Undercarriage damage to light truck in rocky terrain

[vivaine3]

Hi everyone

Comments

[emerald_green37]

Okay, it takes a lot to crack a transmission case I had a customer call one weekend - he was out hunting and managed to shoot his transmission case point blank, (Case in point, boys and girls, this is why we unload our high powered rifles BEFORE we shove them in the truck.) The bullet did not go totally through the case, but was rattling around inside the tranny. He actually drove it home (about 200 miles) like that. The bottom of the transmission case is stronger than the top where he shot it, so I don't think your character would crack the case unless he was doing something unbelievably stupid, but he could get it stuck

[vivaine3]

Thank you emerald green! I've used a wide selection of your suggestions and it definitely improved things. I had already used the blood factor - he has a temper fit and slpits a knuckle punching the door. Damage not consistant with the accident AND blood smears ;D

[six_dollar_baby]

It would be more than enough to have him pop a tire, and be caught without a spare. Running the truck up on a large rock could shred the tire, and be a really obvious clue that the kid didn't just run off.

[channonyarrow]

This. I don't specifically know the ground-height clearance of an F-150, but that would have to be a stupidly large rock to high-center it on something. My brother has property in south-central Utah (right by Canyon Reef National Park) and my experience has been that you generally have enough starlight and lack light pollution enough to see whether something is really much too big to try to go over. A lot could be done with shadows on rocks and how they change how things look, but it seems like a lot of effort to set up a scene that I don't get the sense is supposed to be pivotal at the time the reader gets to it.

[lolmac]

I have nothing to contribute to the discussion, but I am squeeing with insane joy at your icon.

[indian_skimmer]

From experience- relatively easy to judge if a rock is small enough to go over, *really* easy to misjudge if a hole is too deep to go through...

[laylalawlor]

If he doesn't have 4WD and at least one of his back tires is off the ground, either because the front end fell into a hole or because he high-centered the rear axle on a rock, he is SO screwed. Actually, just a few days ago, I saw four guys trying to get a very small car unstuck that had done this exact thing in a pothole in a parking lot. (It's spring in semi-rural Alaska; the roads are terrible.) You are basically going to need a winch or another truck to get yourself out, no mechanical damage necessary

[six_dollar_baby]

Getting the truck stuck is a really good idea.

Also, trucks are pretty top-heavy. If he's driving on loose gravel/sand/uneven terrain, and fishtails the truck, it's entirely possible that he might run off the road and roll the thing. i did this in a van once- i was wearing my seatbelt and was not hurt one bit, but the van was tipped over on its side, and i had to climb out the passenger window and go for help.
(The tow truck pulled the van out of the ditch, and it wasn't damaged except for some scratches, and a crack in the sideview mirror.)

[laylalawlor]

Ooh yeah, rolling it is a good idea -- and the flat tire suggestion, too.

One thing I have noticed with young guys who have big 4WD trucks is that they really have no clue how easily a wheeled vehicle can get stuck in offroad conditions. They think 4WD + big engine = can drive through anything! But actually, in conditions with poor traction or on a really rough unpaved road, it's incredibly easy to get stuck, and very hard to get unstuck by yourself. I have heard so many tales of woe from hunters and other outdoorsy sorts who drove somewhere unwise, bogged down, and had to walk back to the road for help.

[lilacsigil]

Not just young guys! I live in a rural area and there's a lot of locals with 4WD trucks, which is fine, but then tourists show up in the same vehicles and end up rolling, getting bogged where cows have churned up the ground or occasionally get stuck in sand trying to drive on the wrong beach. And sometimes, they don't make it back into an area with mobile phone reception in time and the tide comes in...

[lolmac]

Actually, I do have a minor item to offer: in that part of the country, a wash is indeed called an arroyo. Everyone is trained, from early childhood, NOT to go into arroyos, because flash floods can happen even when there's been no rain locally. Of course, this splendid advice does get ignored! The usual initial sign that hey, the arroyo is drivable today, is inbound wheel tracks from some other idiot

[vivaine3]

*grins* I live in Alabama, and even I've heard that one. But you're right, the authorities should be pushing it.

[vivaine3]

Thanks! That's exactly what he's doing - ignoring good sense. He thinks because it's just a mile or so he can get in and get out without a problem. He does have emergency supplies, but Murphy is after him big time - the flashlight dies, he can't get a cell signal, etc.

[desdemonaspace]

This makes me think of going to my land, and the last four unpaved roads that post signs that say ROAD IS NOT MAINTAINED - DRIVE AT YOUR OWN RISK. I myself drive incredibly slowly and carefully, because when we were looking at land (before we bought) the seller bottomed out, which tore out her oil pan, and rendered her van undrivable.

Not sure of the color - oil-colored, I'd say.

[desdemonaspace]

Also (this might lend verisimilitude to your story) once I get off the road, I unbuckle my seat belt, lean over the dash, and watch the road VERY carefully for big rocks, bigger potholes, and there's even the old colonial "corduroy road" thing going on in some places, and you can pop your tire on stake-like wooden splinters. You do not drive straight, on the right, you weave and pick the smoothest path. I also toot my horn on blind curves or going up hills, as my neighbors barrel along like they don't care about damage to their own vehicles.

[vivaine3]

Thank you. That does help. This particular character wouldn't do that, he's too reckless, but I have another character who would.