Bret928

Who knew traffic cones could do so much damage!

There I was, tooling down the road minding my own business, when out of nowhere - from under the 4x4 in front of me pops about 4 orange traffic cones!

Well I managed to dodge the first two, but the second hit my right finder – scuffing the paint but nothing any worst than some if the scuffs I already had. But the fourth cone was the fabled golden BB and got sucked right up into my grille work.

Next thing I know I hear all kinds of violent noises & have a nasty vibration emanating from under my hood as I pull off to the side of the road to investigate.

Damage report:
The vertical & horizontal grill pieces are toast. Also damaged was the electric cooling fan (broken blade) & shroud (dent) where pushed back into my “NEW” condenser that is now bent. The new dryer was also pushed back but looks to be ok.

The good news is even with all that damage the A/C system is still working and my new C&R radiator wasn’t damaged.

So from what I can tell – I will only need to replace the fan, mounting hardware and the grill pieces.

I tell ya - if'n it werent' for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all.

Ron_H

It happened to me in Texas one day on the freeway. A huge cone from under a truck and nowhere to go, and no wiggle room. Resulted in a bent front fender and damaged spoiler/airdam. When I got back to California, I used my best tool, my fist and heel of my hand to pound the fender and spoiler back into position. Looks good, if I do say so myself.

Nicole

Ouch! That's awful!

Hopefully you can get the parts fairly quickly and fix this. I wish you better quality luck from now on!

V2Rocket

Bret - was this by any chance on Ted Williams going to the 56? I was driving there a few months ago following a CalTrans truck and a cone fell off and I smacked it, it broke the PS support for my front valence and left a scuff on my paint...

Bret928

Well I pulled all the grill work and have tied down the shroud of the electric fan. Problem is the fan has a missing blade so it vibrates like hell when it kicks in.

I priced the fan & grill pieces and they’re not cheap. So minus the “bent” condenser and the paint damage I’m looking at about $300 right now. But I’m going to see if I can’t salvage a couple of the vertical grill supports first. One things for sure I need a new fan otherwise the ol gal is going to heat up fast around town. Fan should run about $100 for a used one at 928int.

Spencer,
Actually I was driving down the 15 past all that construction between RB and Poway Rd. Not sure where the cones came from as I didn't see any set-up. I'm thinking that they fell off of another vehicle ahead of the jacked up 4x4 in front of me that flug them back at me.

Scott M.

Now go do a few Autocross' and get some revenge on the cones.

Mike Frye

Dude,

It sounds like you got 'punked'. How was your following distance?

Please don't take this the wrong way and I'm not saying this is the case, but sometimes if someone is right up on me too close I'll wait until the last minute to avoid something in the road and then it's up to the follower to deal with it.

Sounds like your truck friend fired a few missiles at you from in front. He cleared them fine, but with your spoiler and the cones bouncing you never had a chance.

Sorry to hear about the damage. You have had a few 'issues' lately. Maybe you should stay off the road this Friday, the 13th?

Slantnose!

+1!
Yeah, those cones can hurt alot sometimes.....

Bill51sdr

That's +2 seconds for you Bret

Bret928

I thought about that but the truck seems just as surprised as I was. You know the type – 6” lift kit with 35’s, ton of custom suspension work and has probably never seen dirt. Besides I was at least 5 or 6 car lengths in behind the truck and was going with the flow of traffic. That equates to about ~75mph in this part of Southern Kalifornia.

Not enough time at that speed to avoid sucking one of the cones up into the grill.

Yup! That’s the plan right now.

928drvr86.5

I agree, but i bet he wasn't even following too close. I am picturing the truck driver seeing a nice Porsche in his rear view mirror, the cones lining the road,
and at moment a tiny lite bulb lit in his brain. He probably even said to his passenger, "watch this".

I can't even count the number of times that i have freshly detailed my 928 and end up behind someone that just NEEDS to spray their windsheild clean right at the moment they notice me in their rearview mirror with my shiney 928. I would say that half the time I can even see them smiling in the mirror as my car gets a bath.

Bret928

Hey now - be nice, the cones you on an Autocross course deal with are static & ain't flying at you out'a nowhere at warp speed.

Hmm? Thinking about it – I bet if we could figure out a way of throwing cones at the autocross drivers would bring the competition to a whole new level.

BC

I may have a fan bret. I will have to check.

NickT

Mine "ate" a piece of truck tire once, thrown up by the car in front..

I feel for you.. although fortunately mine didn't suffer as much damage.

RngTrtl

I drive a truck for a daily driver and unless I know that I cannot drive over it (which is rare), say a hey bale on I-20 (this happened once), I never drive around stuff. Its too dangerous to be swerving in a truck at 70+ MPH. When I drive my 928 its a different mindset, I am always looking way ahead and beside me to make sure that i can avoid anything in the road.