1979 Jeep Wagoneer | Frontal Crash Test by NHTSA | CrashNet1 79 Wagoneer

[mdcptman]

Very interesting!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2KEB-S6_EA

[Mike D]

ouch .. took the neck to the steering wheel ....

BTY .. how much weight was in the back of the thing ?

[Heavy_Metal_Thunder_81]

Man, I really wish YouTube worked out here in the middle of the ocean...

[mdcptman]

One of the coolest things about the video is that it gives lingering panoramic views of the engine and underside of the jeep. Might be helpful for those who are restoring and old one....

[8man]

Remind me not to try that in RT! Ouch.

[mdcptman]

I have to remind u!?

[Ristow]

yeah,these things are safe. buy one for your daughter.

[Ghinmi]

I've seen that before, surprised me how much the roof moved forward. And the frame buckling under the front seats. And just think, that was when they were new. Imagine how well they hold up after years of metal fatigue and rust.

[Ristow]

yah,you're fine till you get into the 10's at least.

[bg2pres]

The best part was the preview... Video of an original Wagoneer, close up.

[cherokee83]

I'm not surprised,,in fact I'm happy with out come,,after 20 plus years this wagoneer handle that test like a 5 yr. Old baby,,know keep in mind had that been a 2013,,both passenger and driver would be dead or close to it,,from 1986 and up,,they built cars trucks jeeps to have crush zones,,that give at 5 mph,,just think what will happen if hou run into a building at 40 plus mph you will kill everyone in vehicle with you,,said but true,,more people die in cars trucks jeeps just going 20 mph ,,,crazy

[Ristow]

I'm not surprised,,in fact I'm happy with out come,,after 20 plus years this wagoneer handle that test like a 5 yr. Old baby,,know keep in mind had that been a 2013,,both passenger and driver would be dead or close to it,,from 1986 and up,,they built cars trucks jeeps to have crush zones,,that give at 5 mph,,just think what will happen if hou run into a building at 40 plus mph you will kill everyone in vehicle with you,,said but true,,more people die in cars trucks jeeps just going 20 mph ,,,crazy

you were pretty surprised here.

http://www.ifsja.org/forums/vb/showthread.php?t=163449

you seemed to think these flimsy pos's werethe toughest/safest thing on 4 wheels. the whole car is a crush zone in an FSJ.





furthermore...to suggest newer cars are more dangerous than older cars is ignorant. in this era of instant information it's willful ignorance even. the cabin remains intact on well engineered modern vehicles. the crush zone is outside the cabin. look at the wagoneer's cabin. who'd want to be in that pos during that crash? you?

good grief.

[DanHS]

It is kinda surprising that the frame buckled like that, wonder if it had anything to do with the equipment used to pulley the truck into the wall? Looks like it buckled right behind the boxed section. Also the shoulder belts didn't do a thing, I never messed around with them much but I wonder if they broke inside? The inertia lock is simple and seems to function well, but of course I've never applied that kind of force to one.

Of course there is no crumple zone designed into a Wagoneer, the whole front end is solid boxed frame, if what it hits doesn't give then the first thing to crumple behind the boxed frame is the passenger compartment. It either it goes through what it hits, or it folds up on itself.

On the bright side, in most small collisions that would total today's cars due to their crumple zones, an FSJ wouldn't be totaled. Of course that leaves nothing to absorb the energy of the impact, so you get to absorb a bunch of that energy instead. I'd rather be in an accident in a new truck than in an FSJ. When my GW got hit by a drunk driver while it was parked it took the impact pretty well, his Liberty ran but wasn't readily repairable. The GW only suffered superficial damage. Of course had that occurred with driver and passenger, we would have had quite a bit of whiplash and bashed our heads into the glass and B-pillars. No side curtain air bags, no head rests, hard metal instead of padded plastic. Great safe vehicles until they hit something that isn't smaller than them.

[Ghinmi]

New vehicles are designed to sacrifice themselves to protect the occupants. Old vehicles (our Jeeps included) are death machines in comparison.

Thanks for bringing up that thread, Ristow. I'm still waiting to hear about the secret stock 800 hp pump gas Buick.

[nograin]

Dan has it about right. It really depends on the situation. A stiff vehicle into a fixed object (brick wall) is generally about the worst situation. Energy transfer to occupants is high and it happens in a very short time frame. I say generally because there are a few other situations that are always bad on a crumple zoned or full framed vehicle such as pole, under-ride and over ride.

The up side if you own a stiff vehicle is that running into immovable objects is not particularly common type of accident. However, IIRC its FMVS 208 specification was (and may still be) a test into a wall. 208 was the minimum needed to meet Fed Specs for sale in the US. But even the smaller companies did all they could to make sure the occupants would not be hurt in many other types of accidents besides head on into a wall. At least this was true in the later 80s when automatic belts and airbags were becoming mandatory.