Sharkey

So I was just driving my oldest son around chasing lightning and started wondering what would happen if a JK hardtop got hit. I've seen other vehicles get hit with no injury to the passengers. Anyone know what would happen with our rigs?

TN-MEDIC-14

I was wondering this exact thing the other day.........
but also what if a live elctrical wire were laying on the jeep like after a wreck with a electric pole , I know in a normal vehicle with a normal roof you are ok as long as you stay in the vehicle but what about in the JK witha soft or hard top on?

arkain04

Chasing lightening with your son????

There is alot of steel on the inside of a JK I don't think you would fare well.!!

Sharkey

"chasing" is relative. The lightning was no less than 5-10 miles away up in the mountains and we were simply driving around on the city streets in the valley looking up in the clouds. Still, my son thought we were chasing it which seemed real cool to him

GrassSeed JK

My best guess with the lighting is that Jeeps would be less likely to be struck due to lack of metal (conductor) surface high in the air. Even if a Jeep was struck, electricity follows the path of least resistance so it should either hit the windshield frame or sport bar and exit out the bottom of the frame or axle.

What protects you with a downed power line on top of your rig is the tires. The rubber is an insulator and breaks the path for electricity to flow. Also the hardtop is fiberglass another insulator and the soft top might not be as good of an insulator but it's not a good conductor either so technically a Jeep should be safer. But none the less if you have a downed power line on your Jeep DON'T GET OUT OF IT STAY IN IT!

Did you guys sleep through science class?

Sharkey

LOL. No, I didn't. Back to my question, what is likely to happen to the top if it took a strike (presuming the strike was headed for the sportbar?) Is it likely to burn, shatter, do nothing, etc. I'm not convinced that just because fiberglass is an insulator that the question is moot.

And by the way, in the vehicle/lightning strike I saw the lightning hit the hood even though it wasn't the highest metal part of the vehicle. The strike also left a pretty nasty burn.

GrassSeed JK

http://www.lightningsafety.com/nlsi_...le_strike.html

Top Gear's answer

InTheMist

First off, lets dispel a myth:
The fact that tires are rubber has nothing to do with the likelihood of damage or not during a lightning strike. The lightning has traveled hundreds of meters through an insulator (air) because your vehicle is the best possible path to ground.

Actually not having a metal roof makes lightning strikes somewhat MORE dangerous to the occupants. The reason that MOST vehicles are modestly safe is because static electricity (which lightning is) tends to travel outside its conductor rather than through.

Here is the answer from our Gub-mint.
By frame they mean body. Give him a break, he's a scientist, not a mechanic.

And another that says that convertibles are not safe:
http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/outdoors.htm

mmcan

Okay so now I'm wondering top off, roll cage, lightning,...

This has got to happen at times in the mountains during the summer. Lightning is everywhere! And we'll be high up hitting the passes,...

Sharkey

I agree. The whole point of the Faraday Cage concept is that the charge travels along the outside of the conductor (the steel body in most vehicles) and not through the conductor into the cab of the vehicle. With a Jeep, it seems to me that the "Faraday Cage" would basically include the entire interior tub if the strike hit the sportbar (or went through the top to the sportbar.)