Scary near-miss this past Sunday with the Hahn

[1958 F.W.D.]

(I posted this on my fazebook and figured I'd re-post here as well.....) 

Wanted to relay something that happened this past Sunday to all my truck and firetruck buddies. 

I was driving the 1978 Hahn (privately owned by my father and our family) truck has a 671T Detroit and an Allison HT740D automatic transmission. We were headed south on Route 130 in Pennsauken and going to the CLAFAA muster at Cooper River Park. JoJo was in her car seat, belted in and Cody and Casey were belted in (all in the cab.) Weather was clear, sunny and hot. Time was about 9:45am and traffic was moderate for a Sunday morning on Route 130. It should be noted that the water tank was empty and aside from 1200' of LDH, there was minimal amounts of misc equipment and tools on board.

I was in the right-hand lane. We had just accelerated from a full stop at a traffic light, and had gone maybe 1/4 of a mile. I estimate my road speed to have been 40-45mph. A work-type van came up on my left side (middle lane) which I did see in the mirror. I noted it as he was trucking along at a pretty good clip. He gets in front of me, and swerves right into my lane and applies his brakes to make a right-hand turn.

I immediately stomped on the brake and did so, so hard that the engine stalled. Yes, the engine stalled. Never had that happen before. As this happens, the ass end of the truck fishtails into the center lane. So I am steering left into the fishtail (as we all do when we fishtail in the snow) when I figure out "oh darn, I lost the power steering, why?.....(except I didn't say "darn...") thats when I figured out the engine had stalled. So with one hand on the wheel holding it into a left steer, I used my right hand to drop the transmission into neutral, then back onto the wheel and left hand onto the starter button. Once the engine had lit back off, I of course had steering control and gently accellerated was able to recover quickly. I got the truck back into the right hand lane and recovered my self. My blood pressure lowered back down 3 hours later and I think my bunghole pucker opened up later that night. The brand new steer tires now have an inch of tread missing in one spot.

I was just out on a Sunday drive in a privately owned antique rig with no water or equipment. What would the outcome have been if I had a full load of water and hose? Would the truck have rolled? Should it have rolled being as light as it was? What if I didnt think to steer into the fishtail? What would have happened if it were an in-service piece of apparatus and I was driving to a run?

Moral of the story: I credit a few years of driving rigs, coupled with knowing my equipment (I was able to use the "detent gates" on the transmission shift to drop it into neutral without looking and also knew where to look for the starter button on the dash.....all while working to recover the rig in a rapid deceleration situation on a major highway. Instinct kicked in and I knew to steer into the fishtail and also to gently accelerate once I had the engine back up.

Know your shit people. Know your dash boards, control panels and buttons and try to be able to manipulate them blindfolded. Be cognizant of your surroundings at all times. I kick myself in the ass for not paying more close attention to the asshole- I did see him in the mirror coming up along side of me at a good clip but I figured he was just in a hurry to get down the road.

[Gmerrill0516]

Glad to see you held it all together when the going got tough.  Glad you got belts for everyone in the cab.  I bought a set for the LS85 and before it hits the road, they will be bolted into the cab.  IT sucks she stalled like that.  That's one reason I don't like automatics but there are tons of them on the road and the stall is unusual as you stated.  Good points on knowing your equipment.  Glad you got through it without any major damage...hope the tires are serviceable...those aren't free these days.

 

Best of luck moving forward.

 

Grg

[1958 F.W.D.]

1 hour ago, Gmerrill0516 said:

Glad to see you held it all together when the going got tough.  Glad you got belts for everyone in the cab.  I bought a set for the LS85 and before it hits the road, they will be bolted into the cab.  IT sucks she stalled like that.  That's one reason I don't like automatics but there are tons of them on the road and the stall is unusual as you stated.  Good points on knowing your equipment.  Glad you got through it without any major damage...hope the tires are serviceable...those aren't free these days.

 

Best of luck moving forward.

 

Grg

Belts were factory original. Yup, never stalled a big automatic like that before. Drives are brand new re-caps and had less than 200 miles on them. Was joking about the one inch thing....But when we went home I made it a point to look for the skid marks and I would not be surprised if there WAS an inch missing. 

And I have to wonder- if I hadn't steered into the fishtail, would I have rolled that truck? 

[HeavyGunner]

Glad you're ok. At least the only major damage was tires. 

[gearhead204]

glad to hear all are ok, I probably would of had a Hahn /van combo and had my foot buried in the throttle screaming you dumb son a bitch wanna try that again?

 

[Mike]

Now my Blood Pressure is up. I would have had to follow them somehow and stopped them.

[hatcity]

• JoJo said   "Do it again Dada"

[mowerman]

thats messed up man,,,,glad your all safe....too bad about the rubber...bob

[yarnall]

Wow.  That sucks.  Glad you pulled it off.  Hope I am never in the same situation.  

[Vladislav]

Sh*t!

That story sends shivers up and down my spine.

Still wonder how could you start the engine while sliding sidewards along the road.

Too glad to hear the turnout was good.

Edited August 15, 2016 by Vladislav

[BillyT]

1958 FWD,  Saw your original post, didn't know a Hahn was a fire truck! Thought it was a highway in another country (like the Autobahn) lol didn't pay much attention.Wow that's something! In my mind you were acting from instinct and experience.Also common sense with the seat belt thing! The 1st car I drove legally was a 51 Merc coupe,no seat belts. My dad and I got an aftermarket set and installed them. That was 1962. I've been preaching seat belt use ever since! Those children could have been thrown out on busy 130 without them! Unthinkable! I've corrected several jackknifes, that were past the 15degrees that they say is the point of no return,without even thinking about it,you don't have time to think you just react! I had an emergency side glad hand come off with 8000lbs in the trl. On the cross bronx the trl. Was in the other lane before I knew it! I'm glad it turned out well for you and the kids!