tbird three wheeler

[danekejt]

well took my car(89sc 130,000) to the mechanic last thurs to have my new tokico shocks put on. well friday afternoon well driving home from my parents place my right front tire comes off. i was doing about 45 when it came off. luckly i was able to get the car stopped and fine the tire in a corn field.

now i am sweating if the car is going to be totaled for the second time this year. if so i doubt i will buy it back again and fix it. i am going try and not let them total it though. not sure how extensive the damage is under the car but the fender was pushed up and back into the door. rotor was all chewed up and the brake line was leaking. not sure about the suspension either. wish me luck.

[dirtybird91]

Well at least you we not injured. That could have turned out ugly.
A similar situation happened to me about six months ago. I bought a '94SC, so I decided to loan my '91 to my brother. We were drinking and decided to change my Cobra R rims from the '91 to the '94. It all worked as planned, but we forgot to tighten down the lugnuts on the front driver's side wheel on the '91. My brother left and the wheel fell off in the middle of town!:eek:

The only damage was to the fender and we also had to install new studs into the front bearing. We replaced the fender and studs and she's just like new again.;)

A lesson was learned! "don't drink and work on your car"!

Dirtybird91:p

[danekejt]

wow yeah i will have to keep that in mind. man i am abscent minded when sober and working on my car cant imagine being drunk and doing it.

[TBirdDriver]

Let's see, take car to mechanic on Thursday. Mechanic takes off wheels to do shocks. Friday, tire falls off. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out who is to blame on this one. Garages carry idiot insurance for things like this. Go after the garage for the damage, or have your insurance go after the garage.

[danekejt]

yeah have already done that. have rental car on them and they are drop car off at body shop. garage is right down the street from where you live, its lehigh tire. have always liked the work that they did there just not now.

[TBirdDriver]

Lehigh did my alignment.
Best one I've ever had on my SC. (And I've had at least 12)
I also bought a set of tires off them. (I burn through a lot of tires putting 800 miles a week on the bird so I got a no-name brand), but these tires are holding up better than any I've tried so far.

But even with good garages...mistakes happen.

[Suprchgdbird]

I agree with tbird driver. That garage has to pay for everything. This is why I will not let anyone work on my sc other than me and other ford friends. That really suxs. Good luck!!

[danekejt]

thanks. yeah it does suck. sucks big time. i a betting they are going to try and total the car. which will send me thru the roof. car should not be totaled. should not have been totaled the first time. this is fixable. will keep ya posted.

[Mr1der]

to this I say BOHICA Mr. Garage man. Even if it is totaled, I'd buy it back, there's always someone wanting parts:)

[danekejt]

you guys are right, they do do good work there. just sucks when there bad day affects you and your sc that could be totaled. keep your fingures crossed.

[nomind]

I had a simular experience, but it was my own fault on the 89 Bird I owned. Lost the drivers side front tire because of stripped lugs. I'm just glad that nobody hit the tire when it crossed into oncomming traffic on I-40.

[GREATWHITE666]

im going to go tighten my lug nuts right now. thanks for the heads up!-
Damon

[Randy N Connie]

Be a good time for a K-MEMBER.fenders are cheap.

[dirtybird91]

Originally posted by Randy N Connie
Be a good time for a K-MEMBER.fenders are cheap.

Randy,
Where can I get my hands on a good K-MEMBER?:confused:
Dirtybird91

[danekejt]

just received the good news, they will not be totaling the car. The are going to fix it. the damage under the car was not bad. the adjuster said that if they would have had to replace the suspension components that would have put it over the top and totaled the car. Now i hope that they are actually still good and not that they are letting it go because i bitched about them totaling the car. guess we will see how the tires wear.

[TBirdDriver]

Just curious, and I know this is hindsight, but now that you look back on it, did you hear a noise coming from the wheel? I almost
lost a wheel once but I could hear a lug nut rattling around in the hub cap and was able to stop and tighten it.

[danekejt]

yeah i did and i look back on it now and i should have stopped. i was at lehigh tire before it happened and they said the noise was from the upper and lower ball joints being removed from the day before and now they were settling back. so that is what i thought it was but your right i should have pulled over sooner and would have avoided all of this.