Trail Ride plus carnage - happy ending

[The Roadie]

Not certain where to post this, or break it up. Having a nice Father's Day - out of the driveway at 7AM for a ridgeline ride along Palomar Mountain (where the famous observatory is). Ended in less than ten miles with a broken Icon coilover! Teebes wasn't available - second call on my emergency list was my boss, and he was free to go by my house and pick up a spare assembled strut. Amazing to have cell coverage at the vehicle. Anyway, here's some pics. More details later after I get a nap.



It started with this lowrider stuck on the side of the road near my house. I was chuckling so much at his predicament, I'm CERTAIN the bad karma contributed to mine later.







Bunnies





Side trail (in the video)







Odd sideways flowering "thing" I've never seen before - like a yucca, but odder:



Long view from 3600 feet.



Where I've been



Ooops, tire up into the wheelwell. Could drive with rubbing only going straight. No turns possible.

[The Roadie]

Never seen an upper control arm shoved so high up.































The Wab-Fab rock slider adapter for the Hilift - a birthday gift from my daughter a few years ago. What a tool! (the adapter, that is ... not my wonderful daughter!)



My boss' Jeep - my savior!

[Gordinho80]

Holy crap! That sucks. Sorry Bill. Good thing you had service and you were able to get someone out there quickly.

[The Roadie]

Yeah. You were probably 7th or 8th on my list to call. Now Steve moved to Seattle, I can't count on him any more for a rescue.

I was amazed I didn't have to hike a mile or four to get cell service.

[fishsticks]

Good to see all ended well... and without a hike.

Well, no one can say you didn't test those Icons real good now.

Any idea what the last straw was? Looks like your run of the mill stress fracture...

[Zero]

Id also like to know more info about the moments just before it broke. I know it is too late to tell. But any word from Icon if they are gona change the design a bit to prevent this from happening? Glad your ok!

[bgwolfpack]

Good to know you're OK. Really glad that happened on the trails rather then on the free-way.

That would be the real weak spot in the design. I sure Icon will be beefing up your next set as I'm sure they never thought you'd break one! Well done!

[rgraboske]

Glad you didn't have to go too deep on the list to find someone to help. Is Mrs Roadie used to having people show up to pick up parts now?

So, do you have one strut and one coil over now? How does that feel?

[MrSmithsTB]

Ouch! I'm glad you're ok and that nothing else got too damaged to drive on. I guess the prototypes are living up to their name.

[The Roadie]

I suppose I'll first call Johnny on Monday - he knows the Icon engineers. I'm driving with the right front about 3" lower than the left. Definitely squirrley on the freeway above 50. I was doing some lumpy dirt at about 15-20 MPH, the kind of stuff I would be held to 10 MPH before the Icons because I'd bottom out. Since I don't bottom out, it raised the speed I can take them at. The exact time of the break was just after an unload and it was more severe than earlier ones. All uphill, which is usually safer at a higher speed than downhills.

I don't see the root cause yet. That shaft is MUCH thicker than the stock shock, and there shouldn't be any side loads. Only tension and compression. Only thought I have is that there isn't any internal bump stop for when the shock fully extends, and there's a possible clue inside the shock body. If Tundras race on these coilovers, I thought they were totally bulletproof, which is why I wasn't carrying the spare strut. I got complacent.

Mrs. Roadie is grateful I didn't have HER deliver the part to the end of the pavement with her Civic. It would have been a couple hours round trip hiking for me, with about a 2600 altitude gain on the way back to the truck. Not in my list of favorite things to do.

[Zero]

There is a difference between "bullet" proof and "Roadie" proof. LOL now its a proven fact!

[KE7WOX]

Mrs. Roadie is grateful I didn't have HER deliver the part to the end of the pavement with her Civic.

Time to start lifting the Civic

[djthumper]

Glad you got back home safely

[Trail X]

I imagine there's something to do with the torque on the threads inducing a high tensile stress 'preload' between the thread and the shaft shoulder. That stress preload in the area plus the impulse load of the shock bottoming out may have just been the last straw. I don't see cyclic stress marks on your picture (could be there, but not visible in the picture), so it could have been a simple tension overload failure.

Now... how would you have gotten out if you didn't have cell phone coverage?

I learned something from reading an article by Bill Burke. He said he once had to use a log in place of a spring... if you took out your CV shaft, you could notch a 7" log to fit between the upper perch and the LCA... ratchet strap it in place. It'd be a rough ride, but it could get you out.

Unless there are no decent sized logs around there.

[bartonmd]

I imagine there's something to do with the torque on the threads inducing a high tensile stress 'preload' between the thread and the shaft shoulder. That stress preload in the area plus the impulse load of the shock bottoming out may have just been the last straw. I don't see cyclic stress marks on your picture (could be there, but not visible in the picture), so it could have been a simple tension overload failure.

I agree... Looks like it just "popped" all at one time... That's exactly where I would have expected it to break, too... At the base of the threads. The highest loaded material with the smallest diameter... Don't really see any evidence in the pictures of any kind of rotation or side load on it, either...

I wonder how much (extension) bump stop is internal, and if it's designed to handle the (probably) stronger spring that we use, compared to the Tacos, and the faster speed that the front unloads and hits the extension stop when there is no front anti-roll bar connected? Nothing but the valving to slow down the extension.

Mike

[Trail X]

If this is truly a racing shock, they may assume that there's a limiting strap on the LCA.

[bartonmd]

If this is truly a racing shock, they may assume that there's a limiting strap on the LCA.

Exactly, that's the real question...

Mike

[The Roadie]

Johny's on the case. It isn't designed to require an external limiting strap. Other manufacturers have full-diameter threaded sections, not reduced down like this one.

The reason I set up the chair in front of the open wheel well was exactly to cogitate what alternatives I had in case I was farther away or had no communication. There were no logs at this elevation. I neglected to carry any firewood as I would have on a weekend trip, but I did have multiple items I could have put between the upper control arm and the wheelwell sheet metal, or I could have, as you said, removed the CV shaft and cut down the hilift handle as a replacement strut. I *did* have a hacksaw in the tool kit. I think I'll cut the proper length of a 4X4 to carry on future trips, though. And probably a spare strut. Now I worry about carrying control arms as well. Ick.

[Trail X]

What was the downward limiting element?... the knuckle hitting the upper strut perch?

[The Roadie]

That plus tire hitting wheelwell sheet metal. I could actually go a few feet forward and back to get to the side of the trail in a relatively flat section, but only a few degrees of steering. Considered building wood blocks up on top of the UCA to the wheel well metal. Not as strong as the upper strut perch. Also considered using a skid to just slide the tire down the hill, like using one of the cargo drawers as a skid box. Thought the plywood would have a short life. Lots of possibilities. I had far fewer possible limp-home ideas when I broke the tie rod end.