Comments on: Episode 119: Exploding Bumper

By: TJ

TJ — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 13:09:20 +0000

On the exploding bumper. There was one method people forgot to check.

Take one of the old ships that used boilers. When a boiler hits water it explodes. The shock on a bumper is the same thing, a mini boiler.

The firefighter started at the wheels and moved forward in front of the car. Whichever angle allowed the cold water from the fire hose to hit the bumper shocks is what does it. The cold water hits the shock, much like a boiler in a ship when it goes down. The result, depending on how long the fire is going, most likely is what triggers the explosion.

The question then comes down to physics. How long is the car on fire, the materials involved, the temperature of the water and also the normal temp. If one takes in all of the variables, the water hitting the bumper shocks at the right moment, I would almost guarantee they would blow up with enough force to do the damage.

It may not happen every time, but yes, this is far from busted and extremely plausible. I would not call it confirmed but it can most definitely happen. It may be rare to hit all of the components into one explosive decompression, but try it 50 times and I will bet you 20 blow.

By: MSpears

MSpears — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 16:16:44 +0000

The myth was busted because it specifically states that the bumper flew FIFTY feet. When it happened to that firefighter, it only flew FIFTEEN feet.

Simply put, they could not confirm the myth because, by duplicating the conditions of the myth, they were not able to duplicate the results.

By: Hosehund

Hosehund — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 01:52:34 +0000

With TV and everything else that is out there, many false claimes are made like exploding gas tanks and high velocity flying bumpers.

With the possibility of this actually happening is minimal. If you look at the ones that would explode, they would have past light collisions and corrosion from age. These would add to the likelyhood of increased pressures to to the bumper cylinders, but the bumper still would not fire off as one unit.

By: Dead Eye

Dead Eye — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 09:52:13 +0000

Thank you buster, again argument ignoreing the myth, the myth was not will a bumper fly off in a car fire. We know that happens, it was it can fly fifty feet, no it could not. Myth busted. I swear I read all these comments people post, your like the guys who would argue with your math teacher in school how your answer was right because all the work was correct, but the question was what is two plus two, and you answered whats the square root of fifty seven. As a volunteer fire fighter we are trained not to stand in front of the bumper because they can, but not likely explode in a car fire. The guys proved that to, they can but not likely explode in a car fire the myth was the whole, whole! bumper can fly off, and travel fifty feet. The fire fighter who was hit buy the peice of the bumper was hit by just that a peice. Saying that a fire would cause two seperate peices of somethign to fail, at exactly the same time is completely illogical, She was hit by a peice of the bumper that had melted through the center during the fire, they showed that in the episode. The myth was, can the whole bumper fly off, and travel fifty feet. The answer is no, two explosions happening is unlikely, happening at the same time, is even less likely, happening at exactly the same time is near impossible, and they still does not change the fact the bumper still could not fly fifty feet. Myth busted, they answered the myth, you guys are all hung up on the bumper fly off part, that wasn’t the myth.

By: Buster

Buster — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 09:28:12 +0000

The myth is that the bumper flew 50 feet, it won’t. Not to mention that the probability of this happening is so astronomically small it is negligible. It’s busted.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 23:59:44 +0000

As a fire dept. training instructor captain, I train our dept to be aware and avoid these area’s of the vehicle during a fire. Although I personally have never experienced this, I have seen several training video’s and pictures of bumper, hood and hatch shocks taking flight during vehicle fires. Just a comment!!! In my opinion-you were at the wrong place at the wrong time. You have real life proof that this does happen. Just because the distance didn’t meet your criteria, it doesn’t mean that it can’t happen.

By: Bill

Bill — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 01:24:00 +0000

By increasing the velocity of the arrow, you double it Ke. Two things. 1.The standing archer shot normal to the target, the horseman shot at an angle resulting in the arrow trying to penetrate the target with a side force component. Friction is the big problem as it is not linear for a cylindrical shaft into the foam. This can be demenstrated by driving a tube into the ground with a constant force, it will eventually stop. Mu of the foam would also be much higher than that of a human body which would change the entire outcome of the test. I think that the test should be run again with human bodies, any takers?

By: Michael

Michael — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 04:07:36 +0000

just was the episode and the comments of the firefighter. when she put the water in the right side and stop because of the tire she move around to the front side. the fire was the beginning source but the steam from the water is what set off the cylander. that why all the exmaples failed do to continous fire burning when steam heats just short of pinateration. i believe this be the cuase. thank you for your time.

By: Karen

Karen — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 07:57:36 +0000

I was just watching this episode and realized that most car fires are due to an accident so use a perfectly good bumper and not a damaged one would create a different result. If there is no damage to the bumper then the safety mechanisms would work but may not work properly if damaged. so i agree it should have been plausible not busted

By: Dragonfyre

Dragonfyre — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 19:45:22 +0000

Busting it was probably premature…plausible, but highly unlikely has been used before…the situation for this one, however, was incredibly slim…almost no chance, since the bumpers are designed not to fail.