heartless Posted November 14, 2006 Share Posted November 14, 2006 Well, got to go for one heck of a ride today in my 89 GL wagon - but not the kind one usually WANTS to take! Was snowing again Monday morning when i got ready to leave for work (we got 10 in of the stuff friday)- roads were snowy/slushy - my favorite combination (not!) Anyway, take off - get about 8 miles from the house - headed down a slight hill - two cars spaced out pretty good coming the other way - eased off the gas just a tiny bit and the rump roast end starts to slide...uh-oh, here we go! spun across the other lane missing both the other cars - went between them - off the road, missed a telephone pole by maybe 2 feet, took out three fence posts, and finally came to a stop facing the road - which was about 8 ft above me! the young lady driving the second car stopped to make sure i was ok - a LOT shook up, but relatively ok - and she gave me a ride home. Anyway, to make a long story short, myself and a friend managed to pull the car out of the ditch later in the day - after the snow/rain stopped - gave it a once over on the side of the road and actually drove it home!!! Damage overall is mostly cosmetic (and she wasnt real pretty to start with), altho I will have to get some new glass put in and fix my exhaust, but the little beast is still drivable! Still runs relatively straight down the road (gonna have to get it re-aligned) but for all intents and purposes - it is still 100% drivable. me, well, aside from a slight case of whiplash, and a few other assorted bumps and bruises, I am fine. I paid $150 for this car over 5 yrs ago and it NEVER ceases to amaze me. I kinda get the feeling she doesnt want to die - any other car would have been toast after that ride, but not my Subaru! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skip Posted November 14, 2006 Share Posted November 14, 2006 Just glad to read you are hunky dory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loyale 2.7 Turbo Posted November 14, 2006 Share Posted November 14, 2006 Well... After all the Most Important is that You are O.K.!!! And also is Nice to Know that your Subie Survived pretty Well... Both are Strong! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syonyk Posted November 14, 2006 Share Posted November 14, 2006 Snow tires. They rock. -=Russ=- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweet82 Posted November 14, 2006 Share Posted November 14, 2006 Pictures? How do we really know you slid off a road in a Subaru? That is kinda hard to believe you know...after all it is a Subaru! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virrdog Posted November 14, 2006 Share Posted November 14, 2006 Doh! Glad you were ok and no one was hurt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
operose Posted November 14, 2006 Share Posted November 14, 2006 Pictures? How do we really know you slid off a road in a Subaru? That is kinda hard to believe you know...after all it is a Subaru! agreed. I'll need some concrete evidence of this "sliding" that occured Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mykingcrab Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 Alllllllllllll righty then. Ive tapped my brain(very limited) and still dont get it.I dont want to attack.what happened to the beauty of all wheel drive. Im glad your subes in good shape and most of all no one was hurt. please help us understand, the suspense is killing us, what is making the law of subanomics not exist on your vehical. studs are 45.00 each, and 4 on a sube are unstoppable on pure ice. Ahhh.wait is it front drive? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 Glad you are ok. I assume you didn't have winter tires on the car. If not, I would use this as good lesson. I did a 180 once in my Loyal on a four lane road. It was after the first snow and I didn't have my winter tires on. Forunately I didn't hit anything. The view looked a little strange being faced the wrong direction. The decisions we make before going on the road and unprepared can have some serious repercussions later on. It is so easy for us to just get in our cars and drive on without really thinking if we are truely ready for the conditions of the road. Please don't take the above statement to mean that I am picking on you. I am just trying to say that we all would be wise to take a minute before we head out and just ponder about what we take for granted as 'just another drive down the road'. I am including myself also as I know I just get up and go usually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted November 15, 2006 Author Share Posted November 15, 2006 1. MY wagon does NOT have all wheel drive - it is strictly front wheel drive. 2. road coverd with a good 2 inches of slush. 3. just plain not thinkin (too early in the a.m.) and backed off the gas goin down hill...doh... oh yeah - cougar - had JUST put a new pair of snows on her the night before! i have pics after the fact...didnt think to take the camera with when we went to rescue poor Hildy...and of course by that time the roads were in good shape...sliding happend around 7:15am, rescue took place around noon. pics will be coming soon - need to get them off the camera, and resized for those with dialup... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daeron Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 Congratulations on your adventure, and kudos on coming out OK! A slide like that can make Panic easy, and Panic is bad!! Cougar, good point on Being Aware Of How Much Of A Potential Road Hazard You Are Yourself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 Well, Heartless my assumption was wrong. You were thinking ahead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted November 15, 2006 Author Share Posted November 15, 2006 well, you know what happens when you assume, right?? anyway, couple of pics for you pic hounds first is the car itself pointing out some of the damage. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/heartless500/car01.jpg nice thing about this ol girl - she wasnt pretty to begin with, so it isnt nearly as heartbreaking to get a few bumps and bruises as it would be if she were cherry. What the pic doesnt show is the exhaust twisted way off to the left...gonna have to rebuild that again. the window that is pointed out has tint on the inside - only thing holding the glass in place. you can see the impact spot near the center... The next pick shows where i ended up. What it doesnt do a good job of is showing how steep that sucker is! http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/heartless500/ditch01.jpg arrow shows the direction of travel (spinning), blocked out area is where the car finally came to rest - facing the road (note the fencepost - drivers side rear door was directly over the post) also, note the creek a short distance away! another small obsticle not in the pic is the telephone pole that was to the left - missed it by a couple of feet... thanks for all the well wishes guys. feeling a bit better today - still sore, but not nearly as bad. Hildy will be getting "new" glass soon, along with a set of frt fenders i have had for a while. the back end is gonna be the hardest to fix, not as easy to replace metal there! She has definitely shown the will to survive, so she is worth fixin to me. And definitely drive safe gang - it happens in a split second, and can happen to even the best driver. it's been a long time since i had been in the ditch prior to this, and this was by far the worst for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DasWaff Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 Glad it wasn't worse, and that both of you are still 'road worthy' Hope the rest of the pic post we see from you are all upgrades! DW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtsmiths Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 new pair of snows on her pair of snows ... aye, there lies the rub. Should always shoe all four feet the same, even tho your rear wheels aren't powered. The difference in grip between ends of the car make it do funny things on slippery surfaces, as you found out. The only Time I've ever slid out in ten years of Montana winters was exactly as you did. Pulled off the gas coming down a slight hill, and whoa nelly! I was doing fishtail switchbacks across three lanes. I finally nailed the brakes to force the spin befor I got to a REALLY steep drop-off. That was in an empty Chevy 2WD S-10 pick-up, so I was basically doomed from the moment I drove out the driveway! Actually, I drove that thing all over our first winter, but that was enough ... sold it and we started on our current run of Subarus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burtonsnowman Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 Aaaah, I know that story all too well! Try driving a 240SX for all of a pacific Northwest winter - you become wary...and scared...maybe a better driver, too. Now it's only Subes for me! Glad you and the car are (semi-) all right! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweet82 Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 Great pics. Pic 1. Don't think of them as dents, think of them as "Character".:cool: Pic 2. I was looking for a chalk out line of the crime scene. I didn't expect it to be green. Let he who has not spun out his Subaru cast the first stone... I almost lost my back end on the freeway in the snow...boy did all the cars around me back off:lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86ruguy Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 Sweet82.... Drifting doesn't count. heartless.... must have been a wild ride. i actually grew up back there ( Oshkosh North H.S. class of '85) and wish i had gone back a long time ago. i miss REAL winters.:-\ glad to see you and your rig will be okay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daeron Posted November 16, 2006 Share Posted November 16, 2006 yah, thanks again for the object lesson. Ain't NONE of us "safe," no matter how careful we may be. congrats on steering her straight (enough) through the chaos, and Ibuprofen can be your friend Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveT Posted November 16, 2006 Share Posted November 16, 2006 Years ago I did an unplanned 180. 1976 4WD wagon. All season tires. On 3" solid snow pack. Gentle downhill, back road with bad crown at 40MPH +/-. A combo of the bad crown and undulation of the road started turning the car. When I "regained control", I was facing the opposite direction, back end in the snow bank, engine stopped. Pressed clutch, shifted to 1st, restarted engine, drove away. No damage to anything but snow. I always take & took it easier when other cars are around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted November 16, 2006 Share Posted November 16, 2006 When I did my 180 I also was on a slight downhill grade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zyewdall Posted November 16, 2006 Share Posted November 16, 2006 Great pics. Let he who has not spun out his Subaru cast the first stone... I almost lost my back end on the freeway in the snow...boy did all the cars around me back off:lol: I've never done more than about a 90 in my subaru -- someone was tailgating me up a packed snow road so I was going faster than I should have been, and on a switchback I started sliding out (with four studded snows). I recovered fine, but he sure backed off after that... Actually, I guess that counts as a 180, but I was trying to make a sharp left turn, so it was only about 90 more than I intended... I did a 270 in my 4x4 pickup last winter though -- luckily I went tail first into the embankment going up, instead of down into the creek on the other side. Not so much fun.. I didn't have snow tires on the truck. I was also going uphill -- too much gas in 2wd and I broke the rear wheels loose. In rwd, its actually pretty good going downhill -- just let off on the gas and it drags the rear end without sliding too much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nvexplorer Posted November 16, 2006 Share Posted November 16, 2006 The first winter I had my subie I was testing how she handles in the snow on my way home from work. I was actually going up a slight curved incline a bit faster than I should have been on fresh snow with ice under. Let off the gas at the end of the turn and the back end broke loose. It was fun, but I'm glad that I was only a few houses away from home and my neighbors didn't have their truck parked on the street. After that I also got four snow tires. Haven't had a problem or as much fun since then. Can't wait for the snow to come! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wesley willis Posted November 16, 2006 Share Posted November 16, 2006 i've slid through a few stop signs snow driving, and did a 180 into a ditch and somehow rolled onto the drivers side door. pushed it over and drove it home. that was in an 87 grand am though. i had sticks somehow make their way past the bead of the rim and tire and stuck between them somehow (in my pic) and i bent a tie rod a bit too. can't say i've had any trouble in either of my subes in the winter though. i need snow tires for my loyale, i picked up some wagon rims for it last week. no snow here yet, only crazy storms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted November 16, 2006 Author Share Posted November 16, 2006 Sweet82 - yeah, Hildy has LOTS of character!!! "We have the technology - we CAN rebuild her!! Better, faster, stronger than before" (well, maybe not the faster part! ) had the auto glass guys out on wed. to pull a good windshield & cargo window from a parts car. they did a nice job of taking them out in one piece. also removed the cracked windshield from Hildy - got to do a bit of rust repair work before they can put the good glass in - i'm gonna be busy this weekend. When i had originally called the auto glass place I got a quote for about $411 and change for both windows, new, installed - ouch! (we just replaced a hot water heater and a chest freezer - cash is tight at the moment - this was also the reason for only buying 2 tires instead of 4) well, got to thinkin and asked if they could pull the glass from one car to put in another, and he says sure, they do it all the time as long as they can get the piece out in good shape. $50 out, $50 in + install kit @ $20 - per window! $240 is a whole lot better sounding to the wallet than over $400. This morning (thurs) I am feeling and moving a lot better. Still sore - bruised feeling, but the stiffness is pretty much gone. Thanks again for all the well wishes. let the rebuilding begin!!! ps: this was the first time in 5 years of driving my Sube that I had the back end break loose - can you say "overconfident"? damn good reminder that it can happen in a flash, to say the least! Stay safe out there guys & gals!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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