Driving in winter... (mild 56K warning)

370Z Purist

... is not the greatest idea. Especially with stock tires.

Well, winter wouldn't really be a part of the problem too much.

I always told myself I would be the very last person to post a crash thread. Unfortunately, I'm not, so here's the story.

About 10 days ago, I was driving down to my house from the girlfriend's. It was snowing outside, and I was on a large road where any of the snow would be endlessly run over by cars and turned to water and slush. As I reach the top of the crest, I've lost some speed. Limit's 40, so I give a little gas since I was at 30. In retrospect, I should have stayed at 30.

While I was on the gas, I hit a bump on top of the road and just start to hydroplane all over the place. Well, actually, I barely even slid that much, but I hit the curb and bounce off into oncoming traffic lanes. If I had to describe
how I hit it, imagine this:

You're facing straight along the road. Hydroplane happens, and you begin to turn left. The wheel hits the curb, and you spin right and stop in the opposite lanes. Address the following, a dramatic, beautiful reconstruction of the event.

front
____
\___\----|
_\car-\---| curb
__\___\---|

When I finally come to a stop, I look in front and in back. There was no traffic for at least a quarter mile more in either direction. In all my life I have never felt a feeling of relief at my insanely good luck. A guy in a minivan comes to check up on me. I manage to limp home on the snowy subdivision roads (mind you I had basically crashed 15 seconds from home).

I think to myself, maybe if I had just pushed in the clutch and not hit the brakes so hard, I'd be fine, but it was too late for that. I'm already thinking of the worst case scenario, I've smashed up the passenger side panels and it's going to be a + $10K repair. VDC was off, and the "VDC is working" light (or the slip light, I don't know) was on.



I looked around at the car and everything was fine, no body damage. I'm lucky there. But I saw this (sorry about the terrible lighting and huge images):








As you can (or can't) see, the wheel itself is damaged, but not too badly. Regardless, it still has to be scrapped, since it's heavily distorted (but it still seems to hold air). The obvious part is that it's toeing out significantly; at least five degrees. At this rate, I'd be afraid to drive it over 20 mph for fear of the tire peeling right off while I'm moving.

I am trying to get a hold of a couple buddies for their jacks so I can get a clear look at the suspension components, as taking off the wheel itself also accomplishes little.

I'm estimating a repair (in parts) at 500-1000 dollars... and the labor to skyrocket the price into the 4000-5000 range. I've already contacted RCZ about a set of stock wheels (would you believe the dealer charged me 1100 for a single wheel?).

So how about it, guys? Did I **** up bad? Also, suggestions as for how to fix it? Maybe it's a DIY project. Probably not.

__________________
-Phil

"Since one of my brake light bulbs just went out, the forum told me that my piston rings are about to blow."