How NOT to Go to a Wedding (and NOT to Use Nav)

[ekpolk]

This weekend my wife and I drove up to Atlanta for the wedding of a frind of her’s. That’s about a 350 miles drive – no big deal in the Prius. After checking in at the hotel, we got dressed and headed for the location of the ceremony – the house of one of the parents. Less than a mile out, and confused because the NAV system had become confused, I looked at the screen for a moment misjudged a turn, and slammed into a curb, ripping the sidewall out of our right front tire – and making a very memorable sound in the process (think large bomb going off...).

So there I was, in suit and tie, changing a shredded tire. It doesn’t get any better than that. . .

Of course, none of this was my fault – I asked Hotels.com for a hotel no more than 15 miles from the wedding, and got one 27 miles away instead. So it’s their fault – right?

Anyway, we made it to the wedding on time (dang, I’m good at changing tires...), and relatively intact (though drenched in sweat), so I guess I should not complain.

We also brought the kids, having bought tickets for the Georgia Aquarium for 11:00 the next morning. So I found myself at the nearest Big-10 Tires at 7:00 Saturday, looking for a fix, covered by my road hazard plan. Of course, the Michelins I had were not in stock, so I had to settle on a set of no-name Fusions, just to get on my way on time to make it to the giant fish tank.

Now, the car tracks down the road reasonably well, but with the steering wheel cocked about 15 degrees to the right of center (before this mishap, the wheel and straight ahead were in perfect agreement. . .).

I’m now afraid that I’ve bent the whole car. I slammed into a curb at about 20 mph (really, during the time compression of the moment, I was expecting an airbag in my face at any moment, and actually wondered how my wife would react to the bag messing up her makup.

Hmmmm, maybe it’s time to ger ‘er fixed up and go find me a nice unbent Camry hybrid. . .

 

[XS650]

Originally Posted By: ekpolk


Hmmmm, maybe it’s time to ger ‘er fixed up and go find me a nice unbent Camry hybrid. . .

Could you live with the Camry hybrid's almost unusable trunk?

Odds are you just bent some replaceable suspension components.

 

[ekpolk]

Originally Posted By: XS650
Originally Posted By: ekpolk


Hmmmm, maybe it’s time to ger ‘er fixed up and go find me a nice unbent Camry hybrid. . .

Could you live with the Camry hybrid's almost unusable trunk?


Seriously, I've already looked at it's trunk -- a long time ago, and though it's cubic volume figures are awful (around 11.5 ft), it actually doesn't look all that bad. I mean, I got by with an '88 Civic and its 12 cubic foot trunk for ten years, and never had to call off a mission because of it. It's certainly not ideal (neither of them), but yeah, I could live with it. Of course, this past weekend, whether it had been a Prius, a Camry, or an Impala (with all 20 feet of trunk), I'd have likely made the same awful mistake (though of course, it wasn't my fault...

).

 

[gtx510]

You're lucky it was a curb and not a cliff or you'd be getting a Darwin award right about now

Hopefully you just knocked the alignment out, or bent a tierod? Take her in for a 4-wheel, "thrust" alignment.

 

[Julian]

It couldn't have happened any other way! Mwwwwaaahahahahahaha...

How was the aquarium?

 

[Pablo]

Where is mori and his gadgets when you need him?

Glad you are OK! Just another unplanned workout!

Now who is good at checking straightness in your area?

 

[ekpolk]

Originally Posted By: Pablo
Where is mori and his gadgets when you need him?

Glad you are OK! Just another unplanned workout!

Now who is good at checking straightness in your area?


Yeah, that was the ultimate in "unplanned workouts". The funny thing is that the word about what had happened spread at the wedding, and by the time we got to the toasts, we ended up getting toasted for changing the tire, and still making it to the wedding just in time. I guess I looked OK, but that shirt didn't smell too nice when I got back to the hotel. . .

 

[Cutehumor]

wow EKpolk,

I'm glad you didn't take SecondMonkey's advice and NOT drive to Atlanta without a spare tire. You would have gotten better fuel efficiency but you would have missed the wedding. have you checked the wheel bearings? Probably won't be able to drive back to Florida until repaired.

 

[Gary Allan]

Quote:
I'm glad you didn't take SecondMonkey's advice and NOT drive to Atlanta without a spare tire. You would have gotten better fuel efficiency but you would have missed the wedding.


Nope. The Butterfly Effect would have altered his future if the spare wasn't there. I calculate that he would have never missed his turn and never hit the curb.

 

[Shannow]

ekpolk, there's a way of avoiding this in the future...lose the friends.

I think the "accident" was the unconscious mind attempting to get th Camry upgrade that you've been secretly desiring.

 

[firemachine69]

Originally Posted By: gtx510
You're lucky it was a curb and not a cliff or you'd be getting a Darwin award right about now

Hopefully you just knocked the alignment out, or bent a tierod? Take her in for a 4-wheel, "thrust" alignment.



Likely either one. And tie-rods can be difficult to diagnose visually, you need to take a really good look.

 

[Julian]

Originally Posted By: Gary Allan
I calculate that he would have never missed his turn and never hit the curb.
Obviously leaving him and his wife to be mauled by the rogue giraffe at the next intersection!

Originally Posted By: ekpolk
I guess I looked OK, but that shirt didn't smell too nice when I got back to the hotel. . .
Like a hard-workin man I bet!

Sounds like quite an adventure. Hope you (polks) had a good time.

 

[M1Accord]

what was the actual mileage from the prius for your trip? not the number from the computer but from the actual hand calculation when you add the total mile and divide it by the total gas used.

 

[ekpolk]

Originally Posted By: firemachine69
Originally Posted By: gtx510
You're lucky it was a curb and not a cliff or you'd be getting a Darwin award right about now

Hopefully you just knocked the alignment out, or bent a tierod? Take her in for a 4-wheel, "thrust" alignment.



Likely either one. And tie-rods can be difficult to diagnose visually, you need to take a really good look.


Absolutely right. Clearly, something is wrong, though the car is overtly driveable (no obvious bearing issues). The tire store did not do any alignment work, and the steering wheel is now cocked about 15 degrees left of center, though it seems to be tracking OK. I HAD to drive it home, since I HAD to be back this morning (five cases set for jury selection -- just got out of that little shop of horrors...). Anyway, it made the trip (about 350 miles) without any bad signs of trouble, other than the cocked steering wheel (prior to the curb hit, it was dead-on straight, which I loved).

As soon as I get the chance, it will be in for some comprehensive diagnostics. I hope this isn't too expensive.

 

[ekpolk]

Originally Posted By: M1Accord
what was the actual mileage from the prius for your trip? not the number from the computer but from the actual hand calculation when you add the total mile and divide it by the total gas used.


I quit making the manual calculations over a year ago, as they were almost always within an mpg or so of what the computer said. And although the computer is sometimes slightly optimistic, I also found that about a third of the time, it actually understated my mpgs, as compared to the computer {LATE EDIT -- that should read "as compared to the manual calculation"}.

With that in mind, here's the interesting part, at least to me. On the way up, with me cruising about 80 mph (in "trade fuel for time" mode, if you will), the computer said I was getting about 45.5 mpgs. On the way back, with two new tires on the rear, and the presumably compromised front end alignment, about the same driving pattern, we averaged only 40.5!!! That's just awful for a Prius. Something's going on. . .

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: ekpolk
With that in mind, here's the interesting part, at least to me. On the way up, with me cruising about 80 mph (in "trade fuel for time" mode, if you will), the computer said I was getting about 45.5 mpgs. On the way back, with two new tires on the rear, and the presumably compromised front end alignment, about the same driving pattern, we averaged only 40.5!!! That's just awful for a Prius. Something's going on. . .

Wow, sorry to hear about your mishap. Perhaps the fuel economy difference was due to the poor rolling resistance of the new tires?

 

[wantin150]

You need to sue someone for putting a curb in your intended path of travel.

 

[youdontwannaknow]

Originally Posted By: The Critic
Perhaps the fuel economy difference was due to the poor rolling resistance of the new tires?


I'd blame it on the drag caused by a badly messed up alignment.

 

[Chris142]

Hitting a curb in any car @ 20 mph is enough to do major damage.

 

[ekpolk]

Originally Posted By: youdontwannaknow
Originally Posted By: The Critic
Perhaps the fuel economy difference was due to the poor rolling resistance of the new tires?


I'd blame it on the drag caused by a badly messed up alignment.


I'd agree, though the pair of new tires may be adding a small amount of drag (they're on the rear, so that should reduce the impact even further).

What I find really peculiar about this is how the "feel" of the steering seems virtually unchanged. There is no discernable pulling, drifting, or other bad behavior. On the other hand, as noted above, the wheel is plainly cocked 10-15 degrees left of center when the car is tracking straight ahead. It used to be perfectly centered (which, being an incurable OCD type, is important to me...).

So the bottom line for now is that clearly something's bent down there, but so far, the only possible observable effect is the reduced mpgs, presumably caused by resulting drag.

I've been so busy that I have not been able to get the car into the shop yet (I've been trying cases right and left, and have three next week, and another the week after that). Soon...