Miata Turbo Forum - Boost cars, acquire cats. - Never considered how much damage a tow hook can cause

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- - Never considered how much damage a tow hook can cause (https://www.miataturbo.net/race-prep-75/never-considered-how-much-damage-tow-hook-can-cause-55962/)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joe Perez (Post 696347)

Comments not appearing when the video is viewed as an embed into the forum thread fail, I guess.

Oil on the track makes a lot of sense. Damned odd that I couldn't tell any change in the sound coming from the engine.

I watched it a few times to try and diagnose why he spun. Then my detective skills lead me to check the actual comments, I figured the guy must have had some sort of description when posting a video like that.

I agree with you on the engine part, there are zero signs of any problems before the spin.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kenzo42 (Post 695908)

Tow hooks...good or bad?

Tow hooks: Required

Listen at 2:37. You hear a small pop-click as he is passing the Porsche. I expect that is when the failure happened...

Failure at the oil filter caused the accident.

Quote:

*UPDATE*

I started tearing the car down today.The culprit for the oil?The oil filter gasket. For shits and giggles, I tried to start the car when unloading it.It started right up,but was puking oil, so I killed it. The puddle of oil was right below the filter,so I grabbed it and was able to turn it about a half turn. I spun it back off, and the gasket was almost doubled over on itself. I'm not sure if maybe I didn't put enough oil on the gasket and maybe it "grabbed" the block when I installed it,stretching the gasket. Maybe that led to it eventually blowing out that section?I'm very ---- about the prep of the car,and I installed this filter the day before the event(last sunday), and I distinctly remember tightening it correctly. There was still almost one quart of oil left in the pan,so I dumped over 4.5 quarts on the track.The coolant I'd seen was from a hose that got pinched and busted from the impact.

I know this was a freak deal,but I'm still going to start safety wiring the filter.
Oil filter(gasket has returned to it's normal position:

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...n/DSC04274.jpg

car doesn't look that bad:

Attachment 190483

Doesn't look like anything under the body work got damaged. Just fenders, bumper, windshield, and remove the air bags.

How do you safety wire an oil filter? I don't think anyone does that. I'd first investigate installation procedure and the quality of my filter.

Quote:

Originally Posted by curly (Post 700203)

http://www.knfilters.com/oilfilter.htm

Quote:

Originally Posted by curly (Post 700203)

How do you safety wire an oil filter? I don't think anyone does that. I'd first investigate installation procedure and the quality of my filter.

Only done it on motorcycles. We are required to put a large hose clamp on the filter then wire the hose clamp to a nearby location on the motor.

I realize this is a bit old, but on the odd chance the tow hook helped with the damage (I doubt it, honestly), just another good reason to use a soft tow strap instead of the hard tow hook.

+1 for the soft tow straps. Easier to make them work for a custom setup if you don't have the typical mounting points too.
I doubt the hook had any major role in the amount of damage. The guy hit a barrier at like 90 mph. The cause of the damage is not a mystery.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThePass (Post 727913)

+2 for tow straps (front+rear). Saves weight too.
My engine builder safety wires my oil filter every time using a hose clamp + safety wire.