Posted on 350xmotoring.com, thought I'd share....
Burn

 

Note "cop" picture...

 

Absolutely... seeing the old faces is great, but new ones mean we're doing something right... we're safe (most of the time), our trips/ideas don't suck, and we all know how to have some fun (unlike some other motor clubs out there)!

I can already feel a cold coming on for the next one... and I'll have to call-in sick to work to make the trip.

Thanks for the pics Burn!!!

 

Well,

I had a great time, but I did end up having to be towed home..

My GF and I stayed in Steamboat Saturday night and drove home via HW40. The drive home was going wonderful. The weather was great, the traffic was light, and the scenery was picture worthy.

All was good until a uphill blind curve going up Berthoud pass.. I was not going fast (at least not as fast as could be expected).. In the middle of the road was a 7 -8 pound rock; there was a car in the oncoming lane so I was forced to brake and attempt to clear the obstacle. The rock passed under my car and hit one of the rear exhaust pipes and then bounced up putting a half tennis ball sized dent in the driver side tail pipe. All in all the damage did not look bad at all. There was absolutely no body damage and underneath the car looked pretty much unscathed (besides a scratch on one of the exhaust pipes and a dent in one of the tail pipes)..

BUT..

The airbags went off.. Scared the $h*t out of me, and left me blinded on an inside turn up Berthoud pass. I was able to get the car pulled over and in a safe spot. The damage to the passenger dash was painful. The airbag ripped through the dash and left a smell white powder that coated the inside of the car. Fortunately I have tow insurance and the ~75 mile tow back to Denver only cost me $120 including paying the tow truck’s return trip back to Dillon (insurance paid somewhere close to $600). I am working with insurance and Empire Lakewood Nissan now to determine who will be paying for the damages and to find out why the hell the airbags went off at all. The tow truck driver was amazed that the airbags went off, he mentioned that he has seen many wrecks much worse that the air bags did not go off.. and all I did was dent a tail pipe.

My GF and I are fine, my forearms got a little burned and the airbag brushed my GF’s face. I hope that her neck does not start hurting later.

Anyhow, though I would share my misadventure and to thank all of you for a (halfway) wonderful trip to and from Steamboat..

I will post pictures of the trip and pictures of the damage tomorrow..

Chris

 

Sorry to hear about the damage, but I'm glad to know you guys are alright. If there's anything I can do for you guys, just let me know. I had a wonderful time with you both and hope to share life with you in the future.

Cheers!

 

Some pictures of my run in with the rock..

 

The damage:

 

Some pictures I took of the drive:

 

All my pictures are posted on:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/fizbar...barl/my_photos

 

Sorry about your misfortune Chris that sux. I can't believe that your airbags went off that's crazy. Well out of bad comes good because you know you wanted that nismo exhaust. Let us know how Empire treats you and handles the matter. I hope you get all the issues resolved. Keep us posted laterz

Chaindog

 

Wow Chris that really sucks. I was probably just a little bit a head of you. I noticed that rock, but I had a clear lane to the left so I was able to avoid it. I didn't think it was that big at the time I passed it, but obviously it was big enough. All I can say is NISMO EXHAUST. Damn it, If I knew what I know now I should have stopped and moved it, sorry man. Also, let me know if there's anything I can do. I guess you missed the Sipmsons because of that too. Don't worry the re-run at five sucked and the Attack of the Clones was on at seven instead.

I'm glad that you and Betrice are okay. I got hit in the face with an airbag in the passenger seat once. It hurts. If I was picking my nose at the time, I'd be dead.

David

 

What a drive! I think that route back from Steamboat through Walden and the Poudre Canyon is my new favorite road. Thanks to all who came out for making this (in my opinion) the best drive yet. It was great meeting so many new folks, and it's always good to get together with old friends. In my opinion, the cars are great, but it's the people who make these gatherings so much fun.

Chris - sorry to hear about the car, but I'm glad you and your GF weren't hurt. Hopefully Empire will quickly get your car back as good as new. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help.

Thanks to all who posted pics of the trip. I'd post mine, but they're pretty much the same as everyone else's here. Good stuff.

Gary

 

damn sorry to hear of your misfortune. Great thing is you guys are a-ok. Hope you can get it all fixed quickly and easily and join us on one of our next cruises

 

Chris- As with everyone else, I'm sorry to hear about your air bags going off. It's times like that when you wonder about the wisdom of aiming a small explosive charge with a powdered bag at your face and torso! It sure seems like you should have avoided that, but it could be the sudden deacceleration, combined with the rock impacting the bottom of your car, made the airbag sensor fire. Please let the rest of us know what the dealership diagnoses on this.

Guess those accident avoidence exercises (that we do at the track) can be invaluable. Hopefully, we'll get out there again soon! In any case, hope to see you, your girlfriend and your Z on the next road trip.

 

Just want everyone to know I had a blast for being the newest Z owner. I learned allot about my car and Colorado. I saw somer really amazing mountains. I know it sounds kinds of chessy but someone comeing from flat land (Texas) its a good show.

Well I am glad to have met all of you and can't wait for the next one. Hopefully it is soon. PM if you guys want to see my pics.

Ruben

 

Sorry to hear about that Chris. I really hope they take care of you and get it fixed up right and quickly.

To do an update for my minor problem, Big-O did me right I feel. After telling them their error with my tires they refunded me my money, credited my card for the amount it cost me to get it fixed when I was up in Steamboat, and also gave me a voucher for my next two services and tire rotations for free. Now...I guess the question will be if they mess it up in the future hehe.

All I can say is I hope things work out decently for you as well Chris. Hope to see you again soon.

 

What was the error?

 

I finally heard back from the damage adjuster and the Nissan auto mechanic yesterday. After some confusion they have finally agreed on an estimate and the parts were ordered. The mechanic said that best-case scenario is that I get the car back on Tuesday, end of next week by the latest (unless parts are back ordered). The estimate came out to $5,400 for repair. Only one part under the car will be replaced and the mechanic stated that it was just a bolt on piece. So; almost the entire $5,400 is going towards parts and labor to replace just the air bags. At this time nobody has been able to give me any idea of what actually caused the airbags to deploy, but perhaps I can get more information after the mechanic takes apart the bumpers to replace all of the airbag sensors in the car (apparently replacing the ENTIRE air bag system, including sensors, is required by Nissan). As for the NISMO exhaust; I will not be getting the exhaust at this time. The adjuster said that to repair the damage to the tail pipe the minimum amount of parts would be ordered (which does not include the entire exhaust system from the cat back). If I wanted the NISMO exhaust I would have to pay the difference in price plus the $500 deductible, which would be a large difference. As an option the adjuster has agreed to wave my $500 deductible instead of repairing the tail pipe (the tail pipe is dented on the bottom and still functioning fine). I can use the $500 that I would have spent on the repair towards the NISMO exhaust in the future. So; I pay nothing (besides the $120 tow charge) for this repair and I lose my car for a week.

Thanks to everyone for your nice words, I am most definitely on the list for the next drive!

Chris (Is missing his car! )

 

Big-O's error was this.

I brought my car in to have the snow tires taken off and my track tires put on.

The track tires are unidirectional and of course the rear tires are larger than the front.

Well the tires were all marked as to which went where, I explained the difference and the fact that they were unidirectional, and that the front and rear had different tread and sizes.

Yet, when I got my car back the 225/40s were on the rear while the 245/40s were on the front. This screwed hard core with the car's computer, not to mention making the car misbehave while being driven...and look funny since it seems like I had bloated tires on in the front while having donuts on in the back. Honestly I was glad I noticed before we hit the curves going up to Steamboat...because I could seriously have hurt the car or myself driving it under the impression that all is well, when in fact it was tuned now to seriously oversteer and pop out the back. I was falling steadily behind everyone on the way to Steamboat because corners were not going well.

 

Wow, that sux Chris...