I remember reading about that accident - nasty, but I think that as long as a curved track rod was strong enough and didn't foul anything it would be a less radical mod than putting wedges between the springs and axle which would alter the steering geometry and so affect the handling of the vehicle.
I have 'aluded' to 'that' case before, on threads about brake or steering mods, but I've just noted I haven't done so here; Chap in question is called Gresh, Steve Gresham, and he's currently serving four years.
The Land-Rover in question was a V8 110, and the 'modifications' were not 'extreme','Yello110' was his every-day family car, and boasted little more than a proprietry lift kit and a safety devices external roll cage.
The actual 'accident' was a 'freak' compound of unfortunate circumstances, the most significant 'failure' the rear near-side radius arm baracket fracturing.
Gresh was returning from a P&P site, he had the family in the car, and on a B-road, wide enough for two vehicles, found himself aproaching a mini-bus towing a trailer stacked with canoes.
The driver of that vehicle, I presume, from accounts was not confident towing that trailer, and was 'hogging' the middle of the cariageway; Gresh, aproaching expected the minibus to use the room he had on his near side to make room for both vehicles, while Gresh did likewise. The mini-bus, though, did NOT move over, and Gresh went onto the soft verge to avoid collission.
Striking a pot-hole in the soft verge, the suspension hanger snapped, dropping the body on that side of the vehicle, which with the slope of the verge, and the loss of control, saw the 110 'roll'.
The cage would have protected the occupants from seriouse harm as it went over, BUT the verge was a river bank, and the truck rolled into it.
The scenario is not dissimilar to hundreds any of us have been in, but compounding of unfortunate circumstances resulted in tradgedy.
I have known Gresh, through the forums a long time, and we both had LWB Landrovers to accomodate large families; we both built them at about the same time, & ran them and maintained them on the budgeds demanded while supporting a large family, and we both used them for family recreation, including off-roading.
In my case, I had an SIII 109, which as Gresh's 110 could equally have been described as 'Cobled together from parts canabalised from numerouse wrecked or abandoned vehicles'... I prefered to call it a 'restoration utilising second hand parts'...
As Gresh, my 109 was 'modified for off-roading' and could have been described as 'Modified and adapted to engage in off-road driving beyond the original design parameters of the vehicle'...... I called it a set of parabolic springs and 235/85 Radial all terains on wider off-set 7" modulars.....
I had also added 'protection' for the occupants, my family; Gresh fitted a full external roll cage, I fitted full rally harnesses.
This happened on one of our first outings; the circumstances were almost Identical to Gresh's; A Dihatsu Fourtrack was aproaching in the opposite direction; I pulled over, expecting the Dihatsu driver to do likewise and make room for both vehicles. He didn't, despite the fact that there was more clerance on his side of the road, AND a passing place he could have pulled into, but ignored. I pulled over further and further to avoid collision, and 'dropped' the nearside wheels into an overgrown ditch. The Dihatsu driver carried on regardless.
In my case, I was 'lucky' nothing broke, I was luckier still, I was on the 'high' side of the hill we were traversing, and merely leaned against the bank, and didn't roll, and I was 'lucky' that there wasn't a river anywhere for us to roll into.......
And it is co-incidence that I had actually JUST fitted the parabolics, after having the car MOT'd and taking it away to sort the 'niggle' of a headlamp without enough chrome on the reflector..... and returning for retest to have it failed for an axle U-bolt snapping in the four miles between the MOT station and my house and back again.....
IF that U-bolt hadn't let go on those few miles, the suspension wouldn't have been replaced, and Just as in Gresh's case where the broken radius arm hanger snapped, just a few weeks after MOT, my Axle restraints could have likewise 'gone' at any time.........
Had the combination of unfortnate cicumstances conspired against me, as they did against Gresh, I have no doubt that some-one could have put as much 'unfavourable spin' on the 'facts' as they did in Gresh's case, possibly even more......
There, but for the grace of, go I.......
And I am sure MANY MANY others, driving older vehicles, whether modified or not.
I dont want to go through the nitty-gritty of the case; the evidence was significantly slighted by the terminology used, and facts that were of little or no relevence were presented as though they were causal factors in the calamity.
For the most part Gresh was little different to any other Landy enthusiast, and waded in fixing and fettling his vehicles as many of us do, with enthusiasm, and utilising his skill as a trained vehicle technician to adapt them were he could with the facilities and materials he could procure.
And he believed, that the mods he had done to his vehicle were 'safe', that the roll cage improved safety for his family, and thet his car, recieving frequent, enthusiastic maintenence and repairs, was in a more road-worthy condition than many older cars who only recieved attension once a year when they failed thier MOT.
And I suspect most of us would have similar conviction in our handy-work........
But would a jury of your peers, NOT familiar with Land-Rover mechanics be convinced, IF you were as unfortunate?
It serves as a warning, and not wanting to be too pessamistic, and use it to suggest that we CANT do anything to our Landies, it does hold up a big yellow 'caution' flag for us to stop and think long and hard about them.
It suggests we need to make ourselves very familiar with the MOT standards and C&U regulations, and try, where possible to work to the highest appliciable standards, rather than relying on 'grandad-rights' for older vehicles;
And to my mind it certainly suggests that where we DO do stuff, we ought to be looking at the SVA (or whatever they are calling it this week!) as our 'friend' and getting VOSPA to give us an 'all-clear' that they aren't 'worried' by any mods, rather than trying to avoid the 'hassle' of certification, and possible re-registration.
BUT, I think that the real morral of the case is that we need to be inordinately careful of all those contributing 'little' risks, all the stuff we DONT think is a big problem, and put off until pay-day or whatever.
Becouse, irrespective of the verdict in the Gresham case, the FACTS of the tragedy is that there was NO single cause, but hundreds of reletively inconsequential ones that added up to one HUGE calamity.
