Bricking it

[Marwood]

I'm sure there is a German phrase which sums up the feeling.

You have a great meeting with clients and finish early. The sun is blazing and your shiny GS is sat, fully fuelled, waiting in the car park. You decide to take the long way home, through beautiful countryside and via great roads, listening to radio reports of endless tailbacks on practically every other route in Britain. The numpty in the bubble car turns off - revealing a glorious ribbon of twisty, well surfaced tarmac. Drop a couple of gears. Make swift progress. Savour the moment. Roll up behind pootling convertible...wait for a safe place to over-

BANG.

HOLY FK?!!

I've just hit a house brick. In the middle of the road. A house brick. WHATTHEHELL??

I see the car in front go over it but just can't react quickly enough. The brick bounces under the GS and sounds like a grenade going off.

I haul off the road to look for damage, expecting cracked alloys and shattered spoilers...

Can't see anything, just a small scrape on the rim (annoying enough if you're OCD and would rather park in a different post code than risk a kerbing). Drive on, slowly and then stop again, neurotically looking for bulging sidewalls...Nope. Head home, good mood gone, and gradually let the speed creep up. At 70mph there is a distinct buzzing - enough to shake the rear view mirror. Switch lanes looking for smoother tarmac - bugger. Still there. Something is not right.

I've hurt my car.

Because somebody left a ******* BRICK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE A272!!

 

[highlander]

I have been lucky and never had a proper crash, any damage to my cars have been from stupid bumps and like you, odd items in the road. Remember hitting a plank, obviously came off a builders lorry, and it bounced up after the front wheels ripping brake pipes off my Volvo 480...... Scary stuff.
Hope it's not too much damage

 

[allandwf]

Hope you got away with it, check pipes etc. underneath , but there is a vast expanse of emptiness under our cars, so a good possibility. Bangs always sound worse than they are. My nearest one , while the subject has been raised, an unhitched trailer in the middle of a country lane at night! That was a scary one. You would think someone would notice a trailer missing though.

 

[safrane]

The damage could be on the inside of the wheel away from the spokes...good luck.

 

[Zep]

Sounds like a scary experience! Lucky it didn't spit you off.

I'd check the inside edge of your rims, they are the softest bit and one might have buckled. All suspension for cracks etc and the underside of the engine.

I hope your luck improves!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[highlander]

You would think someone would notice a trailer missing though.

Lol......especially near Forfar! Was there an eBay number on it?

 

[StuartW]

Sorry to hear that at least you're ok, it could have been horrendous

 

[Steve GS]

I hope you haven't done any real damage. I hit a brick on the m25 once blow out and a cracked rim for my troubles.

 

[conaero]

Sounds like you have buckled an alloy, thats going to be a tallorder finding one.

I just sold a set of 4 to someone who only needed 1 rear, PM me if you would like me to put you intouch with him.

 

[Felonious Crud]

Sorry to hear that but glad you're in one piece - that could have been proper nasty.

Always worth a look on Eurospares - I've seen a couple of GSs breaking on there. Good luck!

 

[dickygrace]

Sorry to hear it Marwood; I've got a couple of Gransport wheels if you need one.

 

[Marwood]

Thanks Dickie...good to know. Getting the car checked over on Friday. Will keep you posted.

M

 

[safrane]

Emblem have one GS wheel for sale...not sure if its front or rear.

 

[BigR]

Came across a big rock just over the crest of a hill once, so nicely bottomed out the undertray of my new Golf GTI on it, resulting in a new engine no less! And after about 6wks (as VW can't apparently get engines for their cars), I got it back. About a week later and late one night I came across a breeze block lying in the middle of the road. Smacked the undertray but fortunately didn't go through to the engine. But another couple of weeks off the road. And then the car was delivered back with an oil pressure problem and a loose gearstick (as I drove away from the dealership I of course immediately noticed this - their response was "you can book it in for two weeks time") - I say loose, it came off in my hand as I was changing gear. That car was the devils work... I feel your pain!

 

[outrun]

Sounds like a wheel to me too but I'd also have a good look at the suspension, particularly the front rods etc. It could have simply knocked it out and need a proper geometry set-up. It's perhaps worth a try to get it onto a Hunter alignment machine (many Kwik Fits have these now) and see what's what. It should be done every year or so anyway so it's money well spent. These cars are sensitive.

 

[CatmanV2]

Only thing I had similar was hitting a full bottle of coke on the motorway. Not so bad, but I was on a bike.....

C

 

[allandwf]

2lt?

 

[CatmanV2]

2lt?

At 85 I couldn't actually read the label, but yes, it certainly wasn't a 500 ml

I just *hoped*

C

 

[Felonious Crud]

I hit a lorry tyre once on the M6 in pouring rain on my home late one night. Caused all manner of damage from the front all the way underneath. The car was never quite the same again.

 

[safrane]

I hit a wooden pallet which fell off a truck on the M25...I had only had the car 30 mins!