UltraYellow350z

iTrader: (6)

Story:

Raining for at least 4+ hours today. Is drizzling out, I took a turn (right) and the car started slipping out, I tried to hold the wheel and turn it the other way and it was okay for a bit, but then suddenly the car just spun out and hit the median. I ended up about 4-5 cars from the turn and facing the on going traffic (spun 180 degrees). Car ended up with the rear right tire hitting the median first (which bent it). The rest of the car also ended up on the median. The steering wheel is now vertical [] as opposed to horizontal [--] when going straight.

I am on stock tires which I know are bad for the rain. What could I have done to stop the car from losing control and why did it feel like I was in control for a while and then boom, it just spun?!?!

Right Tire




Left Tire


I see that thing bent and im not sure what is it. I was wondering if you guys could help me with what steps I should take to get it fixed. I searched and found that buying the parts and bringing it to a independent shop for install seems like the best choice.

Will it be okay letting them tell me whats wrong?

Also, is it fine driving to shop or should I tow it?

Thanks for the help guys, im going crazy here

redman333

iTrader: (8)

Sorry to hear about that man, I had the same thing happen to me, only my damage was to the front. And I want to say that is the traction rod, or radius rods, but not 100% sure.

It looks like you could probably do the work yourself, not that hard. And then just get a 4 wheel alignment done. But there could be more damage than what is visible.

rockinbboy

iTrader: (1)

Hey UltraYellow,

You just gave me Deja Vu.

What happened for me:
https://my350z.com/forum/mid-atlantic/222017-anyone-know-good-body-shops-here-no-56k-z-s-first-battle-scar-and.html

The questions you are asking yourself(why and how):
https://my350z.com/forum/2003-2009-nissan-350z/222022-controling-the-z-when-hit-hits-the-fan-how.html

You do have more damage than I did. I personally wouldn't drive it if I were you. How knows how bad things are. Don't just start buying parts. Find out what has been damaged. Once they take things apart, they might find more damage. Looks like its just a bent wheel and steering components (looks like a tie rod). Judging by your pics though it looks like the rear wheels on both sides. You sure you did a 180 and not a 180+360? haha..just messin'. So what exactly happened bro? Glad to hear you or nobody else got hurt.

carlitoss2000

You're supposed to steer in the direction of the car...............I spent countless days training on wet terrain and skidding while in the military..........when you steer towards the direction of the car it may seem like you're losing control but while your foot is off the gas and the car is slowing down by slightly steering towards the direction of the skid and then slowly turning the other way you can regain control of the vehicle. Like I said, this happened to me a couple of days ago and I was able to regain control of the car before I hit anything..........or maybe I was just lucky.

nzpv03

iTrader: (3)

wow same thing happend to me in my 3 series....I messed up my steering column, rack and pinion, control arms and ALL FOUR RIMS AND TIRES...you def. blew out steering column and/or control arm(s) b/c my wheel was all messed up like that too...goodluck man I feel your pain =/

rockinbboy

iTrader: (1)

What carlitoss means is that if you were turning right and back-end came loose so that your car started to to skid left (clock-wise motion), you should start to turn your steering wheel counter-clockwise in the direction opposite of your skid.

You said your back rear right tire hit the median and that you did a 180 to end up on it. Its hard for me to tell from your description but I am going to guess this is what happened:

You started to make your right turn and as you began to straighten your wheel and then your back end started to come loose. You probably began to counter-streer correctly but maybe overcorrected causing the car to spin counter-clockwise where you hit the median with the rear tire.

YOu must have turned the wheel hard enough or fast enough where there was still enough forward momentum to change the clockwise spin to a counter-clockwise spin for you to climb up on the middle median of the road.

BRONZEE

Good luck on getting your zed fixed Ultra. If someone else is doing the work, definitely have it towed. Isn't safe to be driven like that.

taurran

iTrader: (18)

You've damaged your rear lower control (camber) arm. You should just do yourself a favor and buy some aftermarket rear chamber arms which allow for better camber/toe adjustment. I'd recommend the SPC arms:

http://www.iapdirect.com/product.php...cat=301&page=1

You should have the car inspected to make sure there is no further damage than is apparent from those pics. After you get the new camber arms installed, you'll need an alignment.

In all it seems you got lucky with minimal damage. Good luck with the fix.

efx

iTrader: (4)

hate to beat the dead horse, but same **** happend to me. Same situation, but as I was still on the turn and about to enter onto the freeway, I did a 360 in the MIDDLE of the freeway, 5 feet away from the median and i was like "OHH MY GOD, WHY ME, IM GOING TO HIT, IM GOING TO HIT, AHHHHHHH!!" Then it just stopped. Cars were coming 100 yrds away, I was in the middle lane nose pointed 1-2 o' clock. I drove off to the side and slapped myself silly and realized wtf just happend. Drove to the next exit and had to get out of that feeling.

Im so lucky to get out alive without a scratch on my car or me. Good thing I prayed before driving. (this was on thanksgiving day )

zand02max

iTrader: (22)

Base model and stock tires, ugh!

I learned a lot when I went to a week long Texas DPS high speed drivers course.

efx

iTrader: (4)

Yea, I kinda want to do lessons for AutoX + rwd control. This is my first.

UltraYellow350z

iTrader: (6)

Thanks for the help guys, I just dropped it off at a shop for an estimate. The guy is guessing its just the control arm. Hopefully thats it. If there is more like the tie rod and the rest of the stuff you guys mentioned, that would suck.

He estimated the control arm + labor = $400.

If its that I can go with the SPC if its cheaper than their part. (thanks Taurran for the link)

I will post my results so other people can get an idea if they are in the same situation.

Built2shredZ

You guys are taking turns way to fast in the rain.... SLOW DOWN !!!!!!

If its just a control arm then you got lucky...

XuperXero

iTrader: (2)

Mine looked like that too after track, hit a rut too hard in one of the corner and bent the passenger side one. Then got a jack and jacked it up and it got bent to a long "S" which is as straight as possible, drove home, went online, ordered SPC camber kit.

I highly recommend you guys to go to some track days, mainly drifting to learn how to better control your car in the rain or any situation where rear tires comes loose. Because sound like you tankslapped the other way around which is tricky to control.

Sorry to hear about this, but as far as the picture says, only damage is camber arms and possibily the other arm.. i think it's called "toe arm?". I say consider yourself lucky from hitting that median.

3kgt48

Ultrayllow,


Was ur traction control on/off? and yeah potenzas dont grip at all on wet pavement.

UltraYellow350z

iTrader: (6)

I got a call from them, its not the control arm its the radius arm + lateral arm

$360 + tax

Sounds good?

davidv

iTrader: (2)

First your *** is alive so thank Jesus or Mohammed or whoever. How many miles are on the OEM tires?

orions empire

iTrader: (1)

Hey bro, sorry to hear about it, smae happened to me, I am waiting to have my new rims to post all the process from the crashing in the WET and damaging door, fender, airbags, rims, flairs, bumper, you name it, it was damaged, but thank GOD for the Insurance co. and I fixed and got new rims and painted the hole thing and also new suspension. Well, hope to post new thread of what happened soon.

cheers and keep it safe.

OE

slaponte

iTrader: (2)

Radius arm is what is bent on the second picture, also called the camber arm. As sated, tou can get a set of after markets for those that are adjustable also, I have the Kinetix ones.

The lateral arm I will guess is what they are callign the traction arm, which could easily be bent on that hit. If you check for sets, they sell those as well.

Labor shouldn't be much, those arms are fixed length, just unbolt the old one, bolt the new ones. Then, no matter what, you need an alignment (all 4).

BTW, this is all rear, it doesn't explain your statement about the steering position. That would be an issue in the front. The alignment should bring to light any issues up front.

The OEM tires are dnagerous in that my car (for example) eats the rear every 10K miles or so. They end up like slicks. If you aren't carefull and check, you will notice the first time some rain falls and the car starts dancing all over the lane. An on ramp is one of the worst places to find out about this. So, check you rears every 5K or so, your hand is all you need to realize the issue.

UltraYellow350z

iTrader: (6)

13,xxx on the OEM's. Do they need to be changed already?

Oh wow, I hope all that turns out okay. It seems like I got lucky.

The mechanic says the alignment should fix that steering position issue. I'm really contemplating changing the back tires to some good ones for safety reasons. I'm going to be scared about driving in the rain when I get it back.

@3kgt48

I have a base, no traction control