2012 Baja 500 Roll Over Repairs

The Damage
The Repairs Begin
Damaged Roof Removal 1
Damaged Roof Removal 2
Engine/Transaxle Mount Repairs
Installing the New Roof
Repairing the Bumpers
On the Wheels Again
Body Work and Paint

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During the 2012 Baja 500, we struck a large obstacle on the course while driving in limited visibility (in the dust of a
vehicle we were chasing down).  The impact caused us to roll the car several times and to strike a concrete light pole
before coming to rest.  We came to a stop about 100 feet from the original point of impact, amazingly on all 4 wheels. 
Fortunately, there were no personal injuries - either to ourselves or any spectators.  The car, however, was a different
matter.  This is our chronicle of the damage and our repair efforts.

 

The Damage:



Trevor and Mark assessing the damage just seconds after the roll-over.  At first
glance, it doesn't look that bad and we think we can press on once we replace the
right side tires and wheels.  We soon see that the damage is more severe and our
race is over......

 



The Transmission mounts have failed and the engine/trans have been pushed
up into the rear cage area, breaking off the transaxle nose piece.

 



Failed right rear transaxle mount (left side looks the same but worse)

 



Broken Transaxle nose piece - without this, we can't get the car in any
gear and our race is over......

 



Right side tires and wheels - we couldn't get the rear wheel off the car because it had "folded"
over itself, covering one lug nut.....  We had to use a pry bar to get a crescent wrench on the nut.

 



The front suspension beam is bent back on the right side, leaving us with no suspension travel
on the right side and no ability to turn right (tie rod hitting the battery mount).  We would have
had to make only left turns; that would have been interesting on the back side of the summit....
To make things even more interesting, the torsion packs inside the beam actually hold the front
wheel assemblies on the car.  With the beam bent back like this, the torsion packs would fail in a
very short distance, allowing the right front wheel to go it's own way....... 

 



The driver's side roof and door damage

 



After towing the car back to our hotel.  The body damage was not a factor in our decision
to end the race - the major structural and functional issues made the decision for us.


The Damage
The Repairs Begin
Damaged Roof Removal 1
Damaged Roof Removal 2
Engine/Transaxle Mount Repairs
Installing the New Roof
Repairing the Bumpers
On the Wheels Again
Body Work and Paint

 

HOME