Gearbox central to freak death inquiry

Engineers often discovered fractures and cracks in the aluminium gearbox housing.

The gruesome death of a 32-yearold Auckland father 17 years ago is being re-examined.

On November 20, 2000, John Tavinor’s life ended when part of a driveshaft detached from a truck on the opposite side of Auckland’s southern motorway and hurtled through the front window of his car.

The driveshaft struck Tavinor in the head and neck, killing him.

A 2003 inquiry into his death pointed to worn-down joints on the truck’s driveshaft as the likely cause. However, a new coronial inquiry has heard fresh evidence that widely-reported problems with Mitsubishi gearboxes could be to blame.

The new inquiry began at the Auckland District Court yesterday after the Deputy Solicitor General Cheryl Gwyn accepted a petition for a fresh hearing in 2014.

David Smith, a former fleet manager for United Carriers Ltd, was one of the first to give testimony.

United Carriers owned one of the largest Mitsubishi fleets in New Zealand around that time.

Smith said drivers of the 18-speed model built around 1998 had often complained of problems.

‘‘We had an engineer employed fulltime rebuilding Mitsubishi truck gearboxes’’

Smith said the Eaton road range transmission boxes on the trucks produced large amounts of heat on highways.

He also said engineers at the company often discovered fractures and cracks in the aluminium gearbox housing.

‘‘We had recurring problems and difficulties.’’

Smith believes the driveshaft had been detached by pressure placed on it by the transmission.

But another fleet manager who gave evidence, Brian Brown, dismissed Smith’s claims.

‘‘Mr Smith complains of repeat failures of Eaton 18-speed especially in Mitsubishi vehicles.’’

‘‘I can’t see why Mitsubishi models would be any more susceptible.’’

Their evidence sets the tone for what is likely to be a highly technical investigation.

Independent investigators Timothy Smithson and Peter Morgan, who led the petition for a new inquiry, will also give testimony.

The inquiry is set down for one week.