High winds on the I-10 near Palm Springs tore the left front fender trip off my car, denting the door and scratching the mirror. Made a huge noise. Very scary. The gust blew me out of my lane. $55.00 for a new one shipped with mounting studs extra. BTW, the new piece comes with the mounting studs (found that out the hard way).
There is no way for it to be "loose." The fasteners "set" into their respective holes with a zero-tolerance "click" when the piece is snapped into place. Just a freak incident. I would be that gust was over 80 mph. My mpg for that trip was 29.2. It is normally 54 to 60 when the winds are calm.
In that kind of weather, I'd say you came out pretty good. I'm glad you didn't get hit by a flying semi! Sent using Hello Moto
I encountered a semi on its side on I-8 in the mountains of So Cal a few years ago. It had just happened and they closed the road right behind me as we squeaked by on the shoulder. Those were 80+ mph winds, too. Almost as bad as a Colorado chinook.
Something we should all take a look at as it may have become loose over time and that gust of wind just finished it off. I lived in Beaumont for 22 years and can honestly say that those winds out there are like lo other place. When I retired and moved back to Arizona my new neighbors told me I'd hate the wind here, I laughed.
It's on there pretty "strongly". Checked yesterday on my friends car. I wonder if it was actually hit with something else the wind was carrying. Or perhaps it was never snapped in properly?
