figures please
Specifically, one of my older friends had its corporate twin, the Mercury Grand Marquis. It got rear ended by a drunk driver while parked and the fuel tank ruptured. It was only luck that it didnt get sparked; and there was nothing in the trunk.
Anecdotal. Here's my anecdote: When I was a child, I had to evacuate my apartment building because a drunk driver rear ended a car parked on the side of the road in which my building was located. The car was not a Crown Vic, yet the fuel tank ruptured and there was a huge fire. The road happened to be a service road for a limited access highway, and the drunk driver was likely doing 60+ mph. Crown Vics are not the only cars which have fuel tanks, and those fuel tanks in any car are susceptible to rupture at highway speeds.
Also, if the problem is police accessory screws being too long, why would a special shield help prevent fire?
You do realize there are multiple ways to get the same results? The shield is between the fuel tank and the rear axle. In the event of a high speed rear end crash, the fuel tank can be pushed into the rear axle, causing it to burst.
However, the majority of the fires in Crown Vics were due to police equipment in the trunk puncturing the tank. (For this, there is also a package called the trunk pack which is a trunk liner.)
If you bothered to read articles at the link you gave me, one of the latest Crown Vic fires was in Texas in 2003. It was determined that the "videotape mounting bracket punctured the tank."
And why would they also install the shields on Town Cars?
They didn't. (Although they did offer it on Town Car based limos.)
Someone has faulty info here, and its not me.
I guess the NHTSA has faulty info. They rate the Crown Victoria, Grand Marquis, and Town Car a perfect 5 stars in every crash rating. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration studied Crown Victoria crashes in 2002 and determined the car met safety standards. Many of the police crashes resulted from high-speed incidents that few cars would withstand, the agency ruled.
NHTSA says otherwise. http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/studies/CrownVic/Index.html
"PROBLEM DESCRIPTION; The fuel tank can rupture following a high- energy rear collision resulting in severe fires. A vehicle occupant surviving the impact trauma could be killed as a result of fire intrusion into the passenger compartment."
Also, the crash tests that generate those star ratings are done at speeds below what the people being rear-ended are seeing (read the report at the link). More from the report: "ODI Findings:
* The crash energy levels associated with post rear impact fuel tank failures in the CVPI vehicles are significantly greater than the levels in FMVSS 301 tests.
* Fuel tank failures during high-speed rear impacts can result from numerous causes in addition to the hex-headed bolt and U-brackets identified in the Ford TSB. Crash reports identify many causes for loss of fuel system integrity during a high-energy rear crash, such as puncture from a deformed frame rail, lower shock absorber supports, or stowed items in the trunk, hydrostatic rupture, and other causes."
They also go on to note that the B-Body was just as bad - but IMHO that's okay because GM hasn't sold a B-Body in over a decade. Here are some other data points and a reference site: http://www.crownvictoriasafetyalert.com/timeline.html
Ford's own study shows that non-police CV cars are statistically more likely to go on fire than the competition, or even their own Taurus:
The mistake PD mechanics across the country were making is not wadding chewing gum firmly around the screw first, or using Fleers, when any fool chemist could tell you that only Dubble Bubble is gasoline proof (but not ethanol blend).
BTW, don't use an electric drill for the pilot holes. Lost several pals that way. Why do cops actually need cars, anyway? Most donut shops and pizza places deliver.