> It is unfortunate, but we live in litiguous times and my small company
> could not even fight a lawsuit much less withstand a
> judgement. Product liability insurance would blow the pricing out of
> the water, and requiring a waiver is not an airtight protection.
I'm not a lawyer, but I've paid for enough of them over the years so that
I certainly should own one outright by now. You'll never get a straight
answer from one about this issue (except from an enthusiast) because there
are no straight answers and any idiot can sue for almost anything. But not
doing these spacers doesn't protect you from idiots--one of them might be
drilling into your 480V main as you read this, or skipping up your uneven
sidewalk. The likelihood of a viable product liability claim for a part
intended to modify ancient automobiles for vintage race use is way less
than being hit by a meteor. Only the most desperate lawyer would take it
on contingency, which is how idiots afford representation. A waiver is a
pretty good idea though most businesspeople wouldn't bother. Most products
like this are "waivered" passively, like shrink wrapped software, by
stating on the outside of the packaging that they are for racing purposes
only and the goofball who races fragile old cars takes all responsibility.
Companies like Cambridge Motorsports, Summit Racing, or Ferrari wouldn't
be in business if product liability for products used in inherently risky
enterprises were fertile ground for liability. You need an expectation of
safety to make a useful case. Though people spilling hot coffee in their
laps certainly challenge that assumption.
It's probably a good idea to make a stronger, better engineered axle,
though. Certainly everyone has told you that the part is less likely to
fail under tension, but that some of the stress points will be changed.
For example, there's not much bending stress making it's way to the
threads and the flat. The spacer will change that, but not much.
Personally I'm game to use the spacer as is, and to sign any kind of
waiver you care to draft. But I would also be willing to pay for an
uprated axle. I know that the guys that make the other hub shown in Kas'
book already make an uprated axle--you might want to contact them.
It would never occur to me to sue someone for a failure of a product I use
for racing. I have a simple philosophy about stuff like this: IT'S MY OWN
DAMMNED FAULT.
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