Presidential Cadillac Limo Bottoms Out in Ireland

[Charles D. Barnette]

Apparently one of the 2006 Presidential Cadillac Limos traveling with President Obama hit a speed bump in Ireland causing the Limo to bottom out being unable to move. The President's Limo traveling behind the bottomed out duplicate Limo was able to continue on. Is the weight and lowness of the car not figured out by the Secret Service by now? The ability to negotiate a speed bump must not be covered in the Secret Service manual for operating Presidential Limos. Charles D. Barnette-an avid fan of Presidential Limos. Somebody has egg on their face!

[Davidinhartford]

Ouch!

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7367035n

That was a loud thunk eh?

I guess this is "Break"-ing news.     I hope they have AAA.

[Rich S]

It looks as though the President could have used the thorough preparation and precision craftsmanship of Hess & Eisenhardt, rather than General Motors! Of course these behemoths of vehicles have extraordinary demands upon their chassis and suspensions. At least there is some consolation for GM that this was the '06 DTS-based bodystyle limo, rather than the newest iteration. 

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

Ha ha ha.   What an embarrassment.   Not the stranding, but the half-down trousers of the worker assessing the situation.   Must have been a local Plummer.

But, when the driver got out of the car, it sure showed the thickness of the door frame.   Had to be at least 3" thick.

It goes to show that European entrances are designed for high ground clearance, short wheelbase vehicles only.

Bruce.

[Quentin Hall]

Yeah Bruce, the Towie took the "Bottoms out" call a bit too seriously . . . . Q

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

I'll bet the Tow Truck driver got a shock when his hoist took the strain lifting the car up.

Those armour-plated vehicles are H E A V Y.

Wonder if the driver is ringing up the Insurance Company?

Bruce.

[Antoni Deighton]

It looks to me like the right front spring/strut collapsed under the weight.

[Gergely Szentmartony 25603]

Not talking too much about the potential extremely high security risk a totally immobilized Presidential Limo could cause (also here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzJoRGTKuOE ).......why did not they use the "Beast"? 

[Gravel]

It appears to me that there was a suspension failure when they hit the bump, looking at the video, the front pneumatic suspension failed on the way up and dropped to full compression on the way back down.

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

Could have been worse, and the car following might not have stopped in time.   That driver should be mentioned in dispatches for assessing the situation, and hitting the picks.

I suppose the next thing to be banned will be air suspension.

Bruce.

[Eric S. Maypother #15104]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5icV_mctrkE

I think Gravel is right, I also thought the front suspension went out, seems like the noise is the suspension, not the car center of car hitting bump, the center of car isn't touching the ground when you hear the noise.

It was first reported by someone in car that it was a metal on metal sound, they thought their was something metal going across ground but from what I can see it's cement with no metal sticking up.

I wonder what the Ireland Prime Minister or Ambassador has, doesn't look like gate was designed for a long wheel based car.

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

There looks to be a pierce of steel protruding from the centre of the driveway, which would retain the bottom of the two gates as they closed, and I thought that it was this piece that "grabbed" some protrusion underneath, like a transmission crossmember or similar.

Bruce.

PS.   But, it was still very funny.

[Eric S. Maypother #15104]

Heres a video from a different angle, it kinda does look like something across entrance, but I couldn't be sticking up too much when you see the first cars go over it they don't bump much, must have been just enough to catch the bottom of car.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_pHzZERUTQ&feature=related

Do they call him O'Bama now that he discovered he has Irish Roots?

[CEC #20099]

That `ugly Cadillac` is supposed to be built on a heavily modified GMC Truck chassis. Air bags- stupid idea. Heavy is worse. Oh well, back to the drawing board ...
c chleboun #20099

[Gravel]

With all the armor around the "Presidential Cabin", the center of gravity is not that far forward either, it did a full front air dump and full rear inflate.

[Davidinhartford]

Well you know, the Secret Service will make sure they check all routes for clearance in the future. 

[Gravel]

In my professional opinion, the bottoming out was a symptom of suspension failure, not the cause of suspension failure.

[Davidinhartford]

Reportedly there was some metal object in the center of the driveway that the gates latched into when closed.   Perhaps the limo hit that and pulled out a hydraulic line causing the car to drop like a rock?

[Gravel]

I would be much more inclined to believe that if it hit more toward the center of the wheel base, but given that it bottomed out so far forward.. Look at the wheel well gap on approach, there is plenty of ground clearance built into this thing when all is functioning correctly.

[Charles D. Barnette]

One still has to wonder why the 2009 Presidential Limos have not fully replaced the 2006 Presidential Limos in transporting the Commander in Chief of our nation? Why does the 5 year old Limo get priority over the 2 year old Limo on such a trip? Is it because the diesel (if it truly is diesel as I suspect) sound or operation of the 2009 vehicle is undesirable? Charles D. Barnette