Parachute back up mount for dragster

Here is a simple back up system for a secondary parachute mount for a dragster. Go to your local hardware store and get about 4 feet of 3/16 or 1/4 inch cable and 4 cable clamps and either some short piece of rubber hose or some shrink tubing. On the very back bottom tube toward the out side put the end of the cable around the frame with a piece of hose over it to keep the cable from wearing on the tube. Put two clamps on it and keep the loop over the frame as tight as possible so it does not flop around. Next run the cable through the back side of the eyelets on the chutes and back up to the outside of the rear most bottom tube on the other side and do the same. than take some plastic ties if you like and tie the cable to any tube or the parachute brackets themselfs as to get the cable to lay right where you want it, keep as much slack as possible out of the cable so it does not flop around or hit the tires. If installed properly this is a very inexpensive way to have a foolproof backup system that everyone can afford and have installed before your next race. Just my two cents worth if anyone is interested Richard Putz Phone 563-875-7528 or shirleyputz@yahoo.com

 

Richard, we have disigned a secondary parachute system and it will be on 2 cars now at the Sonoma division race. I think you need to keep steel cables away from nylon shroud lines and attachment points. I will have more information on monday.

Dennis Taylor

 

A good piece of information that pertains to this subject from another board. Although the started topic on the other board is not the same. The current topic here is an extension of the other topics.


"""It comes as no surprise to me that this "Chute Anchor Bolt Size" would become a busy subject this week after Niver's accdent. This stuff has been grinding on me all week and here's a slice of what I've come up with.



There is a unique set of cercumstances behind each and every one of these accidents. Change just one of them and you have a completely different outcome. Mark Niver's case was very similar to Alex DeJoria's with one critical difference. The Funny Car she was driving had the engine in front, which prevented the torn up Chassis from coming in contact with the driver. Both were a result of a Chute Anchor Mount failure, and although I don't know for sure, Marks may have also suffered from a loss of brakes due to the same gaping hole in the Rear End Housing.



I've been wondering what could be the one thing you could have changed to either of these cases that would have prevented it from happening in the first place? There is a simple maintainence procedure that not everybody does.

WASH YOUR PARACHUTES !!!

The Parachutes on a Drag Car are a living breathing part of it. Clog up all its pours with dirt and oil and it becomes this Snarling Beast that tares itself to pieces or rips apart what ever its attached to!

You can beef up the brackets and add bigger bolts, but you're just putting a Band-Aid on the problem the way I see it.

Watch the Pro's this weekend and you'll see what I mean. Since they've gone to using those Yellow Kevlar Chutes, its easy to pick out who doesn't keep after this. Robert Heigth is one that comes to mind. They run that thing on Moulton Aluminum just about every run! All that Piston Smoke out of the Pipes is Clouds of Oil getting scooped up by the Chutes. I've noticed his are the dirtiest and blow out more panels than the others.

Sometimes its the little things that get overlooked.

~Dave Tuttle~
"""

 

Rich good thinking and they also make a thick plastic covered cable..also if the would someway sew in another stroud loop for a back up!!! just a thought..Dave

 

I posted this on another site but did not get a response.

Back in the 60's, I remember a strap that was nomex covered and wrapped around the rear-end/chassis and that is what the parachute main loop would be connected to.

My thought of the strap would as backup for the tabs.

Any thoughts?

Note: this is similar to Richards cable system but this was from the same material as the chute main lines.

 

Paul; please refer to post #40 in "rule change" thread.

Richard; diameter of steel cable is my concern. Too small, and may become a cutting devise through the end loop, garden hose or not. A strap even rolled up will provide more diameter area, so as not to shear the loop.

Dennis is working on this, doing values of the available hardware so a shear load can be determined.

 

Dirty Laundry Responce?

Chi-Town Joe,
Thanks for moving that message I posted over to this board. I hoped it would get people thinking in a different direction. Sometimes we keep making things stronger because they break, instead of stepping back for another look and fixing what's causing it to break in the first place.

I'd like to find out what Meyer and Taylor think?

~Dave Tuttle~

 

If the clamps are put on wrong they won't hold. Just my thoughts

 

using rigging web slings would work well and be easy and cheap. Have a sling that wraps around the rear end and connects to the chute with a shackle. One sling and one shackle per chute. 12000+ load rating on the sling, 7100+ on the shackle, <$100 total for both chutes


http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/items/2MJZ3?Pid=search

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/wwg/search.shtml?searchQuery=2mwt3&op=search&Ntt=2mwt3&N=0&sst=All


side note- why don't they just angle the nets so that they're not perpendicular to the track? They already have everything there and then it would be really difficult to hit them straight on, so the front end of the car, dragster or not, would be less likely to come back directly into the driver. The car should stop faster if it gets sideways and has more contact with the net. I'm surprised I haven't seen anyone mention this, or maybe I didn't notice

 

Seems like the parachute manufactures could just make them with a secondary loop that could be attached to another spot .... Shane Pearmain. TAD 508