what, did he do a road trip to Jersey?

that's a lot of bowling balls...

$12 grand?!! Oh, man. I've been watching this thread and I really didn't have/know anything to say. But that is frightening. When you can do 12 large in damage to a car, any car, you're fortunate to have not been injured.

I once had a ball joint failure on a Chevy Dually I owned. When the frame hit the ground, I was tossed forward pretty good. If the truck had an air bag, it would have fired, I think. Shoulder belt saved my teeth.

I'm happy that you're OK and the guys at TRE can fix it. Sounds like they got thier new rack in there at about the right time.

You get a rock like that under your car and you could go over. Thankfully, that didn't happen. Very sorry about all this, Todd.

I'm actually convinced that if I'd done the same thing in the 4-runner, I'd be in the hospital or worse right now. These are damn tough cars, and it seems like it would take a lot to make one flip. An suv on the other hand will go over if you look at your latte the wrong way...

Lendaddy, you are the closest !! PM me your address and I'll send your shirt. Hope large is OK!

I feel much safer in my Porsche than my Mountaineer. What the car has in agility and immediate speed, the truck has in sheer mass and force that sometimes feels very close to its engineering limit. For one, it seems the engine is far too powerful for the transmission. The center of gravity seems too high as well. So with that in mind, I drive it like a kitten.

It's been my thought for a long time that while in L.A. traffic, the safetest attribute a vehicle can have, aside from seatbelts, is torque and power to eradicate the driver from a potentially dangerous situation. As I've always believed, it's the slow ones; trucks, SUVs, seniors who can't judge speed and nonattentive, such as teenagers, who remain the road's dangers. It's not the guy in the low-slung sports car.

The only SUV I'd truly trust in a serious emergency manuever is the Cayenne. One can look at the Cayenne's track and height and see that it can handle fairly well for a raised, heavy four-door vehicle.

The fact that the Cayenne Turbo turned a faster lap time at the Nurburgring than a stock 996 makes it seem like they are pretty stable.

I'm not going to hijack this thread, but please, give me a Fu****G break:rolleyes:

Got a problem, pal?

BTW: I've seen a hell of a lot more over-turned Discoveries (more, actually, broken down by the road and/or going for a third of their retail price after about 10,000 miles on the odometer), than Explorers, 4Runners and whatever else is out there - much better vehicles at any rate.

Sorry to hijack your morning. SmileWavy

Aw hell, just finished my first cup of coffee, so I'll retract the four letter word, and I agree about the broken down Discos and resale :( , we are very familiar. No SUV is going to handle an emergency manuver well - including the pepper. I took exception to your comment strictly because I think a 165MPH SUV is probably going to be more inherently dangerous than a 85MPH Disco, Exploder, or NoRunner.

edit - plus, in the event of an accident, I'd rather have my family in a Disco than the pepper.

I don't think anyone has enough crash data or model history to make a call on the Cayenne. From a safety standpoint, all we really have is the fact that the damned thing can turn a fast lap on the 'Ring, which is fairly indicative of its ability ot out-maneuver or avoid an accident, which is a step in the right direction.

If I were that worried about safety, I'd put my loved ones on a train.

Amtrak? Are you *high*?!?!?

Unless you have your own private train on your own private track...

As for SUVs, I'd trust the pepper and the FX in a panic maneuver. I wouldn't trust any of the other ones...my 4-runner included.

I'm going to call a lawyer and check on what my options are. I have 10 days to file an SR-1 accident report, but I don't want to do it unless I've got a good shot at recovering something.

Okay, enough about SUVs already. Let's get back to 911s.

- As long as the front pan is getting replaced, why not do the ER polybronzes and monoballs in front? And at least polybronzes, if not the monoballs, in the rear?

- You need a new brake caliper, right? Can you swing TRE's Boxster brake upgrade then, in the front anyway?

- I recall your front valance was munched. Does that allow an RS-style valance with a center oil cooler?

- Also budget for the heavy iron cow-catcher so this doesn't happen again . . .

Sound like TRE is really doing right by you, too. I wish I lived close to them.