So I was driving home last night on the 101 South, and all of the sudden this Yukon in front of me hits a car tire that was in the traffic lane. I can't swerve in time to avoid it, so I run over it. It felt like it went under my car and out the right side, if that makes any sense.

The car drove fine the whole way home, and didn't leak any noticeable fluids or anything.

I did notice this morning that the tire ripped off my license plate clean from its bracket, and that the front valence/unibody dam on the front of the car is a little banged up.

What to do next?

The car was recently aligned and balanced, but I'm getting a suspension rebuild soon anyway (new bushings, ball joints, and tie rod ends) - for what it's worth.

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2003 Volkswagen Jetta Wolfsburg Edition, "Tiffany," - Black/Black Cloth - 75K miles, Jetta #6; my faithful, turbocharged, BBS-adorned sled

SOLD 3/08 1981 Mercedes Benz 300D, "Elise" - Astral Silver/Black M.B. Tex - 217K miles - I miss her everyday; the best-built car I've owned

check that the oil cooler lines were not damged etc etc

Where would I find those?

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2003 Volkswagen Jetta Wolfsburg Edition, "Tiffany," - Black/Black Cloth - 75K miles, Jetta #6; my faithful, turbocharged, BBS-adorned sled

SOLD 3/08 1981 Mercedes Benz 300D, "Elise" - Astral Silver/Black M.B. Tex - 217K miles - I miss her everyday; the best-built car I've owned

Exposed portions would be down by the botom of the radiator.

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Terry Allison
N. Calif. & Boca Chica, Panama

09' E320 Bluetec 77k (USA)
09' Hyundai Santa Fe Diesel 48k (S.A.)

Check the oil pan, tie rods, and exhaust downpipe too. Oil cooler lines are on the left side by the AC compressor. The transmission cooler lines are also on the front, on both sides.

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http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7271/7...144c3fc1dc.jpg

I hate it when things like that happen.

I had an 18-wheeler run over a tire dropped by ANOTHER 18 wheeler - sent it flying. Three lanes, locked, nowhere to go, traveling 70-80... tire hits my left front corner, scrapes down the paint until it slaps the devil out of my rearview mirror, and then proceeds to scrape its way neatly along the paint back to the end of the car.

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~Michael S.~
Past cars:

1986 300SDL
1987 300SDL
1982 240D
1982 300SD


Current:

1987 300SDL

I'd slide underneath the car with a flashlight and mirror and just make sure everything is in order. You will probably see marks where the tire hit, if it did so trace its path and see what it could have damaged.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I've hit two, they can do damage.

A truck tire weighs around 140#, depending on how big a piece of tread it can be nearly 100#. Point? Check around, it can really move things around.

I've done this twice, sometimes there's nowhere to go.

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

A loose truck tire bouncing down the road can kill you if it hits in the right
place. I have seen the damage one can do, since working of the State
Highways for the past 38 years.
A tire from a car is a dangerous thing also. I have seen a few where the
axle was still attached spinning around.

hitting a recap is bad enough, let alone a piece that get thrown at you.
I have been hit in my PU a couple of times. one piece hit the A piller on
the drivers side late one night. I was driving home with one eye open.
after that I was wide awake the next 20 miles.
The next time a piece came at me and landed below the front bumper,
sounded like a loud explosion. sure mangled up the sheet metal.

Charlie

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there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works

I had a 300 lb semi tire come out from underneath the front set of a set of doubles. Threw the second trailer up in the air over 5' as each axle ran over it. The tire then stood itself up and curved towrad me in the fast lane on an overpass with nowhere to go. It hit me on the right front door post in a mini pick-up and swatted me into the median.

Totaled the lil Plymouth Arrow truck. Took their money, got an alignment, a new fender and a junkyard door and drove it another 75k until it's 3rd head gasket caused it to rattle apart 2 years later at +200K miles.

Tire continued on and went down the overpass embankment to the freeway below...always wondered what other damage it caused.....

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Terry Allison
N. Calif. & Boca Chica, Panama

09' E320 Bluetec 77k (USA)
09' Hyundai Santa Fe Diesel 48k (S.A.)

300#? Must have been 160# of air in it.

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

Hmmm....why do spare tire trucks for semi's have a crane on the back of em???

Anyways, they aren't light.....

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Terry Allison
N. Calif. & Boca Chica, Panama

09' E320 Bluetec 77k (USA)
09' Hyundai Santa Fe Diesel 48k (S.A.)

I saw an F-150 get launched by a loose car/truck spare tire/wheel combo. We were running down the freeway and it must have fallen out from under a pickup and it was rolling down the freeway in the direction of travel. At speed! A car swerved and this old guy in a pickup had no where to go and ran straight over the top of it. It launched the truck completely off the ground! Old guy controlled it and pulled over to the outer median.
The tire rolled on for about an 1/8 mile, a bunch of us just following it down the highway. It veered off the road, down an embankment at an underpass, rolled down the grass and I kid you not, rolled next to a pan-handler working the intersection and fell over right next to him within a foot. Money shot!

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Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John

I've also had no choice but to run over a HUGE chunk of something... almost like insulation or something, idk... that fell off a house trailer that was being moved. IDK if a floor came out or what but that was a bad moment too as I was over 4 hours from home at the time it happened. Fortunately it didn't wipe anything off the bottom of the car.

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~Michael S.~
Past cars:

1986 300SDL
1987 300SDL
1982 240D
1982 300SD


Current:

1987 300SDL

Sometimes you have no choice, if you have no where to go your stuck.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200