Nissan Pathfinder $1.85 million lawsuit verdict will stand

[Steve_RI]

This is exactly what happened to my 89 when it was totaled in a head on collision in 2005, but it was the passenger side footwell in my case. I am just glad I was alone when it happened. Any passenger in the car would have had their legs shattered, no doubt.

[MikeV]

The issue up here is how do you wash your truck when it is 10 below? More of an issue is getting in after it freezes. (I used a torpedo heater and a tarp to get in after she froze... running)

Salt water is only about 3.5% salt, salt slush is much more salt than anything else, and it isn't quite a liquid so it doesn't just drip out until spring.

But the first pathy frame was 1/2 full of sand/rocks and neat colored layers of sediment that had "petrified" into rock/slate/sandstone & took a screwdriver to loosen it up.

[GrimGreg]

But the first pathy frame was 1/2 full of sand/rocks and neat colored layers of sediment that had "petrified" into rock/slate/sandstone & took a screwdriver to loosen it up.

Natural concrete!

 

Yeah, I try to spray my truck off on the "warmer" days, but sometimes that is after a month of daily running in salt. There is the coin op pressure wash down the road, but then you have to drive 1/2 mile on salted road to get home, so pretty much, what's the point?

[nunya]

Whats the difference in the HB frame and the pathy frame?

Not a whole lot...

[magregor]

Well...the frame quality is the ONLY beef I have with my current and past pathy...the rest is pretty OK to me. Now that I know what to expect in that model year range, I just take extra care in the maintenance...I love my truck otherwise

[87pathy]

well at least they are not toyota frames, every one form 86 and newer are worse than our..

[GreyAliens]

This is exactly what happened to my 89 when it was totaled in a head on collision in 2005, but it was the passenger side footwell in my case. I am just glad I was alone when it happened. Any passenger in the car would have had their legs shattered, no doubt.

 

 

Seeing that it happened to Steveo here, maybe we can be proactive and figure out a simple weld on mod / cage (even under the vehicle) that would protect the footwell? When I first saw the head on collision picture, it made me feel good, because it did the job perfectly, crumple zones worked perfecty, and look at the windshield and even the driver window, not broken, which means the inpact stayed in front of the passager compartment... That is what they were designed to do!

 

Then I read Steve's post and think, maybe if hit at an angle the geometry does not work as well... (which is not mandated by the government (YET)). BUt then, like on alot of the Jeeps I saw and even on my brother's 68 camaro, you can reinforce the area with some tubing, and create a subframe if you will, or a mini cage.... I remember Jeep guys would tie in their side rock bars (sliders) with plates and bolts through the floorpan and onto a cage, so it became one solid unit. Maybe we can weld up some bar or even flat steel under the footwheel and to the frame, or to a tranny mount (I do not know the vehicles enough yet to know what goes where)... I would just hate for my passanger (or myself) to get our legs messed up if we did not have to.

 

Any ideas? All you custom fab guys and gals? mine is (will be) a 90 Pathy 4 door FYI, so I do not know if there is any kind of reinforced area in the footwell.

[Precise1]

I'm not going to worry about it. I'd say these are rare and unusual accidents, my guess is there is lower hanging fruit to be had...

 

B

[westslope]

Thanks for sharing KovemaN. 40 mph, eh? Not bad, not bad at all. Any residual health effects?

 

I agree with your suspicions as to what may have motivated the frivilous law suit against Nissan.

 

 

 

Of all the rich, western industrialized countries, the USA is the most plagued with expensive, wealth-destroying litigation. We're also catching the bug up here in once upon a time "nicer" Canada.

[KovemaN]

The residual effects are mosly mental. I don't trust people at stop signs and I don't go through that intersection anymore. My neck still bothers me at times, but I've been hit a few other times. That was actually the second total loss for that truck. Driving in Phoenix can be bad for your health.

[westslope]

Well, I tend to stop well back of the stop line at busy intersections. I also look both ways before entering the intersection. Plenty of folks run red lights up here in "nice" Canada, more specifically Greater Vancouver, British Columbia--"The Best Place on Earth". The pathie is bright red and I put the full lights on 24 hours a day.

 

Off topic

 

Phoenix, eh? Used to have the second worst air pollution in the USA when I briefly lived and worked there as a community organizer for the United Farm Workers of America a few decades ago. The bad air is caused by the inversion layer caught in the valley. It was most visually striking driving into downtown Phoenix from Scottsdale which sits to the north just outside the bowl. The inversion layer looked like a large grey zeppelin balloon.

 

UFWA and organizing local farm workers was an exercise in frustration. Arizona was a "right to work state" and the biggest local backer--a Chicano-dominated construction union--was widely reputed to be corrupt. Any time top wages went near US$7/hour, corporate farms would shut down. In neighbouring California, the corporate farms simply mechanized. I don't blame them; losing money sucks no matter how big you are, and farm margins can be razor thin at the best of times.

Edited September 4, 2009 by westslope