One reliable indicator that you have crossed the border into Indiana is the interstate highways are littered with scraps of retreads from semi trucks.

I couldn't avoid one that was in the lane instead of off on the shoulder, scratched up passenger side fender, door, and rocker panel. The scratches are through the paint (can see white), so they will NOT buff out.

Any ideas what it will cost to have it fixed at a body shop? The car is black.

 

No idea what a body shop would charge - best bet is to just take it to a trusted shop and see what they say. Prices can vary by location.

Some pics of the damage would probably help others to give you a guess on what the repair may cost.

 

Had a friend with a really nice 70 Coupe, hit a piece of tire and more or less disintegrated the front of the Vette

 

Those Road Gators really bite.

 

Those damned truck tires pieces will tear your car up good! Sorry about the damage. If you don't know of a trusted shop, a good resource is always your local/area corvette club. The pool of knowledge/experience by club members will usually have sorted out the good and the bad. Best wishes and good luck!

 

Sorry to hear about your car.i drive a truck and tires sometimes fail usually do to under inflation.ive never hit a gator with my car or truck.i always leave room around me to react to these situations ,
poor following distance will get you every time.

 

So will the pieces of a disintegrated tire blowing out the sidewall and flying through the air. Consider a 30 or 40 pound piece of steel mesh and rubber hitting your vehicle at 70 plus miles an hour. Think about being on a motorcycle as you see the piece of tire that is about to kill you as it hits you in the chest and knocks you to the roadway at speed.

Just finished a 13 state, 5,500 mile cruise in the vette. Saw tire gators everywhere from Florida to Arizona, Colorado and back. Actually witnessed a sidewall blowout on a trailer. Fortunately it was on the other side of the trailer from us. Tuck driver didn't even slow down.

I have a friend who has been driving long haul for over 35 years. He says if drivers would actually USE the mandated pre-trip time to check tires and lights on the trailer prior to initiating their trip there would be a 90% reduction in tire gators. And a truck driver KNOWS when a tire has blown out.

 

13 states 5500 miles, 1..did you hit any of them??? Probably not,I'm sure you went around them.( hints the following distance) 2..as far as the sidewall blow out if you ride beside a truck you are probably in his blind spot and putting your life in danger,again hints the following distance.3..true a lot of problems could be avoided with a closers look,but that leaves 10% for something to go wrong when you do everything right,they are machines things happen.4... Not true,you do not always know when you lose a tire,you can roll a cap off a caseing and it can still hold air.5.. Did your friend tell you 82% of truck/car accidents are the cars fault?all I'm saying is always leave yourself an out..
America moves by truck...if you got it a truck brought it...

 

Fortunately the damaged to mine is just cosmetic. Swerved to the side, so didn't hit it directly. It didn't get under the car. I'm out of town right now, so I don't have pictures. It will definitely need some touch up paint, but I would rather have someone who knows what they are doing handle it.

 

Chill. I'm not singling you out. I am simply pointing out things that can go wrong that have nothing to do with following distance.

While I did not have contact with the tire particles I observed I did notice many trucks riding with tires over the painted lane markers on the roads. My wife's anxiety level goes up really quickly when our lane is encroached upon by an 18 wheeler with a driver that can't keep it in the lane on a straight road.

Sidewall blowout. You are passing a truck and during the five or six seconds you are making your pass a sidewall blows out. Not exactly riding in a blind spot and that has nothing to do with a tire failure. Do you know of a way to pass a truck on the highway without going along side of it at some point? I don't.

I did notice that rail traffic in the western states is flourishing. Container trains over a mile long. That's good and if they would improve the rail system nation wide a significant reduction in truck traffic on the interstates could be achieved. Local deliveries would still be by truck.

No, my friend didn't tell me that there was such a high percentage of truck involved accidents caused by automobiles. He did tell me that 90% of the truck drivers on the roads today have little to no experience driving a truck and shouldn't be on the road. AND that he can't wait to retire from the profession.

Good, experienced truck drivers seem difficult to find these days. Those who do it right have my respect. I hope you are one of them.

 

Contact the state and tell them what happened. They may cover the cost cause it wasn't cleaned up. Heard a story about a guy that hit a pot hole and destroyed a tire on his vette. He contacted the state DOT and they paid for the tire replacement. Worth a shot.

 

 

Before you spend a whole lot of bucks at a body shop, consider Dr. Colorchip. I tried it on a mirror body that had scraped a garage wall and had a mark about the size of a dime. The results were amazing. You'll need to try it first on some small chips and learn the technique for using it and you'll need to buy the larger size. Dr. Colorchip paint match is incredible and I did this on Spiral Gray which is considered very difficult to match. Black is easy. Besides, you should have Dr. Colorchip in your maintenance kit anyway.

 

I feel your wife's pain,I don't like it either.as far as a blow out,all tires can blow out,car or truck..passing is one of the most dangerous menovers you can do in a car or truck.the best way to pass a truck is on the left,make sure you have plenty of room to pass while not
riding beside it at 1or2 mph faster.pass and put distance between you and the truck.ive been doing this for 23 years and almost 2 million miles.accident free.training new drivers is a problem,that the governments fault for being to easy on the schools,and the big companies getting kick back for hiring people out of these schools with no experience.

 

I agree.

 

I used Dr Colorchip on my black vette to take care of some stone chips. Perfect color match and very good results. For all intents and purposes, invisible repair. Great product, I give them a 9.5 out of 10. Nice to see a product that actually works as advertised. Good luck and best wishes! PS Did a friend a favor and repaired some chips on his Mercedes. He was ecstatic with the $2G he was saved.

 

Congrats on the accident free miles. Keep it up

 

Last comment I dont want to hi jack the thead any more.
Drive your car/truck like your playing a video game,everybody and everything is trying to kill you ,its your job to get back home safe...and you win.

 

I'll tell you what. If everybody had to go through what we have to go through to get a commercial license and keep it, there would be a lot less drivers on the road. Taking the initial test is pretty difficult now. Written, walk around and driving test is not easy. Then to keep it.
1. A medical physical every two years. (or sooner)
2. A random drug test anytime and if not taken within 24 hours of getting your notice, your license is suspended.
3. Cops being able to stop you anytime, anywhere for any reason. (Mostly financial gain for that county or city's coffer.)
4. Random inspections. (see 3.)
5. A limit on hours driven in a day/week.
But hey, I'm living the dream.

 

After 38 years of it I would say the dream is a nightmare. But at least the license was easy to get back then. I never took anything but written tests. But as the company trainer I do prepare new drivers for the tests. And they do suck. And now with the body mass stuff a lot of guys need sleep studies. I am lucky I am not fat. And don't forget the fingerprint background check at every renewal if you have a Haz Mat endorsement. Since the cops compete at the same time as we do for the state championships I know most of them. So I don't get hassled much at all. I have won a few state Championships and been with their winners at the national's as well. But they won't let me slide if they do find something. They just don't look so much.