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Old 10-29-2008, 01:19 PM
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92497pmu 92497pmu is offline
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Clifton Park, NY
Posts: 142
Quote:
Originally Posted by gmercoleza View Post
Please tell us exactly how it felt when that occurred. I've always wondered what it would be like if my spring perch (or ball joint or tire for that matter) blew up at 75mph. Did you lose control of the car? How quickly did you make it to the shoulder? Any violent shaking of the wheel?
I was driving in the left lane in a 3 wide stretch of Rt 90. The perch let go with a very loud bang, then a pronounced bump (presumably as the rear tire drove over the spring assembly. The car suddenly dropped hard on the front right bump stops. Lots of warning lights - BAS, ASR, etc.

I thought I blew a tire or hit some road damage. Surprisingly, just a little swerve in the left lane and I made it to the right shoulder after a 1/4 mile. At this point I was pretty sure it was a perch or something worse because there was no tire smoke, burning or noise.

Kicked the tires & drove it 20 miles home. (My indy mechanic frowned when I told him this.) Put it up on jacks & found no spring at all & some disconnected sensor wires. Drove it 10 miles to the shop. Waiting.

Still no word from the dealer he contacted. I guess that's my next move. Any recommedations for service in Springfield, MA or Hartford, CT area? I'm from Albany NY but this happened near where I grew up in central/western Massachusetts.

Overall I like the car, but this is making me less happy with the product and the brand. My brother had a 1985 300d coupe with 279k miles which led me to buy the newer model. His was structurally perfect. The doors closed with an acoustic that was admirable.

I feel cheated.
Attached Thumbnails
spring perch failure @ 75mph on Mass Turnpike-e300-missing-spring-perch-20081027.jpg  
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