I'm SO f**king pissed I can't even see straight. My right front driver's wheel was destroyed by a road hazard today. It's PISSING DOWN in D/FW today and here's my story...

Some worthless, POS landscape truck driver decided to drop a load of retaining wall bricks all over my lane two cars up from me. When I realized why the Caddy in front of me was swerving, I had nowhere to go as there were cars to the left and to the right. I screamed, "F*CK!!!", gripped the wheel, swerved as far over as I could and hoped that I would clear the debris field. No dice. We're talking like a dozen bricks in my path. And no, I didn't chase down the driver. I was freaking out and pulled over to survey the damage. The impact was so loud and so jarring I was sure that my entire undercarriage lay in ruins. Imagine going completely over a median at 40 MPH. THAT was my horror today.

These are the bricks I'm talking about. HUGE, like 4" high x 12" wide x 8" deep.


I have ruined my driver's front wheel. Not only is the inside lip bent, but a crease runs across the entire width of the wheel and I can't hold air in the tire. New wheel = $650. Visual inspection on the lift shows that the wheel bore the brunt of the impact and no suspension components were visibly damaged. Full assessment of the suspension geometry and whether it was compromised cannot be made until an alignment is performed which my dealerhship cannot do with their exisiting equipement and the 18s. It will have to be farmed out to a shop down the street. Great.

I'm desperately in need of a replacement 18x8, 6-spoke Performance wheel. If anyone has an extra available, please, PLEASE contact me. I'll buy two if you don't want to part out single wheels. I cannot fathom spending $650 on a wheel from the dealer. That's highway f**king robbery.

 

Holy smokes that sucks! I sure hope the rim is the only damage done and I sure hope it gets better.

Michael.

 

Wow dude, i'm glad you're okay (physically that is). I think there is a thread where a guy wants to get rid of his 18's. Let me see if I can find it.

I see you've already found the thread. Good luck B.

 

Actually, it could have been much, much worse. I nailed one brick with one wheel. If I had nailed all four wheels, I'd have been crying in the street like a baby.

 

this is what happened when I ran over a 6" piece of granite in our 2000 BMW 323CI with 18" wheels! No other damage, thankfully, but the wheels were 585 each, plus tires!

 

2003Z that's an impressive pic.
how did you manage to run over a 6" piece of granite though?

 

it was about 530 am and dark out

 

see michael, i told you i dont like to drive the Z in the rain...

brad: i am sorry, i feel your pain.

 

Here's a pic of the damage. I didn't take pics when I was under the lift at the dealer, just kinda wasn't in the mood.



The damage to the edge of the lip is obvious. What's not so obvious until you drive on it and/or spin the wheel freely when it's on the lift is how out of round the entire inside edge of the wheel is now. The concensus is that the wheel cannot be fixed because of the extent of the bend in the entire structure as opposed to just the lip.

The dealer called me back tonight (great service btw, Martin) with a price of $577 + tax for the one wheel. I can get a set (4 18x8) of Moda R6s (which I've fancied for a while now) for only $971 if I want. I'll start working on the wife this weekend to explain what a good deal that is.

 

Hey Brad,

I failed to mention this (hearing about your unfortunate luck was a real doozy), but have you thought about just getting that rim fixed and re-finished? If I'm not mistaken, Wheels America has a location somewhere down Harry Hines Blvd. Supposedly, they'll fix your rim better than factory spec w/ a 1 day turnaround for around $99/rim.

Just something to think about. If you need jack stands, I've got 2 pairs of them...

Michael.

 

You think they can fix that (see pic)? I want the wheel to be 100% true, not just close enough. Fortunately, I don't need a refinish.

 

Well... it's sure worth a shot and give'em a call: http://www.fixrim.com

From the looks of it, they offer a lifetime guarantee. *shrug*

They don't seem to be around Harry Hines... I distinctly remember hearing about a wheel place around there. I'll try to find them.

Edit: ok, I've looked in the back of my Car & Driver magazine and I can't seem to find the one near Harry Hines. I did, however, find another place that fixes and re-finishes rims in Bath, PA. Their website is: http://www.wheelcollision.com and they seem to be featured on VW Vortex and Audiworld. *shrug*

Michael.

 

So sorry to hear of your incident droidekaus.

There was a guy who came to speak to the Z Club of Texas a couple of years ago on wheel repair. He really knew his stuff and had some pretty amazing examples of repairs to bent rims. I would talk to them first. They seem to know what they're doing, and prices are in line with what Michael-dallas quoted. I personally have not had any need to deal with him on wheel repairs, but he did buy my old Maxima rims off me to recycle the aluminum. Try Wheel Technologies of North Texas: 972-242-8324 Address is 1225 E. Crosby Rd., Carollton. They're not far off I-35E north between I-635 and I-190.

HTH.

 

Michael, ChinaClipper:

Thanks so much for the info. I don't want to have fixing this ridiculous accident eat into my mods fund too much.

 

droidekaus,

sorry to hear about what happened. Hopefully you'll get your rim fixed and replaced as painlessly as possible.

at least one good thing is the damage is limited to the wheel and hopefully your suspension will be ok. also at least none of those bricks bounced and hit the body of the car .. than you would have had a real mess on ur hands.

hope things work out soon .. keep hope alive.

 

That sucks and this rain storm sucks too...my Z says I'll stay in the garage, I just got fixed.

 

ya know... my neighbor had his flower garden redone today... i noticed that they were a couple bricks short on the border..

he told me the guy said he didnt know where they were, as they took enough from the shop to do the job...

hey brad,

did you happen to pick them up outta the road? my neighbor doesnt want to wait until monday to have his flower garden completed...

i am only kidding... i do feel for you. my neighbor does have those bricks installed in his garden, for real...

i was wondering if you are riding with the donut now?, or is the car still in the shop? did you have it towed? did anyone else hit them? did you try to remove them from the road (i am sure you had a ton of **** runnign through your head...)

you should be happy your car is silverSTONE (singular) and not BRICKYARD. seems like fate could have been a lot meaner

m

ps do you have pics of the rims you are thinking about???

 

that price doesnt seem too over the top for 18 inch rims. 750 per rim is on the higher end of BBS rims in 18 inch trim. If it can be repaired, go for it though. the 99 dollars will make you feel like a champ if it works, and if it doesn't work... make sure you let everyone know it.

 

Droid,

I am so sorry to hear what you had just gone through. That is brutal! On the bright side, it's time for some nice light weight 18" . Volks or SSR? Moda R6's are nice too.