What gets inspected at your club's safety inspection?

[Neil Mylar LakewoodCA]

Many Model A club's have a yearly safety inspection day where members can bring their A's to be checked out.

Does anyone have a list of what things are inspected?

Thank you.

[redmodelt]

For our Model T club we stopped doing club inspections. If something broke and there was an accident and the club had done an inspection and missed it, the club could be at fault. Members are responsible for their cars. There are only three things that are really required for a car to be in a tour; safety glass, insurance and fire extinguisher. Doing your own inspection and knowing your car is ready to tour is still highly suggested.

That does not mean that if there is a glaring problem it will not get pointed out.


I did a google search, could find a lot of samples for Model T but not A. The national A clubs I think have a check list. You might check there if no one post a sample. Most of it is common sense. Brakes, cotter pins, wear.

[Y-Blockhead]

Neil, I see you are a dues paying member of the Harbor Area Model A Club. Have you contacted our Tech Director? We have a Safety Inspection every year around April.

[jquinlan]

I think this is a great event for a club and you should search youtube for Jack Bahm's video of Oakleaf's yearly safety check. Jack's also a member of this forum and may chime in.

Another good resource is check out the Diablo A's video series which some of the Model A parts place sell. They have a video called "Annual Tour Preparation [54 minutes] DVD" https://www.diabloas.com/. There's a lot of things many people don't think of that should be periodically checked.

I'm hoping to set something like that up in our area some day.

[Mike V. Florida]

We have tuneups and tube steaks. A BBQ when we address follow members concerns and problems. Are you guys not afraid of giving "safety inspections" due to liability? Driver comes and gets your inspection a few miles later the rear wheel falls off due to bad axle and he sues the club for his injuries because "you said it was safe". Just saying.

[Forddan]

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Originally Posted by Mike V. Florida

We have tuneups and tube steaks. A BBQ when we address follow members concerns and problems. Are you guys not afraid of giving "safety inspections" due to liability? Driver comes and gets your inspection a few miles later the rear wheel falls off due to bad axle and he sues the club for his injuries because "you said it was safe". Just saying.

No one can predict what will break. The inspection is just a look of the important basics at " that point of time ". What happens later is the unpredictable future.

I was with my mechanic solving some distributor problems. We drove the car and tested the basics, like, brakes. I left the shop and went to drive the car in an empty parking lot to test how the distributor was working. When suddenly my brake pedal went all to the bottom and car didn't stop. Fortunately, parking lot was empty, I was going very slow and the car stop by itself.

Call the mechanic and he drove to were I was. The hair pin broke and pedal went all to the bottom.

Question: Do I have to sue the shop because 10 minutes before, when checking brakes, he said all was OK ?

How can you predict the pin will break a few minutes later and I will lose control of my brakes pedal?

I think we take all to the extreme.

My club "Clinic day" helps a lots. Identify basic issues or potential issues that you need to pay attention. And is a day for fun and learning.

Cheers

[Roger V]

Originally Posted by Forddan

No one can predict what will break. The inspection is just a look of the important basics at " that point of time ". What happens later is the unpredictable future.

I was with my mechanic solving some distributor problems. We drove the car and tested the basics, like, brakes. I left the shop and went to drive the car in an empty parking lot to test how the distributor was working. When suddenly my brake pedal went all to the bottom and car didn't stop. Fortunately, parking lot was empty, I was going very slow and the car stop by itself.

Call the mechanic and he drove to were I was. The hair pin broke and pedal went all to the bottom.

Question: Do I have to sue the shop because 10 minutes before, when checking brakes, he said all was OK ?

How can you predict the pin will break a few minutes later and I will lose control of my brakes pedal?

I think we take all to the extreme.

My club "Clinic day" helps a lots. Identify basic issues or potential issues that you need to pay attention. And is a day for fun and learning.

Cheers

All of what you say is true but doesn't mean that someone won't sue. Using a "hair" pin might have been the problem . BTW, you don't have emergency brakes?

[Forddan]

Originally Posted by Roger V

All of what you say is true but doesn't mean that someone won't sue. Using a "hair" pin might have been the problem . BTW, you don't have emergency brakes?

Yes, I do agree with you, someone can sue. Fortunately in my club we have those "clinic days".

I really do not have any idea what type of pin was installed. I had a hair pin that helped us to solve the problem. Back to the shop the mechanic changed it with a straigh pin (I am not sure if that is the correct way of calling them).

Yes, I do have an emergency brake. There was not need to use it. But I am not sure if that happens again in a busy road I will have the speed or reflexes to use the emergency brake.

Cheers

[noboD]

The person, the one with the broken pin for example, does not have to sue. HIS insurance company will do it for him if they get wind of the car being inspected by someone with $$. Happened to a friend of mine. The family had no thought of suing but the insurance company did it in THEIR best interest. Ruined a relationship that had been between close families.

[Jacksonlll]

This is the form Oakleaf used last summer.
Model A Safety Check List
With car on ground
OK Not Ok
Check pedals, battery, cables and clearance
Check specific gravity
Check steering gear slop and lube
Check all lights and horn
Check tires and pressure and lug nut torque
Check fan blade and belt for cracks, looseness
Check for rust in gas tank
Check for water, fuel, exhaust leaks
Check oil and water level
Visual check of under hood & headlight wiring


WITH CAR ON LIFT OR JACKS

Pitman arm and sector shaft bushings
Draglink and tie rod ends
Check kingpins
Check front wheel bearings
Battery cable clearance
Visual check of under body wiring
Check engine mounts front and side
Check brake rods and cotter pins Check for brake drag
Check rear brake and park brake bushings
Check shocks, springs, shackles
Check exhaust for leaks and security
Check trans and rear axle lube level
Lube tie rods, kingpins, rear axle bearings and rear brake bushings



CAR OWNER WORK PERFORMED

[The Master Cylinder]

So basically what you guys are saying is if a person asks me a question about his brakes (or suspension, or steering, or?) and I tell him it looks OK then he drives down the street and for some reason his brakes (or suspension, or steering, or?) fail he can sue me?? Geez, I guess I better not go to any more meetings, perhaps I should just sell my Model A.

[J Franklin]

Originally Posted by The Master Cylinder

So basically what you guys are saying is if a person asks me a question about his brakes (or suspension, or steering, or?) and I tell him it looks OK then he drives down the street and for some reason his brakes (or suspension, or steering, or?) fail he can sue me??

If you are a mechanic maybe, but if it is your opinion I doubt they would have a claim. You can be sued for sitting on your porch but it won't make it through the court system unless you were out there throwing rocks at people.

[frank55a]

I completely understand the liability concern that several of the previous posts.


A number of years ago I was the Chairman of one of the national clubs judging committees and at the national meets one of the checks we did was a "safety inspection". The clubs BOD told us that for liability reasons we could no longer do a "safety inspection". That did not sit well with our committee since the cars we were judging were primarily drivers and we felt that it was necessary and if they could not pass the check they had no business on the road. The BOD argued that we were not qualified to do a "safety inspection" and the club and insurance company would not allow us to do the "safety inspection". We were at an impasse, until I resolved the problem by simply changing the name to "Functional Check". We did not change any line item just the name of the check. Our argument was that any one can tell if the horn makes noise, a wiper works, the tires are bald, there is to much play in the steering wheel, and etc. By making this simple change it made the concern of both the insurance company and the BOD go away yet it served our purpose.


As to some of the previous posts, a further example. I would not want to be put in a position to say your brakes are safe, however it does not take much to say they function specifically they work.

[J Franklin]

Originally Posted by frank55a

I completely understand the liability concern that several of the previous posts.

As to some of the previous posts, a further example. I would not want to be put in a position to say your brakes are safe, however it does not take much to say they function specifically they work.

Don't ever say anything is safe, but surely say if something is unsafe. Now the ball is back in the owners court.