Hey all,
Just thought you guys might want to know about my current bad situation. :(
About two weeks ago at about 1:30 in the afternoon I was driving through a
strip mall parking lot in heavy rain. Unfortunately for me I still had my
stock classic SE-R wheels on the front with fairly bald tires (I was at
Englishtown drag racing the night before and didn't put my nice Enkei's back
on yet.)
Anyways I was attempting to make a left hand turn into another section of the
parking lot (the entrance and exit lanes were sided with curbs) Well for some
reason I failed to see a large truck coming in my direction, and thinking
quickly (and dumbly), I smashed down on the throttle in 1st gear, spinning my
tires like mad in the rain. I made the turn and got out of the way of the
truck, HOWEVER I didn't make the turn completely, the car skidded towards the
right, the wheels locked and the right front of the car SMASHED into the 6"
high curb at about 20mph. OUCH.
I backed up and pulled forward into a parking spot, and noticed my car felt
really funny. It was still runinng fine but the steering wheel was all over
the place. Also, the R/F wheel was noticeably rubbing against something. At
first I thought I had smashed my Stillen air dam against the curb (thats
actually what I hoped for) but as I got out of the car and ran over to the
right side I fell into shock.
The R/F wheel was bent and scratched to hell, the tire had a huge 2" wide
gaping hole (which was rapidly becoming flat), and the entire wheel and brake
assembly was pushed back about 5" towards the back of the car. The rubbing
noise I had heard was the sound of the tire hitting the inner splashield. My
heart sank as I looked at my poor injured baby in the rain, and I stood there
getting soaked as thunder roared over my head. What to do?
Well first I jacked up the car, took off the ruined wheel and tried to
inspect the damage. Nothing visual to take note of except the fact that the
brake/strut assembly was obviously pushed back way to far. Apparently the R/F
wheel took the FULL force of the impact into the curb, as there was NO body
damage whatsoever.
I called triple A, had the car towed, and my dad came to pick me up. I was
soaked and sad, a double whammy.
Anyways we got the call the next afternoon, here is info:
$800 damage. R/F control arms, strut, wheel, tire, and brake rotor need to be
replaced. The car also needs a front end alignment :( Insurance only covers
some of it under my collision policy, and I have a $500 deductible :(
Anyways that would have been bad enough. I have been without my car since
that day (this was about two weeks ago) but thats just the beginning.
This past March I was late for a job interview and was caught speeding on a
highway, clocked at 87mph in a 55mph zone. I usually keep around 65mph on
that road, and this was one of the few times I went past that. Just so
happened there was a state trooper sitting there with his radar gun. Anyways
the fine was $181.50 and I had to take a points test at the DMV back in
August to keep my license. I thought it was all over (seeing this is
September and that was March) but then about a week ago I received a letter
from the DMV.
I was informed that I am losing my "driving privledge" for two weeks starting
September 11th. According to PA state law, anyone caught doing 30mph over the
posted speed limit is required to turn in their drivers license for that time
period.
Ahh, then it gets ever better! I am scheduled to finally get my car back on
September 11th.
Jordan White
Nazareth, Pa
1991 Sentra SE-R in surgery
