It Could Happen to You!!!
July 24, 2009 Greetings all! For those of you who may have been wondering why I was out on Thursday, let me enlighten you.
Around 9:30 PM, I was headed northbound on I-75, approximately one mile from the Fletcher Avenue exit, when I began to experience a thumping sound and a very rough ride. I expressed myself with creative words, up until about one half mile from the exit.
The thumping got worse, then there was a loud popping sound, a distinct sound of metal to asphalt, and a very unhappy me. I proceeded to pull over into the right lane and jog my way over to the shoulder to assess what caused my terrible noise when what to my wondering eyes should appear?!? The tread of my driver side tire taking the opposite course as me.
Under a street lamp I prepared to install my spare tire, only to have the street lamp go out and find out that my tire was effectively shot, at which point I called FHP.
They arrived in no time flat, five to ten minutes, aided me in getting a spare which they provided onto my car, and escorted me off the road to safety. The only problem I had was that I didn't get his name, because I fully intended on calling FHP once more to compliment his fine and courteous service. For the problems you hear about law enforcement, there are still some who hold up their "protect and serve" motto.
Once the sun rose in Lutz the next day, I drove to Kauffman tire, found out my tire was special order (but covered by Dunlop). No cost to me. Yay! Friday morning I picked up my tire, mounted on my rim, since luckily it was minimally damaged, only several scratches, and put it on.
In the process I found out that my rain guard flap behind the driver tire was gone, along with a trim panel. The ABS Wheel Speed Sensor had been ripped out of the body of the car, and the control arm was warped. Since these are all minor but aggravating, I'll start to work straightening it all out on Sunday. Hope everyone has a great weekend!
PS - IF THIS HAPPENS TO YOU, my best advice is DO NOT APPLY YOUR BRAKES. Coast to a stop. Since metal has much more resistance the rubber, you run the risk of spinning the car, or worse, flipping it over. I'm lucky I knew.
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