Lost control of my car, have some questions.

chrisfpv · 10-02-2010, 07:47 PM

Hey everyone,

About 1pm today I had a huge smile on my face as a rare outburst of rain came down. I'm not sure what it was like in other parts of melbourne but it was absolutely bucketing where i'm from.

Long story short I accidently (I put accidently in bold because it was really an accident) turned around a corner when the back of my BA XR6 lost traction and went out sideways.

Having never been in a situation like this before, I panicked and didn't know how to react or control the steering wheel and when the traction control kicked in, it whiped me in the opposite direction over a curb.

Inspecting my car it seems that so far the damage isn't "major" but it's still damage. From the looks of things I have a nicely sized bubble in one of my back tyres and my left fog light is hanging out.

Here are my questions:

1. What exactly have I done to my tyre? It looks normal apart from this bubble buldging from it. Is it going to explode and do I need to change my tyre asap?

2. The fog light seems to be intact and is just hanging out of the hole it sits in. Is fixing this as simple as wedging it back into the hole or do I need to do something else?

Any help is appreciated.

Franco Cozzo · 10-02-2010, 07:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XR

Hey everyone,

About 1pm today I had a huge smile on my face as a rare outburst of rain came down. I'm not sure what it was like in other parts of melbourne but it was absolutely bucketing where i'm from.

Long story short I accidently (I put accidently in bold because it was really an accident) turned around a corner when the back of my BA XR6 lost traction and went out sideways.

Having never been in a situation like this before, I panicked and didn't know how to react or control the steering wheel and when the traction control kicked in, it whiped me in the opposite direction over a curb.

Inspecting my car it seems that so far the damage isn't "major" but it's still damage. From the looks of things I have a nicely sized bubble in one of my back tyres and my left fog light is hanging out.

Here are my questions:

1. What exactly have I done to my tyre? It looks normal apart from this bubble buldging from it. Is it going to explode and do I need to change my tyre asap?

2. The fog light seems to be intact and is just hanging out of the hole it sits in. Is fixing this as simple as wedging it back into the hole or do I need to do something else?

Any help is appreciated.

The rain you went into, did that happen to be near Sunbury? Because I was driving on Melbourne Lancefield Road and the storm hit so hard that it blew all those reflectors with the rubber bases over in the middle of the road, and threw roadsigns onto the road, plus the rain was coming down so hard even with the wipers on full you couldn't see and we where aquaplaning a lot too.

Had to slow down to about 15km/h and my driving instructor called off the lesson because it was day too dangerous to drive in.

kenz · 10-02-2010, 07:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XR

About 1pm today I had a huge smile on my face as a rare outburst of rain came down.

why would you include that in a thread about 'accidently' loosing control in the wet

Copie · 10-02-2010, 07:51 PM

1: Bubble isnt good news, means that its seperated ply's, you need to change the tyre asap, its something you cant just drive with it like that. I assume its on the sidewall? also get your rims checked as you have most probably bent one.

2: Depends if its broken the mounts for it or not, best bet is to rip off the front bar and have a look.

Takes a fair bit to kick a rear end out even when its streaming down, on a NA xr6, unless the tyres are cactus already.

chrisfpv · 10-02-2010, 07:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kenz

why would you include that in a thread about 'accidently' loosing control in the wet

I put that in because these last couple of weeks have been unbelievably hot and I really was happy to see it raining for a change.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Copie

Takes a fair bit to kick a rear end out even when its streaming down, on a NA xr6, unless the tyres are cactus already.

The tyres are pretty low on tread, probably not the best for driving in the wet.

FPV+fteT3 · 10-02-2010, 07:52 PM

The tyre is cactus and needs replacing ASAP
The light just clips in from the back remove the bottom splash cover and its easy to do if you still cant get your hand in turn the front wheels and remove the lower screws or scrivets from the inner plastic mud guard.

XR2DOOR · 10-02-2010, 07:53 PM

tyres finished u need a new one

**Peuty** · 10-02-2010, 07:54 PM

The tyre is rooted.

Also, get your backside here ASAP http://www.deca.com.au/Courses.aspx?...icle%20-%20Car

kenz · 10-02-2010, 07:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XR

I put that in because these last couple of weeks have been unbelievably hot and I really was happy to see it raining for a change.

The tyres are pretty low on tread, probably not the best for driving in the wet.

lol fair enough. I just know what some people are like thats all, obviously you aren't one of them

goodluck with the damage. Maybe look into some courses, they are great

**cs123** · 10-02-2010, 07:58 PM

Can I suggest you go to a skid pan day to learn some car control.

chrisfpv · 10-02-2010, 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big Damo

The rain you went into, did that happen to be near Sunbury? Because I was driving on Melbourne Lancefield Road and the storm hit so hard that it blew all those reflectors with the rubber bases over in the middle of the road, and threw roadsigns onto the road, plus the rain was coming down so hard even with the wipers on full you couldn't see and we where aquaplaning a lot too.

Had to slow down to about 15km/h and my driving instructor called off the lesson because it was day too dangerous to drive in.

Yeah mate, it was in Sunbury.

TheInterceptor · 10-02-2010, 07:59 PM

Would probobly be a good idea to change all 4 tyres.

BLOWNXR8UTE · 10-02-2010, 08:00 PM

sounds to me like ya wernt driving to suit the conditions Hahaha!
Anyway, Copie is correct.
Maybe with the light, there are 2 flat clips top and bottom i think?
Have a go at pushing it straight back in.

Hows ya rim? chances are ya buckled it if it was a decent hit.

chrisfpv · 10-02-2010, 08:01 PM

Alright so from the sounds of it my tyre is finished? I have a spare so that's not so bad but can the tyre be repaired? I don't really want to be driving around without a spare for long.

**Peuty** · 10-02-2010, 08:02 PM

You cannot repair a tyre.

Franco Cozzo · 10-02-2010, 08:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XR

Yeah mate, it was in Sunbury.

You had to be crazy to be going more than 20km/h in that storm, gotta drive to the conditions buddy

It got to a point where there was about 7 or 8 drivers pulled up on the side of the road, waiting for it to pass.

**Dave R** · 10-02-2010, 08:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XR

Long story short I accidently (I put accidently in bold because it was really an accident) turned around a corner when the back of my BA XR6 lost traction and went out sideways.

Having never been in a situation like this before, I panicked and didn't know how to react or control the steering wheel and when the traction control kicked in, it whiped me in the opposite direction over a curb.

A little flick of opposite lock could have saved you here. Next time it rains, find an empty industrial cul-de-sac (the huge ones where semi trailers do U turns) after business hours of course, and get a feel for how to control your car when the rear comes out. You don't need to be hooning, just turn into it with a little more throttle than usual, wait for the rear to come out slightly and teach yourself to correct it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by XR

2. The fog light seems to be intact and is just hanging out of the hole it sits in. Is fixing this as simple as wedging it back into the hole or do I need to do something else?

Any help is appreciated.

I don't know about Falcon, but with Territory there is a kind of backing plate behind the front bar that can break. I had a spill with the Territory once and the foglight was hanging out the same as you described - the platic plate behind was busted. Relatively cheap to fix if it is the case.

Karnage · 10-02-2010, 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XR

Hey everyone,
Long story short I accidently (I put accidently in bold because it was really an accident) turned around a corner when the back of my BA XR6 lost traction and went out sideways.

Having never been in a situation like this before, I panicked and didn't know how to react or control the steering wheel and when the traction control kicked in, it whiped me in the opposite direction over a curb.
.

How much throttle and speed were you carrying for traction control to do that?

Copie · 10-02-2010, 08:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Karnage

How much throttle and speed were you carrying for traction control to do that?

Being an NA 6 with no doubt an open diff, a fair bit id say.

Mr12345678x · 10-02-2010, 08:11 PM

Not going to criticise, you've had enough from the others :P

Definately replace the tyre, and probably get a wheel alignment/suspension check just to be safe, if not to check for damage then see if there's a reason why it kicked out the way it did

Mr12345678x · 10-02-2010, 08:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adrenaline

A little flick of opposite lock could have saved you here. Next time it rains, find an empty industrial cul-de-sac (the huge ones where semi trailers do U turns) after business hours of course, and get a feel for how to control your car when the rear comes out. You don't need to be hooning, just turn into it with a little more throttle than usual, wait for the rear to come out slightly and teach yourself to correct it.

Probably avoid this, it takes one phone call for the police to show up and these crazy hoon laws to get you into trouble (try explaining what you're doing in an industrial area at night in the rain)

The Monty · 10-02-2010, 08:14 PM

So you went driving in the wet with bald tyres, and lost control? No way!!!
May I suggest never getting forced induction.

chrisfpv · 10-02-2010, 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big Damo

You had to be crazy to be going more than 20km/h in that storm, gotta drive to the conditions buddy

It got to a point where there was about 7 or 8 drivers pulled up on the side of the road, waiting for it to pass.

Yeah, it was pretty bad. When I was driving it had died of a tad from its worst, but was still going fairly hard.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peuty

You cannot repair a tyre.

Damn, thats a bummer.

Quote:

How much throttle and speed were you carrying for traction control to do that?

I didn't think I was doing a speed that could induce what happened. I was driving up to the round about and was turning left, I looked and there were no cars so I slowed down enough to go left without actually coming to a complete stop.

When I started to turn left I put my foot on the accelerator (not to hard but obv hard enough) to continue along and it happened. Like I said never being in this situation before it came as a shock and i've definitely noted the speed I was going for future reference when driving in the rain.

chrisfpv · 10-02-2010, 08:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Monty

So you went driving in the wet with bald tyres, and lost control? No way!!!
May I suggest never getting forced induction.

My tyres are not bald mate, but they aren't at there best.

**Dave R** · 10-02-2010, 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by juzza

Probably avoid this, it takes one phone call for the police to show up and these crazy hoon laws to get you into trouble (try explaining what you're doing in an industrial area at night in the rain)

Unless you're being an idiot doing donuts etc you shouldn't run into any trouble.. unless you have a loud exhaust that will generate attention.

Copie · 10-02-2010, 08:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adrenaline

Unless you're being an idiot doing donuts etc you shouldn't run into any trouble.. unless you have a loud exhaust that will generate attention.

Incorrect.

Havent you seen the news lately, you will get turned into a scapegoat if you get caught.

OP why dont you take a drive into quite literally the middle of nowhere, then do it in an empty paddock/extreme back road.

lubby1 · 10-02-2010, 08:23 PM

Yeah get a new tyre a.s.a.p and you could try an advanced driving course that will teach you skills in handling your car, its legal and its fun.

flappist · 10-02-2010, 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XR

Hey everyone,

About 1pm today I had a huge smile on my face as a rare outburst of rain came down. I'm not sure what it was like in other parts of melbourne but it was absolutely bucketing where i'm from.

Long story short I accidently (I put accidently in bold because it was really an accident) turned around a corner when the back of my BA XR6 lost traction and went out sideways.

Having never been in a situation like this before, I panicked and didn't know how to react or control the steering wheel and when the traction control kicked in, it whiped me in the opposite direction over a curb.

Inspecting my car it seems that so far the damage isn't "major" but it's still damage. From the looks of things I have a nicely sized bubble in one of my back tyres and my left fog light is hanging out.

Here are my questions:

1. What exactly have I done to my tyre? It looks normal apart from this bubble buldging from it. Is it going to explode and do I need to change my tyre asap?

2. The fog light seems to be intact and is just hanging out of the hole it sits in. Is fixing this as simple as wedging it back into the hole or do I need to do something else?

Any help is appreciated.

Interesting revelation from someone who constantly makes so many "enlightened" and "perceptive" posts in various driving technique and traffic incident threads on the forum.

chrisfpv · 10-02-2010, 08:26 PM

Thanks for all the replies, I do appreciate the help alot.

I've just skimmed over my BA owners manual but can't seem to find where on a BA XR6 you're meant to place the car jack when changing a tyre, anyone know?

Quote:

Originally Posted by flappist

Interesting revelation from someone who constantly makes so many "enlightened" and "perceptive" posts in various driving technique and traffic incident threads on the forum.

Interesting how? I like to get involved in the discussions that come up in The Pub regarding all kinds of topics. Does that mean I have to be a perfect driver?

**Dave R** · 10-02-2010, 08:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Copie

Incorrect.

Havent you seen the news lately, you will get turned into a scapegoat if you get caught.

I forgot, pretty much everything is classified as hooning these days

:

Quote:

Originally Posted by XR

I've just skimmed over my BA owners manual but can't seem to find where on a BA XR6 you're meant to place the car jack when changing a tyre, anyone know?

Depends which end of the car, but there will be jack points under the side skirt (along the metal frame), there should be small bumps to indicate their position.