Interesting video about rollovers in extended passenger vans

[macmccune]

[video=youtube]

Scary to think about how these vans handle when emergency situations arise, and how high the center of gravity is.
The suspension upgrade suggested in the video is about $400, are there better suspension upgrades available around that price range?

 

[user 423]

That's a pretty extreme test with 2100 lbs. of 'passengers' sitting up high in the van. They do get rolled though but it's from driver error. A typical Class B motorhome would have a much lower center of gravity with tanks,generators,batteries,etc. mounted low. The danger of rollover isn't that great unless you're doing something really silly at the wheel.
That system only adds 2 small coil springs to counter the effects of over 6500 lbs. and might make a little difference but it's debatable how effective it would be.

 

[GotSmart]

Obvious lesson. Do not do a fishhook maneuver with large water balloons placed high in your seats.

I am placing the majority of my weight at floor level or below. I am now worried about my spare hanging off the back door.

 

[Van-Tramp]

The video shows indicative behavior for ANY vehicle with leaf-spring rear suspension. Vans, trucks, SUVs, and many modern cars still use leaf-spring rear suspension developed in the times of horse drawn wagons. Amazingly, even the modern Corvette still uses leaf-springs (!) although a little more tricked out then your average leaf-spring setups.

My advice: Take that $400 and go to your local racetrack and take a weekend course on defensive/survival driving. Not only will you be safer in your 15-passenger van, you will be safer in ALL your cars.

If you want to spend money on the van, proper shocks, tire pressures, and a leaf-spring helper kit will do the same thing as the item marketed in this video. While you do not NEED this item in the video, if you have the extra money it will help.

 

[sephson]

The video is a bit misleading as to how dangerous large, 15 passenger vans really are.

Here's a link to a PDF document from the NHTSA showing safety statistics of various vehicles from 1997-2004:

http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/809979.pdf

Large vans have a fatality rate of 9.34 per 100,000 registered vehicles of a given type for this time period, giving them the lowest fatality rate of all the listed vehicle types.

For rollover crashes, they have a fatality rate of 4.04 per 100,000 registered vehicles of a given type fro the same time period. This puts them in the middle of the pack, safer than compact cars, standard pickups, compact pickups, full-size SUV's and mid-size SUV's, but more dangerous than sub-compact cars, mini-vans, mid-size cars and full-size cars.

This NHTSA PDF document analyzing crashes of 15 passenger vans from 1990-2002 shows in a table on page 12 that 75.6% of the people killed in crashes were not wearing seat belts.

http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/809735.pdf

In short, these people did not die because they were in unsafe vehicles but because they failed to use the proper safety restraints while traveling in that vehicle.

 

[flying kurbmaster]

I am a little surprised that you can get two wheels off the ground at 21 mph. doesn't seem very fast.

 

[VanLifeCrisis]

This reminfds me i need new shocks...after new tires. And then body work. Sigh....im not saving up much since moving into this van lol

 

[freenez2]

Opinions about this?

http://www.strutmasters.com/E-250-Van-Roadmaster-Easy-Fit-Kit-p/rm-3612-02.htm

 

[MrNoodly]

They're trying to sell something, so, naturally, they're totally unbiased and aren't exaggerating in the least, right?

What I think is much higher priority is the best brakes possible and tires in excellent condition. There have been several times I've needed to stop suddenly, but no times I've needed to swerve violently.

 

[Van-Tramp]

I agree with MrNoodly.

In fact, no matter what I was going to hit I would not swerve. We are all much safer taking a straight-on front hit then to try to swerve and roll the thing.

I have had two occasions in which I had to make that choice;
#1 - Woman in front of me slammed on the brakes to avoid running over a pair of prairie dogs (!!!!). Not only did I almost kill her (I did not swerve, she did when she saw me coming) I *did* wipe out both prairie dogs. She probably still doesnt realize that SHE was the one a risk of losing her life, not me.
#2 - Full grown momma elk stepped onto the Interstate in front of me. I was towing a trailer, so slamming on the brakes wasnt an option either. I slowed as best I could, steering gently to her rump, but she stepped our of the way with only feet to spare.

In both cases I cold have swerved to avoid but in both cases I would have been at much more risk of a harder crash if I had. As I said back in post #4, take the money and go to a defensive driving course. You learn to think these things thru in the split second you have, instead of panic braking or swerving. I have gone through numerous defensive driving and auto-racing classes and they have saved my life a few times. Worth every penny and they are fun!