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Gas tank protector


jwblue
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My mother has a 2012 Kia Soul.

 

Is there such a thing as an aftermarket part that will protect the gas tank from exploding in the case of a rear end collision?

 

Who might sell something like this?

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Is this a common problem? I googled it but didn't see anything. A skid or something might help but I dunno, depending on how the body's supposed to crumple in a collision it might to more harm than good.

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I'm not sure about an aftermarket protector but, there are very strict guidelines set by the government that regulate collisions from all angles. She SHOULD be safe.

 

Tell that to someone that was in one of the accidents that nicknamed the Ford Explorer the "Exploder" :lol: Not that it's a laughing matter I guess.

 

I would imagine that by this point the regulations are pretty stringent though.

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I'm not sure about an aftermarket protector but, there are very strict guidelines set by the government that regulate collisions from all angles. She SHOULD be safe.

 

Does the word "Pinto" mean anything to anyone.............. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

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Tell that to someone that was in one of the accidents that nicknamed the Ford Explorer the "Exploder" :lol: Not that it's a laughing matter I guess.

 

I would imagine that by this point the regulations are pretty stringent though.

 

I've never towed one that was on fire for any reason (including accidents from every angle and roll overs, only 'exploding' from them I ever dealt with was due to the misprinted door tags that said 12psi and Firestone got the blame for it)

Does the word "Pinto" mean anything to anyone.............. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

I actually personally wrecked one (spun it and crushed both ends), walked away with a totaled car and some hurt pride. Just because it's funny don't mean they were all suspect to it, just like the whole side saddle tank 'issue' with old GM fullsize trucks. All it takes is a news company that wants to make some scare tactic news :lol:

 

As for the Kia Soul, personal opinions aside its designed with crumple zones and built in safety, if the "feeling" of safety is a concern your either gonna have to get creative or move to something with a little more size that hamsters and Gary Busey don't try to peddle :shrug:

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Does the word "Pinto" mean anything to anyone.............. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

 

Yes. We are showing our age. :lol:

 

I've never towed one that was on fire for any reason (including accidents from every angle and roll overs, only 'exploding' from them I ever dealt with was due to the misprinted door tags that said 12psi and Firestone got the blame for it)

I actually personally wrecked one (spun it and crushed both ends), walked away with a totaled car and some hurt pride. Just because it's funny don't mean they were all suspect to it, just like the whole side saddle tank 'issue' with old GM fullsize trucks. All it takes is a news company that wants to make some scare tactic news :lol:

 

As for the Kia Soul, personal opinions aside its designed with crumple zones and built in safety, if the "feeling" of safety is a concern your either gonna have to get creative or move to something with a little more size that hamsters and Gary Busey don't try to peddle :shrug:

 

I had forgotten about the saddle tank issue and I agree with you on the "blown tire issue" giving the Explorer the nick name. What automotive group did Busey grace his fame?

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What automotive group did Busey grace his fame?

He was in a couple Kia ads, last year I think it was. Those cheesy ones where it's obviously a green screen behind him so different locals could pop their dealership pic behind him.

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The idea of Gary Busey endorsing anything other than Valum pills is a scary thought. :laugh:

 

The best Pinto reference was in the hilarious 1984 movie "Top Secret".

 

Don't mean to hijack the thread but here's an interesting Pinto snippet..........

"Fuel tank defect

Controversy followed the Pinto after 1977 allegations that the Pinto's structural design allowed its fuel tank filler neck to break off[6] and the fuel tank to be punctured in a rear-end collision,[6] resulting in deadly fires from spilled fuel.

Allegations and lawsuits

Critics alleged that the vehicle's lack of reinforcing structure between the rear panel and the tank meant the tank would be pushed forward and punctured by the protruding bolts of the differential[16] — making the car less safe than its contemporaries.

According to a 1977 Mother Jones article by Mark Dowie, Ford allegedly was aware of the design flaw, refused to pay for a redesign, and decided it would be cheaper to pay off possible lawsuits. The magazine obtained a cost-benefit analysis that it said Ford had used to compare the cost of $11 repairs against the cost of settlements for deaths, injuries, and vehicle burnouts. The document became known as the Ford Pinto Memo.[14][17][18] This document was, technically, not a memo regarding the Pinto specifically, but a general memo Ford submitted to the NHTSA in an effort to gain an exemption from safety standards; it was also primarily focused on the cost of reducing deaths from fires resulting from rollovers, rather than the rear-end collision fires that plagued the Pinto. It was nonetheless submitted in court in an effort to show the "callousness" of Ford's corporate culture.[4]

An example of a Pinto rear-end accident that led to a lawsuit was the 1972 accident resulted in the court case Grimshaw v. Ford Motor Co.,[19] in which the California Court of Appeal for the Fourth Appellate District upheld compensatory damages of $2.5 million and punitive damages of $3.5 million against Ford, partially because Ford had been aware of the design defects before production but had decided against changing the design.

Recall

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) ultimately directed Ford to recall the Pinto. Initially, the NHTSA did not feel there was sufficient evidence to demand a recall due to incidents of fire. 27 deaths were attributed to Pinto fires (the same number of deaths attributed to a Pinto transmission problem) and in 1974 the NHTSA ruled that the Pinto had no "recallable" problem.[20]

In 1978, Ford initiated a recall providing a plastic protective shield to be dealer-installed between the fuel tank and the differential bolts, another to deflect contact with the right-rear shock absorber, and a new fuel-tank filler neck that extended deeper into the tank and was more resistant to breaking off in a rear-end collision.[6][21]

Schwartz paper

In a 1991 paper, The Myth of the Ford Pinto Case, for the Rutgers Law Review, Gary T. Schwartz[4] said the case against the Pinto was not clear-cut.[22][23]

According to his study, the number who died in Pinto rear-impact fires was well below the hundreds cited in contemporary news reports and closer to the 27 recorded by a limited National Highway Traffic Safety Administration database. Given the Pinto's production figures (over 3 million built), this was not substantially worse than typical for the time. Schwartz said that the car was no more fire-prone than other cars of the time, that its fatality rates were lower than comparably sized imported automobiles, and that the supposed "smoking gun" document that plaintiffs said demonstrated Ford's callousness in designing the Pinto was actually a document based on National Highway Traffic Safety Administration regulations about the value of a human life — rather than a document containing an assessment of Ford's potential tort liability.

Schwartz's study said:

  • The Pinto Memo wasn't used or consulted internally by Ford, but rather was attached to a letter written to NHTSA about proposed regulation. When plaintiffs tried to use the memo in support of punitive damages, the trial judge ruled it inadmissible for that purpose (p. 1021, Schwartz study).
  • The Pinto's fuel tank location behind the axle, ostensibly its design defect, was "commonplace at the time in American cars" (p. 1027).
  • The precedent of the California Supreme Court at the time not only tolerated manufacturers trading off safety for cost, but apparently encouraged manufacturers to consider such trade-offs (p. 1037)."

I was living in England at the time, so to me an exploding Pinto was just a horse that trod on a land mine! :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

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arent all us tanks kevlar lined to prevent them puncturing and catching on fire i thought that federal law but i may be wayy off.

If they were kevlar lined, I would think the junkyards would have a hard time slashing holes in every plastic gas tank to drain them.

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