rrohtake

Hi all,

Have you ever had an experience blowing your shock? I just took over a bigwig in a crowded highway when suddenly FC went out-of-control. I saw the wall 2 times, and faced the bigwig 2 times. I left without a scratch/ding, and only think it was miracle. It's been 30 minutes since, and I'm still shaking.

I have been able to apply counter in some bad times, but this just didn't do any good this time. I knew I can put-off "replacing (as nothing went wrong in the past)" the shocks can wait, but I believe 10 years is a good idea.

Take good care all,

Ricky

pfsantos

iTrader: (1)

Show us some pics. when you get a chance. Good thing you made it through alright.

Icemark

Probably broke a link, not a shock.

Shock failure almost never results in a suspension change unless you are trying to change lanes too fast for the conditions or make a turn too fast.

The car would simply bounce and lean more, not go out of control.

pfsantos

iTrader: (1)

Reted, maybe you can hold off on being an *** until we get more info? Maybe we can all learn something from this thread before it goes down to the *****. I know you can contribute positively, when you want to.

Like I said before, if the OP can take some pics. it would be great. Shocks wear out and usually don't just fail catastrophically, as Icemark pointed out. Maybe in this case a part failed due to age, or more likely, was damaged (previous accident, etc.). Maybe it had nothing to do with maintenance or driving.

edit: he meant "big rig"?

Force Fed

Bigwig = big rig I imagine.

And I agree w/ the others, even if a shock did suddenly burst or break somehow, it would not throw you out of control like that. Has to be something else broke, control arm, balljoint, tie rod, suspension mount, etc. Look your car over very closely before driving it again, and if you don't know what you are looking for/at, please please please take it to a good shop and have it checked.

MazdaMike02

iTrader: (4)

Tie rod, ball joint, link.

Those will cause that, a shock failure will not.

rrohtake

Hi all,
FC was just towed to a shop, so I will fill-in more as I find out what may have caused. In the meantime, I wanted to describe how it happened.

I was driving 60 mph and changed lane from #2 to #1 (far right) right after I passed a big wig (I guess they're also refereed as 16 wheeler.) I completed the lane change, and the steering was straight. After a second or two, I felt some unusual shake throughout the car and she suddenly spun to the left. As Icemark indicated, the snap wasn't horizontal (up and down) but very, very rapid left spin. The counter didn't make any difference at first probably because I was going 50-60 then. Another note I'd like to bring is the fact I spun between #1 and #2 lanes and didn't fly into #3; in other words, either front or rear tire completely locked (this may very well be wrong.) I was able to gain control at slower speed, so I gently took off-ramp that was less than 100 yards away. As I was about to regain control, I think I heard some heavy "boing"-like sound, but couldn't think to look what it was in the mirror. I drove very slowly on local road, and felt like the shock(s) were gone as I was picking-up more bumps even at low-speed (maybe 30mph max). I'm no expert, so I asked to have it towed to the shop. The tire to fenders heights look almost the same, but front left looked a little lower. I looked bellow, but couldn't find anything either. I'm not sure if it's the shock, the link, or something else but will definitely report back. I was super/ultra lucky to come out without a scratch, but this probably could have been prevented by looking at the something.

RETed: I probably should have changed the shocks since it's the original. Also I may not be the best driver, but this was a snap. I hope you can check yours (whatever it is that broke), as I was extremely lucky to get away without a scratch. But it was only inches away from every direction.

p.s. What scared me the most is the fact I have 11 month-old son, whom I drive home 3 days a week. This incident happened in the morning on my way to work, but I was planning on picking-him up later today. He had been in an accident when a guy hit my wife's '94 325 by running through a stop sign. The Integra (the guy) was badly smashed on the side, but my kid and wife was fine. Against a big wig, Volvo may have had chance of survival; however, vert-FC is far from Volvo. I will have to think more.

Thanks all. I will definitely report back with the cause/pics.

Take care.
Ricky

RETed

Sorry, but I used to drive around the Bay Area and Sac with a bone stock 1987 GXL with a KNOWN DEAD FRONT RIGHT SHOCK.
That's right.
It was a DD that we didn't give a **** on.
At least I knew how to drive with bad shocks...
It wasn't that bad unless you something really stupid.
I could take offramps at 80mph if you knew what you were doing...even with the bad shock.
You really can't blame bad shocks in this case, and I think something else is wrong and / or driver's skill comes into question.


-Ted

zmannz

iTrader: (1)

Yeah in my old z car I hit a dead deer in the road at night and had both front shocks come apart on me. I drove it like that like a bat outta hell for three weeks, no probs. Then the inner tie rod on the left side finally snapped after all that and I ran the car off in a ditch and totalled it, lost control completely when that happened.

rrohtake

Hi All,

I just got a call from the shop and they indicated problems around the steering case/unit. There are parts loose, and he assumes that being the problem. He looked around the link, ball joint, and tie-rod but couldn't locate any issue. I will go to the shop and re-confirm that the problem wasn't around link/tie rod etc. Also, I will try to take some pictures then.

Ricky

Icemark

That is Big Rig... not Big Wig (well... unless you can't say "R"s).

Sure your name is not Wicky?

rrohtake

Hahaha. You got me there. I didn't even notice the pointerS.

I got to the shop, but my FC was parked deep inside for tomorrow's inspection. As they were closing for the day, he told me 1) did a street inspection and 2) visual inspection.
1: He drove, and found the steering response odd.
2: He raised the car and inspected the shocks & surrounding thoroughly, but didn't find any issue. Steering issue, apparently, was obvious but didn't elaborate much (as I was holding the store from closing.)

I hate to clutter with own opinions, so promise to show some pics & results on my next post.

Icemark: that was one of the very few laughs I had. I seriously didn't get it first.

Ricky

MazdaMike02

iTrader: (4)

Obviously those guys are idiots. Theres no way loose parts caused that. A violent jerk and spin like that is related to a suspension failure. I recently did ball joints on a Lumina, the right side bolts sheared clean off while the guy was driving it. The car jerked into the next lane and he almost spun out, almost the same as what happened to you. Only thing is the car drives fine until the strut slips out of place.

rrohtake

Hi All,

I picked-up the FC, and mechanics found only one problem; left-front wheel play of 4-5mm (on the lift.) The pin was damaged and was half loose. They are guessing it may have been substantially more. They went through the link/ball-joint/suspension area, but couldn't find a single thing. The struts (Tokiko, but aftermarket) were fine and brakes were 40% or more. So, they did basically:

1) tighten all bolts they can find front/rear.
2) inspected areas I asked and shocks after taking the wheels off. (all struts seemed to have been replaced, and we have no ABS that interferes.)
3) repair the bearing pin.

After I picked-up the car, the steering seemed tad bit heavier but it maybe psychological. Power steer is still in, but they say there was no issue. They couldn't pin-point the large "boing" sound I heard after I spun either.

Can the bearing be the problem that caused the spin? It must have locked, but I'm not sure how that could have happened.

Thanks for all the advise.
Ricky

RETed

What kind of play?
Up and down play?
Radial play?
Axial play?
4mm - 5mm is almost 1/4" - that's kind of a lot.
If you could shake the wheel that much, it could be bad wheel bearing.
If these guys were real mechanics, they should've figured that out instantly.

I dunno what "pin" you're talking about?
Tie rod end / cotter pin?


Damn, this whole time I was assuming stock OEM originals.
Since they are Tokico's, it's highly unlikely they were that blown.
Hell, I was driving around with one leaking Tokico (Illumina), and I knew it was bad cause I'm really in tune while driving my FC. :P


-Ted

pfsantos

iTrader: (1)

Are you sure you didn't run over something you didn't see that caused the loss of control?

rrohtake

Hi All,

The front-left tire's play was found by holding upper and bottom part of the tire facing wheel surface (and not the tire surface), and push it in and out. (a little hard to explain by words but hope you get the idea.) The pin, I think, is tire-rod. It's located in the center of wheel, visible by taking off a cap filled with grease.

If this is the cause, it was probably caused last Friday when I had the lug-lock broken. I didn't drive during the weekend, so Tuesday morning sounds like a possibility. I found several deep scratches on the wheel, so it may have been broken by large force.

I am almost positive that I didn't' run over something that caused the spin. Reason I'm so sure is 1) the area was heavy traffic in a residential/industrial area and I didn't feel anything, and 2) the car shook vigorously a second before the spin. If I simply veered toward left, I wouldn't eliminate something but it was a snap and spin.

Could the play have caused the spin? and could taking off the lug caused the play? I called back the shop that took off the lug to see how they took it off, but they responded "confidential for safety reasons." I plan to go back, but would like to have leverage before I accuse anything.

Thanks again.
Ricky

RETed

It sounds like the preload of the hub was loose.
Did the mechanics just retighten this?
Yes, it's very possible what you have described is the source of the problem.
Usually, wheel bearings get damaged in this kinda of situation.
I'd be very mindful about any noises you hear from that front corner of the car.
In fact, I would highly recommend the wheel bearings be inspected - better yet, get them replaced for peace-of-mind.


-Ted