Gladiator Burndown - Anyone We Know?

[Lunentucker]

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[ShadowsPapa]

Sport...........

am I missing something - what's up with the blue behind the grill?
An add-in?

Man, I hate to see that sort of thing - hate it. What the heck happened?!?
Fire looks to be in the center area, cabin on back.

 

[Lunentucker]

Sport...........

am I missing something - what's up with the blue behind the grill?
An add-in?

Man, I hate to see that sort of thing - hate it. What the heck happened?!?
Fire looks to be in the center area, cabin on back.

Yeah. Probably one of those screens with some design on it.
It seems to be overheating.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

It seems to be overheating.

Ya think????????

Doubtful it started in the engine bay - but then I'm not a fire investigator. Just seems that's the one cool spot at this point considering the grill is not metal, and that vinyl add-in behind the grill appear intact.

 

[Free2roam]

I was wondering how long those hazard lights were going to keep going

 

[Lunentucker]

Easy enough to find the source.
She says it started in the bed area.
Good eye, SP!

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I was wondering how long those hazard lights were going to keep going

The only Jeep where the batteries outlasted the Jeep?
Interesting as isn't the BCM which controls lighting in the right rear of the cabin area?

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Easy enough to find the source.
She says it started in the bed area.
Good eye, SP!

So towing with an MT and this? Wow.
She seemed to imply that she didn't get the work done (GRANTED, the 2 prior recalls didn't actually fix anything, but just the way it's said - sounds like she didn't do anything about it.

That is sad.

 

[Barnaby’sdad]

Easy enough to find the source.
She says it started in the bed area.
Good eye, SP!

What does a clutch recall have to do with a fire starting in the bed?

If it had anything to do with that recall, you’d think they would have noticed the fire before it got to the bed.

 

[Mr._Bill]

I believe there have been reports of the clutch coming apart and causing destruction under the truck. Maybe it punctured the fuel tank.

 

[Dust]

Should buff right out!?

 

[Jclow801]

Ahh man.. That is devastating! Would insurance cover the trailer & its contents? Or does it purely depend on your riders?

 

[Mr._Bill]

Ahh man.. That is devastating! Would insurance cover the trailer & its contents? Or does it purely depend on your riders?

It depends on the policy, the company that provides it, and the state it was issued in.

 

[tysongladiator]

The owner posted on Facebook yesterday.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

What does a clutch recall have to do with a fire starting in the bed?

If it had anything to do with that recall, you’d think they would have noticed the fire before it got to the bed.

I wouldn't say it necessarily "started" in the bed, but that area between cab and bed is the hot spot.
It's how fire behaves, and one has to consider flash points of various materials.
Most of my life I've lived where burning stuff was totally legal and an accepted way of getting rid of stuff. I've burned everything from car parts to trees, plywood, other misc lumber, shingles, carpet, siding and more. Fire is almost alive at times. It seeks oxygen and higher levels. If the fire started below - hot clutch, hydraulic fluids and transmission gear lube, you've got heat and fuel. There's a lot of "plastics" down there as well in the covering of wires and so on, and there's the fuel tank. So the fire, just for sake of argument, starts with the clutch and transmission - there's a gap between the bed and cab where it can climb. There are rubber seals there, the flames lick that rear glass. The fire below burns whatever it can, melting the floor plugs on each side just at the front of the rear seats - now it's in the back of the cabin. The fuel tank lets go, filler neck will easily submit.
The heat of that fire against the metal floor heats up the interior carpet and mats and they reach flash point and burn - even if the flame doesn't directly touch them, but it may by going through those now melted floor plugs and holes where harnesses enter and exit the cabin area. The interior could ignite due to heat/flash point, or direct contact with flames by the fire burning through the floor plugs, drains, grommets. It's going to melt aluminum and zinc so those metals won't stand in the way of fire spreading.
If the transmission ruptured and they were still moving, there's a trail of fluid on the ground under the truck, and possible along the bottom of the floor of the truck.
I can imagine is spread really fast under the right conditions, based on what I've observed burning stuff in my own burn pits and burn piles - and tossing a sheet of plywood on top. Man, you speed that flame travel like crazy forcing it through smaller openings. It's like it accelerates and it creates its own local winds. I bet flame literally shot up between bed and cab like a torch.
We don't know what happened to the transfer case and driveshafts when the clutch let loose - IF, assuming, that's what happened.
And imagine - a manual sport hauling that trailer- likely more than enough to make that clutch hot. We don't know what was in the bed or the trailer, or how much that trailer weighed.
Manual transmission limited to 4,000 pounds. And what was the frontal area........
I suspect the trailer was where she did grooming if she was a dog groomer? The bed and trailer loaded with grooming gear?

An accident waiting to happen. Still sad to see, but easily explained and not unexpected.
Sorry for her and the loss of her stuff - for sure.
But........ her comments on the clutch recall almost imply that she did nothing about even the first two recall notices (I know, I know - that didn't FIX it, but could have reduced the chances since it would derate a bit under load and heat)

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