Ideas to lighten throttle - shattered knee help (w/pic)
#16
It shouldn't be too difficult to rig an extension to the pedal cable attachment point on the quadrant. This would increase leverage(less effort) while also increasing pedal movement(to achieve full throttle). Cable(or rod for pre S4) to the actual throttle could be left untouched and the return spring wouldn't factor in at all.
#17
I presume you'll be braking with your left foot? Or will you be able to move from pedal to pedal?
If not, I think there's a lot of sense sense in routing a cable to operate the throttle by hand.
It'll be a while before you're dancing on the pedals again, right? Once you're above 35(?) mph, you can drive pretty effectively with the cruise control, if it's working.
I feel your pain. Ask your physical therapist about possible fixes, too. Nice scar. There's a great short film called, iirc, "Marks."
EDIT: Well, I don't recall correctly. It was a short film (~30 min) I saw on PBS. Maybe a program segment. It was about the way a facial scar changed the life of a beautiful woman, and not for the worse. Gave her a new outlook on her life and willingness to live it her way, opening her to deeper and more intense experience. IMDB.com has failed me.
If not, I think there's a lot of sense sense in routing a cable to operate the throttle by hand.
It'll be a while before you're dancing on the pedals again, right? Once you're above 35(?) mph, you can drive pretty effectively with the cruise control, if it's working.
I feel your pain. Ask your physical therapist about possible fixes, too. Nice scar. There's a great short film called, iirc, "Marks."
EDIT: Well, I don't recall correctly. It was a short film (~30 min) I saw on PBS. Maybe a program segment. It was about the way a facial scar changed the life of a beautiful woman, and not for the worse. Gave her a new outlook on her life and willingness to live it her way, opening her to deeper and more intense experience. IMDB.com has failed me.
Last edited by Fogey1; 10-18-2006 at 03:04 AM.
#18
just use your left leg for the gas too
cut off your bad leg and just use the left one
OUCH! And I'm sure it feels a lot worse than it looks!
Good ideas:
An assist spring sounds like it would do it, to lessen the effort.
An extension to the pedal cable point on the quadrant for increased leverage, to make it more sensitive.
...hhmm. I'll have to push the PT for feasibility with lessened foot pressure.
Hand operation is always an option, but I don't want to give in unless there's a solid reason why re-visiting foot techniqes won't work.
Appreciate everyone's inputs and kind sentiments. Believe me, I'm a model therapy patient 'cause I want to recover on the "best case scenario" end of the spectrum.
#21
Wow! Kinda hard to look at that for some reason. I have a titanium rod and half a dozen screws in mine, but I've never seen an Xray of it. Kinda brings it home. Mine was a motorcycle also. I spent four months in a wheel chair so your way ahead of me. I did a lot of left foot driving, but not in a 928. Not a lot of room down there for two feet around the gas pedal. Good luck and god speed. Whatever god speed means.
#22
Damm Kirt that looks BAD......been there and done that on my ankle a few years back, complete with surgery that didn't help much (stupid basketball).....man did that suck!! I also vote for the left foot only technique.....I was lucky that I hurt my left ankle...but of course all of my cars at the time were sticks!! (pre-shark) :>(
Our prayers for a speedy recovery!
Our prayers for a speedy recovery!
#23
ARGH! Even the untrained eye can see the broken off head of the tibia. This is serious stuff. And as a former pharmacist, I'm glad to see your doctor doesn't fool around. That definitely is a Dilaudid injury.
#24
lol, Charley, you're not the first to react with the "too close to home reminder" feeling. Recovery is kinda wierd, since I'm already doing 30deg bends and quad isometrics; movement is more important than letting stuff set, so PT works rather aggressively toward normal motion asap. Feels funky.
Ya, Brian, if left knee it would have been a piece of cake; I can already drive a stick quite well right footed only, but something about doing it left footed with the right in the way that is scary.
Well Bill, your detailed eyes captured the same reaction the x-ray tech had following the first zap - "uh, man, I'm not really allowed to say anything since I'm not a doctor, but you're going to need some serious surgery. I haven't seen one that crunched before...but it'll be okay, they'll fix it"
On the Dilauded, they gave me 2 Morphine shots first that didn't do anything. Then switched to the Dilauded and it was the 2nd 4mg shot that finally took the edge off. Glad it came in pills to take home May give you a ring in a couple weeks to work out the assist spring idea.
Thanks again for the sentiments. Immobility sucks!!
Ya, Brian, if left knee it would have been a piece of cake; I can already drive a stick quite well right footed only, but something about doing it left footed with the right in the way that is scary.
Well Bill, your detailed eyes captured the same reaction the x-ray tech had following the first zap - "uh, man, I'm not really allowed to say anything since I'm not a doctor, but you're going to need some serious surgery. I haven't seen one that crunched before...but it'll be okay, they'll fix it"
On the Dilauded, they gave me 2 Morphine shots first that didn't do anything. Then switched to the Dilauded and it was the 2nd 4mg shot that finally took the edge off. Glad it came in pills to take home May give you a ring in a couple weeks to work out the assist spring idea.
Thanks again for the sentiments. Immobility sucks!!
#25
One place you might want to check to get ideas is a local group of Little people. There was a gentleman I used to work with that had a system similar to the Flappy Paddle gearboxes used for the transmission but his was set for fuel so that he could drive. Gas on the right hand and flappy paddle tranny on the left, was really neat the way it was setup and this was on a Chevy Cavalier. Don't know if it is possible for the 928 but that would be where I would start looking for things like this. I've found they are generally excited or at minimum understanding when people ask them about how they perform common tasks like driving when they can't reach the pedals.
#27
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From: Insane Diego, California
Originally Posted by anonymousagain
...Was adjusting the carb on the RM80 in front of the house,...
Stuck out my right leg to break my fall and instead of my knee "normally" bending under the pressure, it didn't. Apparently muscles, tendons, ligaments refused to give, so as the Femur compressed my knee, it had to go somewhere; Femur is larger than Tibia, so the Tibia lost and the Femur just blew through the front half of the knee (it did take the Fibula with it, luckily a clean break).
Stuck out my right leg to break my fall and instead of my knee "normally" bending under the pressure, it didn't. Apparently muscles, tendons, ligaments refused to give, so as the Femur compressed my knee, it had to go somewhere; Femur is larger than Tibia, so the Tibia lost and the Femur just blew through the front half of the knee (it did take the Fibula with it, luckily a clean break).
#29
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From: Cambridge, Ontario, Canada
Maybe Im off here but if your car is automatic that you should be able to drive it with very little or no knee movement at all. The throttle is only operated by you ankle and not with the knee, right? (At least thats how I drive) So you can just use your left foot to brake while keeping your right in a relatively stationary position.
Does this make any sense?
Does this make any sense?