Gas tank burst into flames

dieselenthusiast · **Posted:** Thu May 03, 2007 4:34 pm

The purpose of this thread is not to scare anyone, but to make you aware of some concerns.

Posted by: Eric | Jan 18, 2007 6:42:17 AM
My very best friend just lost her beautiful daughter who was killed as a result of an automobile accident on October 31st. She was rear-ended on an interstate when traffic came to a stop. The vehicle she was driving, a Jeep Liberty, burst into flames upon impact. Since her death, we have learned that the fuel tank
and filler neck on the Jeep Liberty (and Jeep Grand Cherokee) was designed and installed in a location (behind the rear bumper) that is susceptible to rupture or puncture in a rear-end collision. When gasoline escapes from
a ruptured or punctured fuel tank, a high risk of fire and explosion exists. Because of this terrible tragedy and tremendous loss of such a
beautiful life, I feel an obligation to warn everyone out there who may own one of these vehicles or who may know someone who does of the potential danger if involved in a rear-end collision when driving these vehicles. There is an article on a web site that verified this and Chrysler has settled cases out of court already for the Jeep Grand Cherokee which is designed exactly the same. You can find it, google Jeep Liberty. further
http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2006 ... ecall.html

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Thu May 03, 2007 5:04 pm

Saw it along time ago... Everyone thought is was a BS post..

Gasoline will always be flammable/explosive..

tommudd · **Posted:** Thu May 03, 2007 5:40 pm

This has been on two or three different sites now for several months I think on one they thought it was a bogus posting??? Not sure,.... but any of them can burn if hit just right and there is a spark.

dirtykj · **Posted:** Thu May 03, 2007 5:44 pm

While I can sympathize with the original poster, if true, there is not much that can be done about this on any vehicle. There will always be a weakness no matter where it is placed.

Some people can't get past the issues that affect them personally and look at the bigger picture.

Sorry.

I'm also a little bit pissed that because some people who have their own agenda to push have affected our son's school attendance planning because of their self-serving lawsuit (is there any other kind?).

carroll952 · **Posted:** Thu May 03, 2007 5:49 pm

dirtykj wrote:

While I can sympathize with the original poster, if true, there is not much that can be done about this on any vehicle. There will always be a weakness no matter where it is placed.

Some people can't get past the issues that affect them personally and look at the bigger picture.

Sorry.

I'm also a little bit pissed that because some people who have their own agenda to push have affected our son's school attendance planning because of their self-serving lawsuit (is there any other kind?).

Yup exactly. Any car, diesel or gas (although diesel is harder to burn) is at risk of catching fire like that, despite the location of the gas tank. Life isn't safe, driving isn't safe. Although I do have to say the term "explosion" is probably mis-used in that statement. Cars really don't explode like they do in movies, if true the poster probably meant that the car burst into flames quickly.

Justin

skywarn · **Posted:** Thu May 03, 2007 5:54 pm

Ill take it with a grain of salt...

even on www.snopes.com they say "anytime its 3rd person... its prob fake"

see...
my(thats one) bestfriends (thats two) daughter (thats three)

myjeepwalks · **Posted:** Thu May 03, 2007 6:03 pm

It could happen in any vehicle, unfortunatley in this instance it was in a liberty. Now they have to trash talk the liberty because this person claims it "explodes" in accidents. WTF is wrong with these people. Anybody with any common sense would know it is impossible for a vehicle to explode on impact. I feel sorry for the family it happend to but then again i dont, they sue for millions of dollars and then everything is fine? Just a bit greedy and selfish if you ask me.

Skyjump136 · **Joined:** Tue Jul 05, 2005 6:50 pm **Posts:** 1633

To be honest I've seen some pretty horrific pictures of KJs that have been rear ended and they all fair very well compared to the car that hits them. Just my .02

If you don't feel safe then add a gas tank skid and a RL rear bumper. :twisted:

Jeep4me99 · **Posted:** Thu May 03, 2007 7:14 pm

I'm big into research stuff, one of the shows i absolutely love is "MythBusters" on the discovery channel. They had an episode about cars getting shot in the gas tank like in the movies. They fired rounds from various different guns into the gas tank of a car and there was no explosion. While this test wasn't performed as in a rear impact wcollison while the vehicle was running, who knows if it is true or not. Most of the components of the gas tank and filler system are plastic. There could be something metal that caused a spark and ignited the gas, but it may be a 1 in 1,000,000 shot.

If this is a true story, my sympathies go out to the family and friends of that person. It is a horrible way to go at such a young age. All we can do is be careful on the roads and watch out not only for ourselves, but all the others and their familes out there.

2006KJSPORT4x4 · **Posted:** Thu May 03, 2007 8:32 pm

there was a picture around here of a Liberty that tumbled quite a few 100 feet off a cliff, sadly killing the female driver, but that didn't even rupture or cause any sort of fire or explosion as one might think it would...

unixxx · **Posted:** Thu May 03, 2007 8:37 pm

My friend's Wrangler caught fire in the engine compartment and, seconds after he got out, burst into flames. The entire vehicle was burnt down to the steel. He never performed a fuel system recall....

carroll952 · **Posted:** Thu May 03, 2007 8:45 pm

The only time I've ever heard of cars bursting into flames routinly within a year are the police Crown Victorias. Mostly it's attributed to the police work, where they have someone pulled over on the side of the road and a motorist hits them at full speed. I belive newer crown vics no longer have the gas tank between the rear bumper and rear axel. I'm also willing to bet that all of these cases were on highways or other high speed roads.

It takes alot for a modern well maintained vehicle to catch on fire from most accidents. Certainly a severe accident can start a fire. You probably have a higher chance of being killed crossing a cross walk than having your car suddenly burst into flames during an accident.

Of course I say that and someone will prove me wrong with some statistics :wink:

The way some people take it like the guy who wrote about the liberty in that blog seem to think that we are all driving something that will burst into flames like that fuel tanker that crashed in oakland last weekend.

Justin

dieselenthusiast · **Posted:** Thu May 03, 2007 8:55 pm

Skyjump136 wrote:

If you don't feel safe then add a gas tank skid and a RL rear bumper. :twisted:

The skid plate and bumper was my thought as well. :wink:

I agree, there are many risks involved in the use of a vehicle. And I would take an educated guess that a vehicle being engulfed in flames after an impact is probably pretty low on the list compared to all the other possibilities. However, I decided to post this concern to make KJ owners more aware. It might help those of us who are trying to convince our wives or husbands that the Gas Tank Skid and Rock Lizards rear bumper are essential to safe Jeeping. :lol:

On the serious side, perhaps the location of the KJ tank is in a more hazardous location compared to other makes and models. Something I felt worth noting and debating.

QuestMan · **Posted:** Thu May 03, 2007 10:22 pm

1st: There ARE some vehicles more prone to bursting into flame. Anyone remember the name, PINTO?

2nd, BECAUSE of the lawsuit arising from that incident, I haven't heard of any widespread issues with that particular type of problem SINCE.

3rd, anyone with a gas tank skid shouldn't have a problem.

Having said that, I HAVE had a Jeep catch on fire, before. I used to own a Postal Jeep, about 8 years ago, and took it camping Near Mackinaw City, MI. It was the last week in October, and there were only a few people left in the park. I spent 5 days, and it turned from rain to snow, the last night. about 7 a.m., one of my tent stakes pulled out, so I scrambled out in the rain/snow, and put the stake back in. About a half hour later, the other side hit me in the face, as I laid in the sleeping bag, huddled against the freezing cold. I got dressed, again, got out, and started the Jeep, so it could warm up, while I broke up camp.

The jeep died, while I was in the midst of wadding up and throwing the tent into the back. I wasn't worried, since it was a 26 year-old jeep (They kind of die, once in a while, when they're that old :lol:

). I finished putting everthing in, and re-started the beast. That's when I noticed smoke, filtering through the hood. I opened the hood, and........

Anyway, I shut it down, then checked again. The starter relay had burned in two.

The worst part was, when the tow-truck driver finally arrived around 12:30, he took one look at me, one look at the jeep, and said, "YOU! AGAIN?!"

gone_jeepin · **Posted:** Thu May 03, 2007 10:43 pm

don't mean to thread jack but do the postal jeeps have 4 wheel drive, its just something i've always wondered

To add to the conversation anyone remember the old mustangs used to have problems bursting into flames from rear end collisions?

QuestMan · **Posted:** Thu May 03, 2007 10:52 pm

Quote:

don't mean to thread jack but do the postal jeeps have 4 wheel drive, its just something i've always wondered

Nope. Not unless you got the articles from 4wd S/U, and did a conversion. BUT, they had pretty good road clearance, EVEN with bad springs. I could crawl under mine, and replace the starter AND the master cylinder without using jacks or ramps. (The master cylinder actually sat UNDER the Postal). I even crawled under the jeep, and wired the muffler pipe together once, during a snowstorm. (And yes: it WAS cold. AND wet

).

P.S. They had an LSD, though which worked great! As long as you had ONE rear wheel on dry pavement..........

Dje Ryu · **Posted:** Thu May 03, 2007 11:33 pm

Anyone worried about the gas tank, look at this: http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=1119624. Now, it's not rear-end but, it is impact to the fuel nozzle (the only metal part that could spark the gas inside the tank, directly; to my knowledge) and good solid impact, from a pretty heavy vehicle, I'd say.

carroll952 · **Posted:** Thu May 03, 2007 11:38 pm

Dje Ryu wrote:

Anyone worried about the gas tank, look at this: http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=1119624. Now, it's not rear-end but, it is impact to the fuel nozzle (the only metal part that could spark the gas inside the tank, directly; to my knowledge) and good solid impact, from a pretty heavy vehicle, I'd say.

Wow, that reminds me when my friend's dad turned infront of a train like that in Zurich with the Mercedes rental van we had. We had less damage, but it was totally cool. I'll have to see if my friend still has pics of it.

Justin

Kniggit · **Posted:** Fri May 04, 2007 12:01 am

If this really did happen sorry to hear it but am I the first one to think Ford Pinto?

K

carroll952 · **Posted:** Fri May 04, 2007 12:07 am

Kniggit wrote:

If this really did happen sorry to hear it but am I the first one to think Ford Pinto?

K

Questman mentioned the Ford Pinto. The thing with the Pinto was there were many major design flaws that Ford even knew about. I don't know the statistics, but it was almost garunteed to burst into flames when rear ended.

Any car can catch on fire.

Justin

Gas tank burst into flames

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