Evel Knievel Jump - 1974 Mack Dimensions

[Adam Cybanski]

Hello,

I am conducting motorcycle velocity analysis on vintage footage of Evel Knievel's jump in the summer of 1974.  This was just before the Snake River Canyon event, and he jumped 13 Mack trucks at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto.

In order to analyze jump speed and height, I require an accurate estimate of the total distance between the ramps.  This reported distance varies depending on what source you check.  One method of confirming this distance is to take scale 3D models of the Mack trucks, match their positions to the video and measure the total distance.  I am having difficulty identifying the exact model of the trucks from the video, and obtaining associated measurements of width and height.

As all the trucks appear new and there are 13 of them, I assume they are 1974 models.  Would anyone be able to suggest where I might find the dimensions of these trucks?  Your assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Adam

 

Images:

https://ibb.co/j6PwqHC https://ibb.co/92Mbm96 https://ibb.co/51P47Qg https://ibb.co/xYzYnkL https://ibb.co/RDZm0h8

Video:

 

[hatcity]

Quote

 

those are R model MACKS

figger approx. 10 feet mirror to mirror X13-130 feet give or take a few inches

[Vladislav]

Here you can see two pictures. Unfortunately the one showing R600 has some text lines cut off so no width there. The other is for R700 and that type had different hood length and slightly taller. Overall width is almost the same between both of them. Worth to note the dimentions given don't contein mirrors for some reason. So you probably should use 10 feet of width as David pointed out above. Or if you have a good quality photo taken from the front of the trucks you could try to count the actual distance between them parked.

It seems interesting to learn the figures you will get doing the math. I definitely not going to try repeating that jump with my motorbike but the initial ground speed and the ramp angle would feed my couriosity.

Vlad

[Adam Cybanski]

Thank you very much guys.  That really helps!

 

[Adam Cybanski]

I think I got it figured out.  The picture below shows the front tires as close together as you can get.  The mirrors might even be overlapped.  Thea vehicle width (OT) from above is 95.4, which is 7.95 feet.  Rounding this off to 8 feet per truck with 13 trucks, the overall distance would be 104 feet.  Wikipedia lists the length of this jump on August 20 1974 as 105 feet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Evel_Knievel_career_jumps. Add six inches each side and they agree.

Does it make sense that the trucks are 8 feet wide, or am I missing something?

 

Thanks

 

 

[j hancock]

37 minutes ago, Adam Cybanski said:

Does it make sense that the trucks are 8 feet wide, or am I missing something?

That is correct.  The trucks are 8' wide not counting the mirrors.

[Vladislav]

2 hours ago, Adam Cybanski said:

Does it make sense that the trucks are 8 feet wide, or am I missing something?

 

The widest point of the most any truck is outer sidewals of rear tyres. Bodies installed later could be a bit wider but in most cases they don't get outer much.