i feel like i've lost a good friend :(

[KPTHEMP]

Re: i feel like I've lost a good friend

Guys, Monday I drove my XJ to east TN to pick up a diesel dually truck for my uncle, and had planned to flat-tow my jeep back to Hendersonville with a tow bar. I had always just assumed that this was an ok thing to do, as long as the transmission and transfer case were both in neutral. About halfway back, I heard a loud *thump* and pulled over to see what was up. I believe when I hit a bump the T-case slipped from neutral to 4lo, and at 70+ mph spun so fast that it ignited the fluid.
Then i saw smoke. when I crawled under the jeep, my transfer case was on fire! I had a couple of jugs of antifreeze/water, so I did all i could to try to put the fire out with that, to no avail. I got my wife and dog as far from the jeep as I could, and started throwing tools and stuff i wanted to save out of the back hatch. before I could save everything, though, the jeep was fully engulfed, and there was no saving her. I called 911, and asked for a firetruck, and started trying to unhook the towbar from the diesel truck to try to get it away from the fire, too. The smoke and heat were too much for me, though, so I just had to get away and let it go.
As I ran away from the fire, I heard a loud *bang* in front of me(not near the jeep), and my wife screaming. A driver was rubber necking, and bounced off an 18 wheeler and flipped into the median. So I called 911 again, and asked for an ambulance. The passenger in the car was injured, but coherent.

After a few hours of investigation, putting the fire out, and air lifting the passenger of the overturned kia to Vanderbilt, I had my jeep towed on a rollback to a friend's house in shelbyville, and the diesel truck wasn't damaged at all, so I drove it on to my uncle's house in Hendersonville, and borrowed his volvo to get home, wife and dog, and most of my tools safe. The police did not hold me responsible for the overturned car, because he only crashed because his attention strayed when he saw a burning jeep.
I do realize that the loss of my jeep is my own fault, due to ignorance, and being unprepared. If i had had a proper fire extinguisher i could have saved the jeep, and possibly only needed a new transfer case. Instead, I feel like I let a good friend die, and I have to replace more than just my car. I will get another Xj, but if i ever need to flat-tow it for any real distance, I will remove the driveshafts first, and not worry about it.
I'm not looking for anyone to feel sorry for me, just want to give you guys a heads up, and tell you from experience that towing can be very dangerous if you are careless.
Before:

After:

First of all, let me just say that this whole situation has bothered me from the beginning and now this: http://nashville.craigslist.org/cto/3545511818.html ??????


1) Transmission fluid can't be spun so fast in an enclosed case that it ignites or all cars would burst into flames when they punched it from a red light, hit 100 miles per hour, or hit the brakes and locked it up at 70 (however ATF fluid will flash (around 493°F) if it is splashed on extremely hot surface like the manifold, you should have researched that part a little more, before coming up with that BS story)

2) Fires that start under jeeps don't magically skip going around the lowest parts of the doors, however fires that start from the inside of the jeep will burn from the inside out and top down.

3)$200-$300 snorkels don't melt without leaving some evidence behind

4) "I have a 94 jeep Cherokee it was a wheeling rig till it caught fire.

The motor,trans and transfer case are still in jeep.
The trans and tcase are still in good shape and could be pulled and sold for $300

I want $250 for the jeep as is. U haul away.

U pull the parts and scrap the jeep and make good money."

quoted from your CL ad http://nashville.craigslist.org/cto/3545511818.html

now how can the transfer case still be good ?
oh yeah, because the trans and tcase never caught fire

I have nothing against you chief, you did this to yourself, blasting photos all over CL and and crying "i feel like I've lost a good friend " to the community is total BS. If you needed help man up and ask for it, destroying a jeep to get pity from your online family is disgusting.

oh, just incase the CL gets deleted, i took a screen shot

 

[thechief86]

Wow dude. That's a little mean without knowing everything that was going on, but since you don't know what all went down, I'll just tell you what you need to know, and nothing more.

First off, I did not post it in CL. That was done entirely by a buddy of mine that also does not know everything that happened. I gave him what was left of the jeep so he could put the axles and lift under his jeep. That is the end of what he knows, so don't get pissed at
Me when he puts some b.s. on CL. It was also a 90, not a 94, but who cares?

Second, I don't know how you expect a plastic snorkel to stay around when the freaking aluminum intake manifold is melted?

Yesterday I went over and we pulled the suspension and axles out, and while doin so needed to shift the tcase out of 4wd (because it was still locked in) to be able to spin the driveshafts to get the bolts out. I just pointed out to him that it still shifted fairly easily out of 4wd and the shafts spun easily. I never told anybody that it was still good, but hell, it might be.
It was raining and cold so we didn't feel like trying to pull it.
I did not burn my own jeep on purpose. This jeep was my daily driver, and something I was very proud of. It was rough, but it was mine. Now it is too badly damaged to rebuild, so we took what was useful off of it and are getting rid of the rest.

The whole purpose of this thread was not for pity, as I stated to
Begin with. It was to try to tell people to be careful when towing, and go ahead and let
People know why I don't drive a white jeep anymore. I can't afford to burn my car which I only have liability insurance on, just so people I don't know will feel sorry for
Me. That would be retarded. I made mistake, and now I don't have my jeep anymore, end of story. Life is short, don't be a dick.
I don't know what caught fire first, but it was underneath, and the tcase was still in 4lo yesterday when we pulled parts off of it. If you wan to go to shelbyville and do an autopsy, be my guest. There is a police report in whatever county Manchester is in, ( coffee maybe?) with pictures of it on the side of I-24 still attached to my uncle's dually with a tow bar, if you need me to find a copy of that.
No hard feelings either way, man. I'm glad you're back from Hawaii.

 

[bosco01xj]

I've known Eric for years. He would never do anything like that. Eric's jeeps are like his family. What would be the reason for him to burn his own jeep? I'm curious why KP has such an accusation. What's the reasoning behind this KP?

Plus the ad is from Nashville. Eric lives in Kentucky.

 

[Talyn]

Re: i feel like I've lost a good friend

1) Transmission fluid can't be spun so fast in an enclosed case that it ignites or all cars would burst into flames when they punched it from a red light, hit 100 miles per hour, or hit the brakes and locked it up at 70 (however ATF fluid will flash (around 493°F) if it is splashed on extremely hot surface like the manifold, you should have researched that part a little more, before coming up with that BS story)

If it dropped in to 4Low at 70 mph the input shaft to the transfer case (guessing that he has 32" tires w/4.11" gears) would have been spinning @ 8186 rpm. I'm pretty sure that is a bit faster than the bearings were intended to spin. I can understand how a very hot bearing + transmission fluid could cause a fire. Or maybe the case wasn't on fire.. maybe an electrical short cause it. What does it mater? It burnt.

3)$200-$300 snorkels don't melt without leaving some evidence behind

I can see a hole where the snorkel was. Besides that, the pics are a bit small to tell anything other than that from it.

destroying a jeep to get pity from your online family is disgusting.

You know what they say when you ASSume? You fit the first part very well.

 

[KPTHEMP]

nothing in it for me, just making a point, obiviously the transfer case is still good and somebody here is lying or trying to defraud someone on CL and naxja shouldnt be a part of that, both eric and his friend kevin are naxja users and trying to sell a transfer case out of a burned jeep claiming its "still in good shape and could be pulled and sold for $300" and then claiming "my transfer case was on fire!"

this could potentially end up in a naxja members jeep or future members jeep and if hes claiming its still good and is responsible for doing this to his jeep why let his friend try to sell it to the public or one of us? what if you bought that and it set your jeep on fire, then what ? or what if he sells it and it kills someone then what ?

 

[thechief86]

Ok then. I'll tell him not to sell the transfer case with it. Nobody is trying to screw anybody, it's just a case of the seller not knowing what he's selling.

 

[thechief86]

I do think that if the case is still good, though that it would only catch fire if the new owner tried to drive 70 mph in 4lo for an hour or so, lol

 

[bosco01xj]

In any case the buyer should always beware. I'm sure the purchasing party would see the jeep caught on fire and inspect what he is buying. Either way the jeep is out of Eric's hands and it is no longer his responsibility. Kevin own's the jeep and can now do what he wants with it. Let the man sell what he wants. We can't hold everyone's hand. Let others make their own decisions.

 

[bosco01xj]

nothing in it for me, just making a point, obiviously the transfer case is still good and somebody here is lying or trying to defraud someone on CL and naxja shouldnt be a part of that, both eric and his friend kevin are naxja users and trying to sell a transfer case out of a burned jeep claiming its "still in good shape and could be pulled and sold for $300" and then claiming "my transfer case was on fire!"

this could potentially end up in a naxja members jeep or future members jeep and if hes claiming its still good and is responsible for doing this to his jeep why let his friend try to sell it to the public or one of us? what if you bought that and it set your jeep on fire, then what ? or what if he sells it and it kills someone then what ?

I honestly don't know how is involved with the sale. The only way I knew about the ad was from the screen shot that you posted. I didn't see anything in the For Sale forum.

 

[shortxjdoug]

Re: i feel like I've lost a good friend

If it dropped in to 4Low at 70 mph the input shaft to the transfer case (guessing that he has 32" tires w/4.11" gears) would have been spinning @ 8186 rpm. .

not really an out there rpm number....ive felt from the beginning the tcase catching fire wasnt the issue but i dont think he burned it himself...i think sloppy wiring may have been its end


however this thread did become much more entertaining in a matter of minutes :gag:

 

[thechief86]

It could have been a wiring issue. I had the keys in the ignition to unlock the steering column, and the running lights on to make it more visible. Either way, when I pulled the driveshafts out yesterday it was in 4lo.
And no I didn't burn it intentionally. It was my primary vehicle, and I have a 73 Volkswagen as my only other car. I did not gain anything from my jeep being destroyed. I had planned to buy the 2 door I have now before the fire, but it had nothing to do with the fire. In fact, it is a pile of crap compared to my old one. I'm just lucky that it was cheap and runs good.

 

[crimsondragon]

I highly doubt a bump can knock a tcase lever from neutral to 4LO. There is an indent in the guide for a reason so you have to push it to the right and pull up. And they're hard to pull/push half the time. I know my 90 was like that and my 98 is like that too. It's possible you had it initially in 4LO the whole time by mistake.

 

[thechief86]

I've considered that as well. Like I've said, I don't know exactly what caused it all, but I thought that the trans and t-case looked like the first areas to catch fire, when I looked underneath to see where the smoke was coming from. This is not a mistake I'll make twice, I assure you.