Oooops.
Late Wednesday night, totally sober but very tired, I nailed the curb
with the left front corner of my Miata, while on the onramp entering the
southbound 405 freeway from Inglewood Ave, in Los Angeles.
I had several problems that conspired against me.
First of all, I always take that corner kinda fast, if there is no
traffic.
Second, the windshield was dirty. My fault. I was too lazy to clean it
properly, and I was so tired that I actually missed seeing the entry
point of the on-ramp at first, and ended up turning in very late.
Third, I was wearing slippery shoes that I am not used to driving with,
and my right foot slipped off the brake pedal and applied brake and gas
at the same time while I was turning in (late). This sent me into a
pushing attitude. Akkkk...
You can guess the rest. Nasty push, too much speed, whack curb. Ouch.
I'm not subscribed to the Miata list, but I think Tim Mullen is, so Tim
if you're willing, could you cross-post the following to the Miata list?
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Subject: Help.... busted front suspension
I nailed the curb with my left front wheel, and bent the tie rod, the
anti-roll bar end link, the lower control arm, and the strut on my '90
Miata. The car is in a body shop that I trust (well, up to a point,
anyway). They have the parts, and are gonna start working on it next
Tuesday.
My questions are these:
1) Does anyone have any related experiences?
2) Is it possible that the lower control arm mounting points have moved?
3) Is it possible that the rack has been damaged in any way?
4) Are there any critical alignment issues? (i.e. what, if anything,
should I make a big deal about getting *just* right, when we take
it to have the alignment shop perform their incantations?)
5) I'm aware of the criticality of wheel balancing and inflation
pressures, as they affect possible front end vibrations on these
cars... but what balancing specs should I actually hold the alignment
shop to?
I realize it is probably hopeless to get an alignment shop to properly
bump-steer the car, and I've pretty much resigned myself to selling it
in the next 6 months anyway, but in case I should feel really ambitious,
is there a good write up somewhere, on bump-steering a Miata?
Any other advice will be accepted graciously.
Please respond directly to erik.berg@trw.com, because I am not subscribed
to the Miata mailing list at the present time.
Regards,
Erik Berg
erik.berg@trw.com
'90 Miata
'64 Elan
4 rwd, 0 fwd
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Meanwhile, any sage advice from our chapman-era denizens? ;-)
Erik
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