 0. gotta love the old olympus weather! and before anyone comments yes it has a name other than richard on the window but im 99.9% positive she was co driving that weekend.
other than some tire marks and knocked down trees..you would never have found em..the ravine and young trees swallowed that subi up! and super glad everyone was just fine! this was nothing short of a great professional recovery but it took a good hour plus so complete vid would be a yawn. some light logging was required to get it back up the hill without bring everything with or causing any more damage than it already sustained. tow by jims in Shelton, Wa. video: http://s150.photobucket.com/user/rallyfast18/media/rally%20videos/wyethcliffpersp.mp4.html Olympus has been reclaimed! Now t.v. needs more rally coverage in general! Watch w.r.c. on mavtv...ratings will keep it airing. |
Sean Burke Sean Burke Senior Moderator Location: Butler,Pennsylvania Join Date: 08/21/2010 Age: Midlife Crisis Posts: 123 Rally Car: 1991 Honda CRX |
Steve, back on to your original question. Koeppen's alignment in Butler is where I take my car when it has been badly torqued out of spec. They have the equipement for you and it wont cost you an arm and a leg. If it isn't in your phonebook, e-mail me and I'll give you the number and address. It's 40 minutes from you. Take it there.
|
bknblk2 Tony Wood Infallible Moderator Location: Wichita Join Date: 02/02/2009 Age: Midlife Crisis Posts: 181 Rally Car: 83 Citation "Oskar" |
That supper sucks. most volunteer sweep guys are avid 4X4 guys, with multiple dozens if not hundreds of snatches under their belt. You said it was really bad conditions and situation, that heavy sweep had to give up. So was this a professional tow company?
Sorry to say it, but at the end of the day, it's on you You parked the car there You agreed to "hire?" the crew. You supervised the pick. Mostly the first one. The car was damaged in the wreck, yes some of the damage didn't show up until a couple hours later, but had it not been for the wreck, the car would not have been damaged. Just dumb luck you didn't hit that tree with that corner of the car on initial impact. Kindda like firefighters... I swear 90% of the time they do more damage than the fire, but if you started the fire??? Hope it works out. I've got a quite bent car currently. Maybe some frame rack time would be money well spent before I cut the front off. |
Creech Scott Creech Mod Moderator Location: Jane, MO Join Date: 12/02/2012 Age: Possibly Wise Posts: 415 Rally Car: Audi 90 Quattro (WIP) |
This. That statement reminded me: I had bent car once when I was a teen that I "Rebuilder'd" myself, except for the frame-work. When scouting the shop, I was talking to the proprieter, and he showed to me the car he had on the rack at that moment and advised me AGAINST cutting before he got ahold of it. The car (on the rack), the owner knew exactly what he wanted done, and had already "trimmed" off the benty-bits before delivery to the shop - but the shopkeep was cursing the lack of anyplace to "pull from", and commented that he hoped the guy had at least another front-half of a car, because he was gonna have to trim-up one heluva lot more to get to the stuff he had straightened.... Unbolt what you can - but don't cut ANYTHING before it hits the frame rack - unless the frame guy sez so. (if frame-work is what you decide to do) Parfois, on fait pas semblant! I am: I know: I am from: Nobody. Nothing. Nowhere. Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/13/2013 10:37AM by Creech. |