Freeway Debris - Damage to Underbody 😦😭

[qellman32]

Well it happened. I was driving on the freeway, when I saw this... thing sitting in the middle of the lane. it looked like a metallic square with a short rod sticking out of it, kinda like a joystick. At "freeway speeds" with cars around me, I wasn't really able to to move around the object in the 2 secs between seeing it and being on top of it. So, the only thing to do was to stradle it down the middle.

With a single hit, I knew there was damage. I did a small check to see it anything was destroyed by wiggling the car. When I was satisfied, I left the freeway and pulled over. I looked underneath, and to my horror, a piece of meddle was definitely bent. Not dragging thankfully, but damaged.

I have included a picture of the damage, along with an example picture of the part that's damaged.

Does anyone know what this part is and what it does? Also, is it replaceable and do we think it would be covered under warranty? Thoughts?

 

[bpeckham]

Way worse than the helmet I hit.

I'd think insurance would cover something like this, yeah?

 

[mikecarpage]

Sorry to read/see that happened. Glad you're ok. I would give a call to your insurance.

Last year I ran over an object in my BMW. It looked like a rubber chicken from a distance, turned out to be a metal car part (control arm/thrust arm) came in from the front right, exited under the driver door - punctured my fuel filter left me needing a tow. Make sure to say it was a moving object and that you tried breaking and avoiding it.

I also struck a live deer in my BMW once. I was lucky to not be at fault, but another car after me ran it over when it was dead, and they happened to be at fault - per CA law.

 

[zRedBaron]

Well it happened. I was driving on the freeway, when I saw this... thing sitting in the middle of the lane. it looked like a metallic square with a short rod sticking out of it, kinda like a joystick. At "freeway speeds" with cars around me, I wasn't really able to to move around the object in the 2 secs between seeing it and being on top of it. So, the only thing to do was to stradle it down the middle.

With a single hit, I knew there was damage. I did a small check to see it anything was destroyed by wiggling the car. When I was satisfied, I left the freeway and pulled over. I looked underneath, and to my horror, a piece of meddle was definitely bent. Not dragging thankfully, but damaged.

I have included a picture of the damage, along with an example picture of the part that's damaged.

Does anyone know what this part is and what it does? Also, is it replaceable and do we think it would be covered under warranty? Thoughts?

Sorry to hear that, the part that's damaged appears to be the W-brace, which provides support and rigidity to the underside of the car. As others have mentioned replacing through insurance should be possible but you'll have to pay your deductible and they may count it against you.

 

[Jrt]

Sorry to hear, it looks like a part of the rear sway bar assembly? I've never seen something like this for a rear end setup, this might be it.

https://parts.nissan24auto.com/p/Nissan__/Stay-Tunnel/89778627/74870-1EA0A.html

 

[D2M]

This is super easy to replace, only a few bolts. Despite its size its very light, should be a 30min job on jack strands. I wouldn't waste an insurance claim on it.

 

[CPerdomo]

Well it happened. I was driving on the freeway, when I saw this... thing sitting in the middle of the lane. it looked like a metallic square with a short rod sticking out of it, kinda like a joystick. At "freeway speeds" with cars around me, I wasn't really able to to move around the object in the 2 secs between seeing it and being on top of it. So, the only thing to do was to stradle it down the middle.

With a single hit, I knew there was damage. I did a small check to see it anything was destroyed by wiggling the car. When I was satisfied, I left the freeway and pulled over. I looked underneath, and to my horror, a piece of meddle was definitely bent. Not dragging thankfully, but damaged.

I have included a picture of the damage, along with an example picture of the part that's damaged.

Does anyone know what this part is and what it does? Also, is it replaceable and do we think it would be covered under warranty? Thoughts?

very sorry about your incident. I dread those here in Fl.

 

[ZillaZ]

Damn that really sucks! Hopefully you are able to get it taken care of with minimal cost.

 

[qellman32]

It looks like Z1 Motorsports just happens to have a "Scratch and Dent" Blemished W Brace for sale right now. It's cheaper than buying it from Nissan, even at regular price.

https://www.z1motorsports.com/scratch-and-dent/z1-garage-sale/sale-blemished-oem-370z-transmission-tunnel-body-brace-p-56134.html?list_name=CategoryScratch&Dent&oid=56134:0:83644:50&qid=caca34ac63a5684b7eb24e568a56156d

https://www.z1motorsports.com/front...0:0:4:50&qid=09c2f90dcad5ac2cc142d4111249584a

Unfortunately, this issue has sprung up at an inopertune time. So, I probably won't be buying it at the moment. But I'm glad I was able to find some leads.