Ok... time to fess up. I've made an expensive mistake over the easter weekend. I drove too quickly around a wet roundabout... It seems I'm not the driver I thought I was. Since buying the car for 6,500 in February, I've replaced the clutch and rear main seal, fixed a coolant leak in a very difficult spot, purchased the required parts for and was planning a plennum pull and a coolant hose bypass... pretty much I've now spent all my money on her... Gotten to the point where she's perfectly reliable and last Friday afternoon I ended up sliding sideways into a gutter and breaking stuff. So then after 2 days of hating myself while considering my options and trying to find enough money to get her towed I find out that someone has stolen one of her number plates! After that I gave in and let my gf pay to get her towed Cutting the story short my mechanic was able to take a look today and has told me that I've broken the upper and lower control arms, radius/radial arm and suspension strutt as well as clearly cracking and chipping the 17" speedy rim. He also mentioned that if I could get a hold of a whole diff cradle that would be helpful. Honestly I know nothing about suspension. Had a quick look through the Tech Section and didn't find anything that helped. I imagine because not too many people are stupid enough to drift into gutters and break these things. If anyone could link me to a page that gives me a decent breakdown of these bits it'd be much appreciated. A local wrecker (I'm in Townsville) has a 300zx with front end damage but only wants to sell it as a whole car. Adamness gave me the idea of asking around on here in the hope that someone has upgraded their suspension and has these parts spare. So I want to know whether anyone does and I'll make a wanted post for those that might. So my questions are: I know that the diff cradle goes from one wheel to the other and obviously cradles the diff , does it include the upper and lower control arms and radius/radial arm as well? Will I be able to get these parts from anyone? Will these be difficult parts to replace, is it something I can knock over in a weekend or something to leave to a mechanic? Can anyone tell whether I will have damaged anything else like the CV Joint from the info I've given? The wheel was on a gross angle of about 30degrees with the ground... Also I'm going to need at least one new rim I'm thinking I should get a set of stock rims from somewhere because at the moment it's sitting on a crooked space saver! So I'll put that in the wanted add as well which will purely be an expression of interest at the moment because I wont have enough money to buy anything until at least next tuesday (pay day). Thanks.
entire rear cradle for an NA will be a little tricky to find, considering its THE upgrade for a TT. Get the wheel off and take a multitude of photos, focusing on mounting points at both end. Provided the mounting points on the cradle itself havent been torn or bent, would definitely be looking at replacing bolt on components.
Alright, it's safely inside the mechanics shop now, not that they're doing anything with it, just the only place for it atm. So I'll go take some photos tomorrow and upload. Not 100% sure what you mean by "mounting points at both end"?
Nope, mine was at a bit higher speed and a lower gutter which resulted in it being 10x worse. Honestly the wheel was at a 30 degree angle with the ground... Looked very disturbing. Although now that it has straightened from coming off the tow truck, yeh it does lol. Just a bit bent inward aswell... I'll put photos up tomorrow arvo for diagnosis and everyone can check it out
every single year on this forum there is reports like this as the wet weather sets in. its a wake up call to everyone that you need to be more careful in the wet and dont overestimate your driving skills. even a short squirt on a bend in the wet can go horribly wrong very quickly. its just not worth it
you tell the truth, yesterday turning onto my own street nearly cost me the car :O a quick squirt and crappy surfaced roads in the wet = rear flicks out and nearly hits an oncoming bus
Amen to that, I try to keep it off boost in the wet, its just too dangerous. Too may close calls in my old car have caused me to drive like a granny in the rain. Hope you can get it fixed though mate, I know member DJHZEX was wrecking a 300, maybe PM him and see if he still has anything. Adam
Thanks guys, unfortunately I had to learn the hard way . I've bought a new rim today and also found someone in NSW who has the parts I need: - Upper and Lower Control Arms, - Radius arm, - Stabilizer arm, and - Suspension strutt - Also the front right parking/fog light. I believe considering how it looked I've gotten off pretty easily. The rear diff cradle isn't damaged at all. Took photo's yesterday but don't have the time to put them up, maybe later.
