JB 911

Well guys, had a sad day in my short 993 ownership.

Where to start.

I am in what I would describe as pre rush hour traffic. Pretty heavy traffic, but all 4 lanes in my direction moving along at a fair 55-60 mph when 'it' appeared. A draw bar with ball attached that had fallen out of someones hitch. Plus it had something else on it since it wasn't laying flat. Car in front didn't swerve , tap brakes nothing, no warning, just went right over, gave no warning at all. But they weren't as low as me... It's slap bang in the middle of my lane no where to go that wouldn't require paint. For a split second I almost went all in on the brakes but I'm glad I didn't there was a truck behind me.

I went over it, held my breath. Didn't make it.

It ruptured the power steering rack between the front wheels. Right thru the plastic cover and thru the casing exposing a 2x2" ragged hole.

Unbelievably, it cleared the front bumper or just nicked it (theres a few scratchs down there) enough to bounce it up at the wrong angle to catch the rack. So there is no paint or body damage. Just mechanical. There appears to be no damage further back. Thank goodness.

Man I am so sad and bummed. I have only had the car for 3 months. I have been so careful with her. She's not my dd, so I really pick when & where I go with her.

Later at home, my 11 year old son put things in perspective. He sensed how down I was and he put his hand on my shoulder and said "dad, the important thing is YOU are ok." It was tough to admit, but he was right. There more I thought about it, just a little more force and I might have lost steering.

Anyways. SO on to the question. Haven't decided to claim or pay out of pocket. If out of pocket, I would probably look for a rebuilt rack, if I claim I would guess they would put a new one in? Prob pretty pricey. Any suggestions/ sources for rebuilds, recs, welcome. Fair to say I'm not going to be getting a core deposit back on this one.

(btw I'm not going to DIY the install. I have a good shop lined up to do that part my question is more claim/not claim /new /rebuilt/sources/experiences)

Thanks in advance and be careful out there.

Mister C

That really bites. Glad to hear that you are ok. Your son is correct--your health and well being is the most important thing of all.

Texas993

Check it see if it is Comprensive and, if so, claim it.

Don't stress about it, that is a wear item that would likely need to be replaced soon anyway. Lemonaid from lemons!

NP993

C'mon. It's a steering rack. No need to go on suicide watch.

BobbyT

If your 993 has no previous collision history, you might consider how this will appear on CarFax if you ever decide to sell the car. From my experience, any collision history, no matter how minor or fully explained and documented, makes prospective buyers nervous. It might be better to pay our of pocket, depending on the total and your deductible.

Mark in Baltimore

Your son is pretty cool. I know how agonizing it is to be on an inexorable path of vehicular damage, but you should consider yourself relatively lucky. The hitch could have gone through the windshield and hit you, dented the floor pan, cracked the case, etc.


That's some funny sh*t.

BesideTheBox

Sorry to hear about this. I hope the recovery is relatively painless.

It always amazes me how much crap is on the roads. Thank goodness this was not worse.

Quadcammer

precisely.

its a bummer, but ultimately, no big thing.

Get a rebuilt rack, eat the core charge, and you're done.

kjr914

JB,
Yep that sucks. But you've done well raising that son and he is already wise at 11....that's worth much more than any 993. Just yesterday on my way to work there was a large off-road jack in the adjacent lane that people were dodging and I had that thought....no way I'd clear that....gulp!
Take pictures of damage, keep documentation of what happened, what was done to fix it, then IF it appears on CarFax, its easily explainable. Since CarFax isn't always right, people can fix accident damage without an accident claim, in the end the car itself is the indication of its condition not some piece of paper peddled by a fox...

Technical stuff aside, RL993 is always got some great entertainment value!

Deep breath, JB....all is ok.

JB 911

I didn't see that one coming lol that made me laugh...

Thanks Keith, that's some good advice. And I caught the 'fox' comment - nice. I certainly wouldn't have trouble buying with pics and receipt. Shoot, it is one less DIY on the horizon for a potential owner. But I have no plans to sell, and if I do, I hope to be in the position to not have to sell and not in a rush to sell. Although those two criteria tends to extend ownership by even a few more years


Anybody got a rebuilder to rec? I searched found a few. Plus a lot of you savy guys doing it yourself with the $75 - kit. That's not me at least for another 10years...

EMBPilot

There is a thread 6-8 months back where STEVEc4s had a steering rack rebuilt by a shop that quadcammer recommended, it was less than $500 I think. Search for that thread.

linen grey ghost

Just a thought, but might be timely to go through entire front end (depending on cars mileage).
Tie Rods, shocks, and probably an alignment might be useful with a rack replacement.

As others said: document (papers/photos) everything associated with repairs/renewal.

Glad you and fellow travellers are unharmed, metal easier to repair than flesh - wonder if the hitch was removed from the roadway as some point in the day? Now that would be a good reason for flashing red and blue.

P-daddy

Sorry to hear about the mishap, Jamie. Im glad to hear you werent hurt and nothing more than the rack damage. Get some recs from local rennlisters and "handle your bitness". Just look at it as taking care of a wear item as someone suggested above. Im glad you're ok bro!!

4X4SCHE

I flat spotted my tires stopping when the rusty rear bumper fell off a truck right in front of me. The driver heard the noise and walked back and casually asked me to help him pick it up. As we threw it in I saw it had a "**** Happens" sticker on it.

LexVan

If it was moving/flying and hit his car and drove over it, it's a Comp claim. If he struck it in the roadway, stationary, it's collision. Pretty sure.