Hit a rock

On my way to Phoenix yesterday. On the I-10 near Palm Springs at 70 mph at 3 am., a rock or chunk of concrete appears suddenly in front of me. It was a perfect match to the asphalt in the dark so I didn't see it until it was too late to avoid. It hit the underside of the car between the license plate and my seat, missing the tires.

After noisily bouncing over it, I took a quick glance. Fortunately it appears it didn't cause serious mechanical damage. The splash protector in the front under the engine is beat up. The driver's side front wheel well plastic tore loose and shredded against the tire. They're pretty well destroyed.

Other than that the car seems ok. I finished the one-day trip to Phoenix and even got a little better gas mileage than the same trip last week.

I'll have the mechanic put the car on the lift Monday and do a better damage inspection while replacing the broken plastic. If those splash guards are the only casualties of that encounter I consider myself extremely lucky.

 

I was but I had to be there for a family funeral. No choice but to drive at that time.

 

Parked the car on level ground and the clearance above the tires is different by an inch or two in the front. The driver's side is sagging a touch compared to passenger side. I'm guessing maybe a damaged shock/strut? We had planned on replacing them before our trip cross country this summer anyway so hopefully that's all it is. These shocks and struts already have 147k on them. For all I know, it was sagging before I hit this rock and hadn't caught it.

 

I'm hoping it's something that simple. They need to be replaced, though, after that many miles. It should help on our 5,000+ mile trip as we load the car with luggage, ice chest, two sets of golf clubs, etc., etc.

 

Not that I noticed but the car seemed a little less aerodynamic at 70 mph the rest of the trip. I attribute that to the flapping pieces of the splash guards still attached to the car and waving in the wind. I will have the mechanic check things out thoroughly under the car tomorrow though. We're only a month and a half away from our long summer trip and I don't want something like that showing up 1000 miles from home or in the middle of the hot desert. Thanks for sharing your experience.

 

As I indicated earlier, it's going to the mechanic tomorrow. He's not there weekends so it can't be done any sooner than that. In the meantime it's not being driven and instead sitting in the driveway.

 

They are still evaluating the damage but so far all they have found are the front splash guard and the one in the driver's side front wheel well need to be replaced. That and alignment since the steering wheel is no longer perfectly level across. I had planned on new shocks and struts before our long trip anyway so It's ok if they took a hit. He's going to replace them with KYB shocks and struts. That's the preliminary findings from first glance. They have the car on the rack and are performing a much more thorough inspection right now. He'll call me later with the findings.

 

Good news! No further damage! Even the front splash guard only tore loose but can be reattached without buying a new one. The alignment, wheel well splash guard replacement, shocks and struts will take care of it.

It also appears it wasn't a rock after all. They found quite a few bits of animal fur on various pieces of the bottom of the car but there wasn't enough to identify what it was. My guess is a truck killed whatever it was and I hit the carcass. It must have been laying with its back to me so I couldn't see the head or legs. Most likely a coyote out there.

 

Yes. He said absolutely they would have that lined up for us.

 

Just picked up the car and drove it the 19 miles on the freeway coming home. The new shocks and struts actually raised the clearance in the wheel wells and changed the ride in a positive way. They wear out so gradually I hadn't paid much attention to how much the old ones had sagged, both front and rear. The toe on the wheel alignment had been thrown off (they gave me the printout) but it straightened up perfectly. Plastic pieces reattached or replaced as needed. I'm very happy with it.

In two weeks I'll have them do the 150k service plus the PCV and brake fluid change. After that it will be a full Prolong maintenance on the battery and we'll be ready to head for the East Coast and back.

 

We're not leaving until the end of June so I'll have 5 weeks and 4 or 5 one day trips of at least 200 miles on it by then.