Hit a chunk of cement last night... would you replace the x-member for this damage?

[Cobra4B]

Hit a rain storm and pulled off on the side of the highway to put the top in... unfortunatly VDOT doesn't keep the shoulders up at all and I was greeted with a 6" x 6" x 6" approx. chunk of concrete from the road surface... there was nothing I could do. Upon closer inspection the rear part of the front section of the x-member is bowed backwards etc. Not sure if this will necessitate replacement or not, but I don't think it will. The spring got nicked as did the oil pan. May call my insurance agent on Monday to see if I can get it filed as a not at fault collision claim.

Front of cross-member


The rear rib of the front section is bowed backwards


Composite spring is nicked


Rear part of the front cross-member and oil pan

[chewbakkah]

no advice but i can tell you i know how you feel, had the mini cooper s for like a week and a semi truck ripped up some cement that looked as big as my car, i ran it over as it tumbled down the highway at 80mph. though i was going to puke, luckily though even though the car rides low it just made a BUNCH of noise and put a very small crack in the front plastic thats not even noticeable. you could literally hear it as it rolled under the car

[Cobra4B]

ttt

[AZZ061]

i have similar damage to mine. I see no structural damage and part of life and road hazards!

[Cobra4B]

Is yours actually bent... it's hard to see in the picture, but the rear lip of the front part of the x-member isn't straight accross anymore, it's bowed backwards.

[PerforminNorman]

Around these parts, if the roads/highways cause damage to your car, you can take a picture, present it to the DOT and they will pay for repairs.

[Z0fritz]

That sucks man, but I would do like the above advice and check with the DOT. In MO they will replace stuff. I had a buddy get his windshield broke by a MODOT snow plow (they were blading the highway and rock or something hit his windshield) and they replaced it. It would be worth checking into.

[RocketSled]

The crossmember/cradle itself is unlikely to be bent. The bent part is just a flange on the casting. I wouldn't be very concerned about any deformation there. I would however carefully inspect the oil pan for cracks or bends. Also, the spring is a laminated fiberglass composite. The cuts you put in it could "fret" over time, opening up further and leading to the spring failing. If you're going to replace anything, the spring would be the first thing I'd spend money on.

[Cobra4B]

I've got Pfadt coilovers and sways sitting in the garage anyway... so no worries on the spring. The oil pan is fine so I guess I'll be ok.

I'm not sure if VDOT will cover it because I was in the shoulder and not the main road surface.

[vant]

Sometimes I wonder if I'm crazy for not driving an SUV or truck like everyone else; there's so much crap in the roads down here it's sad. I clipped a cluster of 2x4's on I-10 with the outside edge of my rear tire last year (doing about 80). On impact, the lumber split like matchsticks, lodging a 3" splinter in the sidewall. It didn't lose pressure (thank God!) but obviously had to be replaced. As I was reluctantly paying for a new tire, I had to remind myself that it could have been much much worse.

As for your damage, I agree with RocketSled. The only thing that would give me concern is fatigue on the leafspring over time. But since you're installing coilovers, that's obviously a non-issue, as already stated.

[jub jub]

Clean it up with a file and sandpaper, look for cracks. You should be good to go!

Same thing happened to me at the Corvette Museum. They just repaved the surface when I happened to be looking at some hot babes and went off the shoulder. Yes, it was that thick.