Have you ever looked at a car part and wondered, “how in the world is that so expensive?” We’ve all been there. Maybe you didn’t even need to buy one, but it’s broken and you were curious how much a replacement would cost. You might have been surprised by the price of a little piece of plastic or metal with intricate moving parts inside.
But what if I told you that these expensive parts aren’t only difficult to make, they’re also dangerous?
Well, it turns out that many car parts are both complicated to make and pose a great risk for serious injury in the event of an accident. Read on as we discuss some of these most dangerous car parts and find out just how they’re made.
One of the most complex and dangerous car parts is a braking system. A car’s braking system comprises several components including brake pads, brake rotors, calipers, and hydraulic lines. All of these work in tandem to bring a vehicle with significant momentum to a safe stop through the application of friction between the brakes and the rotating wheels. But there’s a lot more going on here than meets the eye…
The materials used in a braking system are carefully chosen for their specific characteristics under extreme heat and pressure. Brake pads depend on high temperatures to create frictional energy that will slow down your car as you step on the pedal. They only work at very high temperatures and colder brake pads will damage your rotors. Brake pads must also be rigid enough to bear the weight of your car and provide resistance, but pliable enough not to crack under immense pressure. If you’ve ever watched a NASCAR race then you know that failure of these brakes means more than just an uncomfortable ride for you; it can result in a serious crash or worse.
Complexity Rating: Brakes are one of the most critical systems on any vehicle because they play such a crucial role in keeping drivers safe. They require many components to work together seamlessly so their complexity is rated as high.
- The next dangerous part we’ll discuss is the steering system. This is another component that utilizes a series of links and joints to permit the turning of the front wheels. It’s pretty similar to the drivetrain, but some key differences make it even more dangerous…
- A steering system is highly susceptible to failure in an accident because a bent or broken link can throw your car off balance very easily. The design of power steering systems takes this into account so they have fail-safes to cut out if any problems arise, but older cars with manual steering do not have these backups. In an accident, these temporary patches won’t be able to hold up against the tremendous pressure exerted by your vehicle as it slumps over onto its side or crumples into a ball of twisted steel. This can not only cause driver injury but also set off an airbag which further increases the risk for serious injuries and fatalities.
- Complexity Rating: Power steering systems are highly complex because they require many components to work together in a small space to make turning your car feel effortless. They also have multiple points of failure that increase the danger in an accident scenario. However, manual steering is much less complicated because it lacks these fail-safes and redundancies.
- The fuel system may not seem like it’s very dangerous, but if you’re running on empty then you’re putting yourself at risk…
- To get the most out of your fuel, it’s important to have delivery systems that can push or pull fuel from one location to another. There are lots of different kinds of these injection systems but they all serve the same purpose: consistently deliver fuel while optimizing performance. But what happens when something goes wrong?
A faulty fuel injector has many potential failure points that could cause an explosion on-site or within the cylinder itself at any time. Fuel fires are not only dangerous for drivers and passengers but pose serious environmental risks if they occur near gas stations. These explosions can also trigger other failures in nearby components which amplifies their danger exponentially. Fuel injection is complex because many pieces of the puzzle can go wrong, but your engine must run smoothly.
Complexity Rating: Fuel injection systems are complex because they have many components that all work in unison to deliver fuel at optimal pressure. They are also vital for the functionality of your car so their danger is rated as high.
Nowadays cars are filled with airbags, seat belts, and crumple zones that minimize injuries during an accident…but what if you don’t have these safety devices?
Without the aforementioned technologies, accidents would be far more dangerous than they already are. Airbags protect drivers from everything from fender benders up to head-on collisions by deploying at a precise moment in time. Seat belts provide the same protection but for passengers sitting in the vehicle, and crumple zones are designed to dissipate impact from collisions by crushing or collapsing around the point of impact depending on the strength of the collision. Each of these components has been carefully engineered to work together seamlessly so they’re rated as high when it comes to their danger level
Complexity Rating: Airbags, seatbelts, and crumple zones are all very important safety features in a car so their complexity is rated as high. When taken together, they work harmoniously with other systems to minimize driver and passenger injury and which is why they have a medium danger level.
Getting stuck in the mud can be a real pain
Negotiating off-road terrain at high speeds is dangerous for many reasons (see above). If you get stuck in the mud while doing 40 mph, your tires will spin and kick up mud which has the potential to hit other vehicles behind you causing damage if they aren’t equipped to handle this kind of environmental hazard. You also risk getting bogged down deeper into the mud or puncturing your tires if you drive over sharp objects like rocks. Furthermore, drivers who are unable to control their speed can end up rolling their vehicle which increases the severity