Ouch. It looks like the tube axle snapped near the radius rod brackets. I wonder if the loose wheel and tire did the damage to the headlight and valve cover.
Double ouch!! I've never seen a valve cover broken like that, must have been a direct hit like you said.
I saw this one on a forum recently. A girl borrowed her roomates T bucket and after getting gas nailed it and hit some parked cars. Axle in that one snapped too.
I have seen I beam axles bent back almost in half, and they never snapped like that. Don't know if the chroming caused hydrogen embrittlement that weakened it or what.
I have seen I beam axles bent back almost in half, and they never snapped like that. Don't know if the chroming caused hydrogen embrittlement that weakened it or what.
I can't remember where, but I read a big tech article on chroming suspension parts a few yrs ago. Their premise was to dispell the myth of weakening due to the chroming process. Now I can't quote anything specific anymore from the article, (the memory always goes first. lol ) but they made a very good case for it not being an issue. They literally went through all the chemical processes involved. I think is was in Hot Rod magazine.
As far as a solid verses a tube axle, the solid will always tend to bend before it will break. A tube axle has two stressed surfaces. An inner and and outter that when bent act against each other, and in the end will break. This is because the tube is in effect stronger but less flexable. A tube tends to resist flexing where a solid acts as a single unit and can pass the stresses more evenly resulting in the ability to bend without breaking. You can test this for yourself. Take a piece of electrical conduit 1/2" od. and a half inch rod. Put the rod in a vise and bend it towards yourself. It will take and nice even bend but not break. Now do the same with the conduit. as you pull it towards yourself it will start to kink and then fracture at the folded edges.
Interesting Eh!