DUKW crashed with a bus

[Boyso]

http://truckyeah.jalopnik.com/four-repo ... 3126628799

darn, so far 4 killed, 12 critical.

[DDTrustee]

I'M HEARING THE VIBES; the force is saying ......"there oughtta be a law.......preventing......." you fill in the dotted areas.
Unfortunate but that's what politicians do....they 'knee jerk'

[Joe Gopan]

The authorities will perform a vehicle autopsy on the DUKW which will reveal anything questionable.

[Boyso]

According to the article's comments, the DUKW swerved into the curb and then swerved the other way and T-boned the bus.

[Boyso]

Apparently a wheel would've come off.

[motto]

It will be very interesting to find out what went wrong. If it was a component failure to do with the front axle there is very little difference between DUKW and CCKW banjo diff apart from the DUKW steering gear being quite a bit heavier. How much anything has been modified is another aspect.
CCKW banjo diff owners as well as those involved with DUKW watch closely. We need to know.

David

[Joe Gopan]

Am sure that all MV owners can learn from this unfortunate event.

[Loganr]

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/critic ... ar-AAeOcAk

[W. Winget]

Sorry to hear about the loss of life and injuries, hope they heal soon and the investigaton finds the suitable solution for prevention of future accidents.

That said, so in the 70+ years of CCKWs and DUKWS driving around, has anyone experienced a catastrophic axle housing failure? (where it narrows to the smaller end diameter)This seems to be where the focus of the investigation is headed, the housing was supposed to have been 'modified' in 2013 and was not, then this (potential) structural failure, likely the housing breaking followed by the shaft giving way and separating from the vehicle with obvious results at the most critical time it could ever happen in the worst 'place' one could imagine short of a cliff road.

So has anyone here modded their CCKW or DUKW or heard of a mod called for on this?

As I have a DUKW pending restoration, I really DO want to know what I can do to make it safer for myself and the passengers involved. The investigation will report on it, and raise other issues of distraction for the operator, road conditions, width, etc., etc. but the failure of a mechanical piece (if it was) is the direct cause of the accident.

Anyone have the moddification instructions?
V/R W Winget

PS: And don't you hate hearing "DUCKBOAT"....ugh. I imagine they think it looks like a DUCK in their minds...

[Joe Gopan]

70 years use and road shock plus the fact that the axle has run submerged take a toll. Could be metal fatigue on the spindle, loose steering arm, upper and lower bearing cap wear and tear, worn out stripped threads, wrong type bolts, loose parts due to lack of PM or a combination of all.
It will all come out during the investigation.

[W. Winget]

So you have a.) never heard of a modification or b.) seen a failure ....

Simple question, and admittedly, you do have every version of the CCKW manual and pubs produced, and the background motorpool training to know the answer....

Is there a Modification Work Order or not?
If so what does it entail?
W. Winget

[Chuck W.]

They are already circling:

"Duck boats are dangerous on the land and on the water. They shouldn't be allowed to be used,"

[W. Winget]

I heard there's a lawsuit against the Boston DUKWs for the barge crash involving one of their trucks. Matters not that it wasn't a WWII DUKW, it was an amphibian, therefore they are the same in the press eyes.

That's why I'd like to hear about any mods before waiting for the "release" of investigation results, I've never heard of the front axle being a weak point...... even without maintenence, or abuse such as logging trucks take, etc. Makes sense though, they redesigned it to be stronger in the M-Series.
V/R W. WInget

[Joe Gopan]

I have witnessed quite a few commercially used CCKW trucks that have had steering knuckle component failures due to rough use, neglect, wrong parts, and lack of maintenance over the years.

[motto]

The front axle on the DUKW does a lot more work than that on the average CCKW ever does. When you take into account that an unladen DUKW weighs about the same as a loaded CCKW and every landing requires the front wheels to drag the vehicle up an incline until the rear wheels get traction (depending on the ramp) the front axle is a focal point for stress problems.
Add to the above that commercial operation will have the vehicle doing this several times a day week in, week out.
Another question relates to operational procedure, at what point is the front axle drive disconnected? Are the vehicles manoeuvred on a hard surface with front axle engaged? From what I have seen of a DUKW tour operation in Australia they weren't fussed about disconnecting when not required.
It all adds up.
I am very keen to know what it was that failed and also what the modification was that should have been incorporated.

David