Blown77Z Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 Yeah, long story short (yeah right). Driving home from work this morning when the driver's front started shaking REALLY bad. I tried to slow down but was to late and at about 55-60mph I watched my front tire fly off the car. I managed to get the car on the grass with the remaining 3 wheels locked up and heading straight for a gosh darn telephone pole. With about 15 feet left before I hit the pole head on I FINALLY managed to turn it a little to the left. Damage done to the car (preliminary) is passenger side fenders, headlight, suspension parts and driver's side rotor......... And all that after I had a bad case of food poisoning Friday night This weekend has been a PITA ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 Glad you're OK. I hope the car can be easily fixed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeromio Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 Front tire, as in a blow-out? Or was there some suspension issue? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naviathan Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 So how did the tire come off? Glad to hear you're ok, that really sucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skib Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 Sorry to hear than man, glad you managed to not hit it head on. Any pictures of the damage? The same thing happened to me on a 280zx going about 70mph down an on ramp for the freeway. I managed to slide it down the ramp and pull it over w/out destoying anything but my rotor and ball joint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
73DatsunZ Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 Im glad your alright man. Thats insane that your wheel just came off. Post pics soon if possible. Hopefully it wont be a huge pain to repair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blown77Z Posted May 12, 2008 Author Share Posted May 12, 2008 Looks like the wheel lugs came off......... The studs don't appear to be sheared or broken off, so I guess the lugs backed off somehow I don't remember ever taking the wheels back off since I put the new brakes on the front. And the car drove ok I guess.. Going to go wrench on the car to remove the busted parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvilC Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 Lucky Lucky, glad to hear you are ok. Check back on an old thread, flames_187 had the same thing happen to him as I was driving behind him. You get so excited to drive the car, sometimes the little things you forget to double check. Hope it is a quick fix for you! PS, Pics! Clive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerryb Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 What a drag...sorry to hear about your misfortune. Glade you are OK and the car isnt a write off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m1noel Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 Sorry to here that, man. You've put an awful lot of work into that car. I hope its just bolt on parts and not too expensive. Good luck with it. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deja Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 Ah man. thats horrible. Wonder if someone was attempting top steal your wheels. Happened to a friend of mine with his brand new '68 Z28. He only had 1000 miles on it and the car was totaled, he hit the pole head on. Glad to hear you'r alright and hope you're back on the road soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blown77Z Posted May 12, 2008 Author Share Posted May 12, 2008 I just put in about 5 hours of pulling the busted parts off the car. Most of the time was figuring out how to remove the body panels that weren't in the best of shape. ALL of the bent/broken/twisted/damaged parts have been removed from the passenger side. My observance of the damage... 1. The entire front passenger suspension setup is FUBAR. Removed. 2. Passenger fender, headlight w/cover is FUBAR. Removed. 3. I massaged the piece of the frame that holds the hood hinge back in "shape". 4. I still need to remove the front sway bar and driver's rotor since both are damaged. I checked the frame rail on the engine side where the passenger mount bolts to it and there seems to be a slight wrinkle in it, not much. But, I can't remember if that was already there before I put the LS1 in........ I carefully looked around that area and nothing else seems out of alignment. I cranked her up after I pulled the parts off and she ran like a bat out of hell. Played with the throttle a little bit while listening for weird noises of rubbing or binding and couldn't hear anything odd or see anything out of whack. Steering rack worked fine with no snags. So MAYBE I can get buy with some stock bolt on parts to get me back on the road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aziza z Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 Im noticing a Horrible Trend. Ls1 powered z = Front wheels coming off. Probably a coincidence but still. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horatio Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 Man, so sorry. Scary stuff. Did you have spacers behind your wheels? Aziza, isn't that how you lost your wheel... spacer came loose?? Ever get that figured out? I know you were looking for some sort of locking lug or something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aziza z Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 Man, so sorry. Scary stuff. Did you have spacers behind your wheels? Aziza, isn't that how you lost your wheel... spacer came loose?? Ever get that figured out? I know you were looking for some sort of locking lug or something? Yea the same thing happened to me at 80mph. I am solving the problem by getting new wheels that bolt up to the hub without the adapters. They will use spacers but at least its better than adapters (4 lugs to check per wheel instead of 8 lugs per wheel). Ill probably just throw the old wheels and suspension on the other z car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blown77Z Posted May 14, 2008 Author Share Posted May 14, 2008 I just got back with the "new" parts I need ! I now own a 78 Gold 280z (Automatic) and a 73 Green 260z (Manual). I guess it's a 260. The 260? has old school gold mesh Enkie 14" rims on it ! The best part is the 280z interior is almost PERFECT in condition and I needed a full interior I'll be parting out the 260 when I get time to actually get the parts off..... Tomorrow begins the resurection ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
73DatsunZ Posted May 14, 2008 Share Posted May 14, 2008 very nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LS1 240Z Posted May 14, 2008 Share Posted May 14, 2008 were you running spacers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horatio Posted May 14, 2008 Share Posted May 14, 2008 Yea the same thing happened to me at 80mph. I am solving the problem by getting new wheels that bolt up to the hub without the adapters. They will use spacers but at least its better than adapters (4 lugs to check per wheel instead of 8 lugs per wheel). Ill probably just throw the old wheels and suspension on the other z car. Hah, yeah... eight lugs per wheel and lots of loctite!! Can't imagine the feeling of rolling down the interstate and watching one of your wheels roll away in the rearview! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blown77Z Posted May 14, 2008 Author Share Posted May 14, 2008 No spacers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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