Hit something on the freeway, how screwed am I??

**hix5000** · 03-05-2009, 02:49 PM

I got a flat on my way home Friday night, I cursed and pulled into the emergency lane to slow down, just after I pulled into the lane I saw something in the road I already had a car on my left so I had no choice but to slam on the brakes and BAM!! I ran over what later turned out to be a monster size rotor. It hit in the front underneath the car really hard and slammed against the bottom of the car several times before I finally passed over it.

I inspected the car as best I could on the side of the freeway but didn't see anything and noted there was no fluid leaks, so I changed my tire and limped home. The car drove fine for having a tag wheel on it. The next day I took it in and had 4 new tires put on (she was do for some new shoes anyways).

While it was up on the lift I went in and checked to see what kinda damage there was. The first impact was right where the lower control arm connects to the crossmember (I think that's what it's called). It hit pretty darn hard about a quarter of the bolt head there is smashed and the bracket is bent back leaving a crack at the top of the weld. The stabilizer clamp (the clamp that holds the stabilizer bar) on that side is also bent pretty bad. I can follow all the way down the car where the rotor kept bouncing against the car it somehow managed to follow the brake and fuel lines all the way down bending them in a few places, luckily the bends aren't bad though.

Looking at it I think the lower control arm and the crossmember might need to be replaced. This is way beyond my ability to fix so I will have to take it in somewhere but that's going to be a huge amount of labor. So how screwed am I? Is this going to be $1000 or more fix like I think it is?

Car is a 94 Z28.

**rbob93** · 03-05-2009, 04:29 PM

Put it on a lift & check it out man.

2 years ago 3AM I hit a complete wheel at 75mph & did 6K worth of damage....Air bags went off, cracked oil pan, rack & pinion, timing cover, etc. etc. Fun night!

Hope yer OK

**slpdablueZ28** · 03-05-2009, 05:36 PM

on my way back to school after thanksgiving break i hit a frozen turkey on the brooklyn queens expressway and then somewhere in jersey i hit a dead turkey

**chuckie669** · 03-05-2009, 06:37 PM

Won't insurance cover it? If you have full coverage, I'd check into it and get it reviewed by a bodyshop. I've gotten to where i almost am scared to drive my car around south houston with all the construction.

Good news is, I never have to worry about stuffing a deer into my engine bay

**02transamce** · 03-05-2009, 06:48 PM

Originally Posted by rbob93

Put it on a lift & check it out man.

2 years ago 3AM I hit a complete wheel at 75mph & did 6K worth of damage....Air bags went off, cracked oil pan, rack & pinion, timing cover, etc. etc. Fun night!

Hope yer OK

damn,i hit a complete wheel from a trailer back in 04 and it picked the front end of my mark viii off the ground and i went halfway down an embankment before i could stop.i will prob cost alot to replace those parts mostly labor,but you could invest in a tubular front k-member.

**0verkill** · 03-05-2009, 07:47 PM

i would look at the local junk yard and see if you can find what is bent. you can figer it out on the junk car as you take it off. or you can go and get you a nice tube set up and just bolt it on then just have it all lined up.

**hix5000** · 03-06-2009, 10:49 AM

I have liability only insurance coverage so unfortunately filing an insurance claim is not an option.

I took the car to a shop and the first thing the guy asked me when he saw the damage was if I had collision insurance, so I would say I'm pretty screwed. He's going to put together an estimate and get back to me.

I like the idea of replacing the front with tube instead of using bone yard parts. If I actually decide to fix the car it would be great to get an upgrade out of this whole nightmare. Anyone have a recommendation on where to pick up the tubular front end parts?

**hix5000** · 03-06-2009, 02:44 PM

Looks like PA Racing has some tubular cross members and control arms for a good price. Anybody purchased from them before?

**0verkill** · 03-07-2009, 04:06 AM

talk to sam at stranoparts.com here is a like to the page for you z
http://www.stranoparts.com/searchbym...D=14&ModelID=2
i am a big umi guy myself thats the only thing i will put on my ta.

**driftpin** · 03-07-2009, 05:50 AM

Mark at KY Speed is having a sale on all suspension parts right now. Great deals, I ordered some goodies.

http://www.ls1.com/forums/showthread.php?t=107460

If you don't have the knowledge and the tools to do the job yourself, don't even attempt a K-member swap, they can be a real PITA. LTA's can be done pretty easy though.

From the sounds of it though, you may not need a whole new K-member, it may be able to be repaired, you going to post any pics?

**Spikito** · 03-07-2009, 09:58 AM

Originally Posted by chuckie669

Won't insurance cover it? If you have full coverage, I'd check into it and get it reviewed by a bodyshop. I've gotten to where i almost am scared to drive my car around south houston with all the construction.

Good news is, I never have to worry about stuffing a deer into my engine bay

i wanna know how fast this guy was going

**hix5000** · 03-07-2009, 02:38 PM

I tried getting some pics laying on the ground in my garge but they just don't do the damage justice. When you see it compared to the other side of the crossmember you see how far back the joint is pushed in. When I get it back on a lift I will get some better pics.

The drivers side lower control arm and the crossmember definitely need to be replaced. I can get the LCA new from the stealership for $300 (I can get tubular ones for cheaper). Can't get the crossmember new so I would have to search bone yards. More than likely I will end up going with tubular replacements for both LCAs and the crossmember. Parts wise the cost difference won't be that much and atleast I could come out of this with an upgrade.

The thing that's really going to get me is the labor if I have a shop do the work for me. Not having a lift and doing this on jackstands in my garage isn't very appealing.