Not a good night...

[302GTS]

At around 10, I was heading to my girlfriend's house to drop her off after getting her from work. We were making a u-turn to get on a frontage road from the highway, and it had rained all day today - this being my second day driving my Mustang in the rain after buying it. Rear end slipped out a bit in first, so I shifted into second. At around 2300 rpms, it went out completely. The car kicked out one way, and I went to countersteer, but it kicked out the other way, going sideways around the bend. I steered it to straighten her out, and got it straight, but it was all locked up, and I was along for the ride. The slide slammed her into the side of the road, onto a curb, and slid a good 3-4 yards. Long story short, I called a tow truck, got myself a great $151 ticket for careless driving (understandable), and my rear end is definitely done, and I need a bit of body work where the rocker panel got ripped off the side... Not a happy night at all for me, after not even owning the car a full month yet. Guess I just needed to vent.

 

[94GTCoupe]

At around 10, I was heading to my girlfriend's house to drop her off after getting her from work. We were making a u-turn to get on a frontage road from the highway, and it had rained all day today - this being my second day driving my Mustang in the rain after buying it. Rear end slipped out a bit in first, so I shifted into second. At around 2300 rpms, it went out completely. The car kicked out one way, and I went to countersteer, but it kicked out the other way, going sideways around the bend. I steered it to straighten her out, and got it straight, but it was all locked up, and I was along for the ride. The slide slammed her into the side of the road, onto a curb, and slid a good 3-4 yards. Long story short, I called a tow truck, got myself a great $151 ticket for careless driving (understandable), and my rear end is definitely done, and I need a bit of body work where the rocker panel got ripped off the side... Not a happy night at all for me, after not even owning the car a full month yet. Guess I just needed to vent.

damn,sorry to hear that.at least the both of you are ok.


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[Dizzy_ax]

ouch! I remember my first time getting a little sketchy. Hope to see it on the road soon!

 

[desertcox05]

you pretty much need to expect it to step out then your ready for it. better ck the wheels for straightness too. glad you didn't hit anybody else. hope you get it back rolling soon

 

[inphiniti]

man, a car can been fixed or replaced. not a life. glad youre ok! hows your girl doing?

 

[Musty5.0]

if it makes you feel better i just did 373 in my rear end and found out my clutch kit was shot so got that all done then i did a oil pan which is a bitch 5 hours labour charge then found out my distributer was bad so i went with msd and when i changed the distributer i dropped the stupid oil pump shaft back in the pan so now i'm back to sqaure one not to mention the 80 charge for the flat bed tow!!! just watched it drive away now on the truck so coming up on another 500.00 charge havn't even got to break the gears in yet!!!

 

[ProKiller]

that sucks man, but the car can be fixed. is it just the skirt that is damaged or the whole rocker panel? if its just the skirt you should be fine.

 

[302GTS]

Had it towed to a shop and went to bed... Couldn't stand looking at it anymore than I had to, but I believe it's just the skirt that's damaged. I agree, inphiniti, I'm glad that it was JUST the car. My girlfriend's fine though. She was more worried about how mad I was at myself, haha. The overall accident was a lot better than it could've been, looking back on it. I'm gonna get it fixed, possibly rebuilding the axle assembly with 31-spline goodies, and a set of 3.73's. I definitely learned a lesson, and even though I was going slow to begin with, I can take it slower next time the conditions are like it. Thanks for the comments.

 

[tjh566]

rain+mustang= bad, i can take off from a stop light as easy as i can and the tires still spin a little.

 

[302GTS]

rain+mustang= bad, i can take off from a stop light as easy as i can and the tires still spin a little.

Agreed... My car's bone stock other than advanced timing. As soon as the new rear end's in there though, I'm dropping some cash on tires that'll get me insane traction. Not risking this again.

 

[dutch5.0]

even the best tires aren't going to give you much traction when it's really wet. Just gotta take it slow.

 

[MysteryMachine]

ok this is just me but why would you shift? Just let off the gas

 

[302GTS]

ok this is just me but why would you shift? Just let off the gas

Thought about this over and over, so it's not just you. I don't really know. A lot was going through my head when it kicked out that first time. I still wonder if I hadn't countersteered would it maybe have corrected itself, but if it didn't and it kept sliding, then it would have put my girlfriend's side of the car into a wall. A lot of could of/would of/should of in this situation, but what's done is done, and the damage isn't as bad as it could've been.

 

[MysteryMachine]

Thought about this over and over, so it's not just you. I don't really know. A lot was going through my head when it kicked out that first time. I still wonder if I hadn't countersteered would it maybe have corrected itself, but if it didn't and it kept sliding, then it would have put my girlfriend's side of the car into a wall. A lot of could of/would of/should of in this situation, but what's done is done, and the damage isn't as bad as it could've been.

Yeah I hear ya on that. Ya never know with the "what ifs"

Glad your both ok
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[302GTS]

As an update, car should be back up and running with new axles, and 3.73's by Wednesday. Paying a good amount to, unfortunately, have a shop do it. But I need the thing ASAP so I can get to school and work without leaving my mom without a car.

 

[Chythar]

rain+mustang= bad, i can take off from a stop light as easy as i can and the tires still spin a little.

I was able to spin the tires on my old Stang V6 in the rain, I had to granny drive it when the pavement was wet or I could still spin it out.

 

[MysteryMachine]

I was able to spin the tires on my old Stang V6 in the rain, I had to granny drive it when the pavement was wet or I could still spin it out.

I don't care what anybody says. My 99 with the 3.8 was pretty quick.

 

[Husky44]

Thought about this over and over, so it's not just you. I don't really know. A lot was going through my head when it kicked out that first time. I still wonder if I hadn't countersteered would it maybe have corrected itself, but if it didn't and it kept sliding, then it would have put my girlfriend's side of the car into a wall. A lot of could of/would of/should of in this situation, but what's done is done, and the damage isn't as bad as it could've been.

First, don't second-guess yourself, because you can't change what happened.

As to the broader question that was raised, having had a lot of opportunity to practice driving a stick in less than desirable traction conditions (like half the year in AK), I would encourage all to remember when your rear-end breaks loose and is coming around, simply push in the clutch. Letting off the gas can create a compression-braking situation, particularly if your RPMs were high, and/or you've got tall gears. Clutching gets you back into a free-wheeling state, allowing your simultaneous counter-steering to straighten you out, and preventing your driveline from making your spin worse. Also, counter-steering almost always results in overcorrection and starting a spin the opposite way (which it sounds like part of what happened to you). Unless you've spent some time practicing it, most people don't have the feel for when to come out of a counter-steer.

FWIW, every car I've ever owned has seen it's share of time in a snow-covered empty parking lot, doing donuts and slides. I even made both of my kids do it when I was teaching them to drive, and I make it a point at the beginning of every winter to take my DD out and do it again. Recovering from spins or slides is a skill, and like every skill, you've got to practice to hone it. Plus, if you do it enough, you can actually learn to use your throttle to help you in some situations (Think drifting a curve).

Plus, it's fun! Just make sure you don't have an audience, and watch out for light poles. I've even had a couple of cops show up. When I explained to them my primary reason for doing what I was doing, and pointed out that they probably got the opportunity to do skid-pad training (if they say no, then you complain how the city's such cheapskates for cutting the law-enforcement budget so they don't get adequate training in vital skills--that'll win them over every time if you say it with enthusiasm), they've always let me go with a "hey, that's a good idea".

You can even do it with our cars if you get a fairly heavy rain.

Sorry to hear about your damage (and especially the ticket to add insult to injury). Glad that it was only metal that was injured, and that it turned out to be a good opportunity for an upgrade or two!

 

[Chythar]

I would encourage all to remember when your rear-end breaks loose and is coming around, simply push in the clutch. Letting off the gas can create a compression-braking situation, particularly if your RPMs were high, and/or you've got tall gears. Clutching gets you back into a free-wheeling state, allowing your simultaneous counter-steering to straighten you out, and preventing your driveline from making your spin worse. Also, counter-steering almost always results in overcorrection and starting a spin the opposite way (which it sounds like part of what happened to you). Unless you've spent some time practicing it, most people don't have the feel for when to come out of a counter-steer.

Excellent idea. Letting off the gas is what you do in an automatic, I've done that for years in auto cars back in the Chicago suburbs. Good point on the manual, letting in the clutch does exactly what you want - allows the rear wheels to match speeds with the pavement and regain traction.

FWIW, every car I've ever owned has seen it's share of time in a snow-covered empty parking lot, doing donuts and slides. I even made both of my kids do it when I was teaching them to drive, and I make it a point at the beginning of every winter to take my DD out and do it again. Recovering from spins or slides is a skill, and like every skill, you've got to practice to hone it. Plus, if you do it enough, you can actually learn to use your throttle to help you in some situations (Think drifting a curve).

Plus, it's fun!

Heh, did that as well back home. Used to mess around on the side streets before they were plowed, used to whip the car sideways and see how long I could keep the car sideways and still moving down the street.

I can also confirm that messing around in a slippery parking lot like this WILL teach you how to control a skid. As with everything, practice makes perfect. As I'm still new to a manual tranny, I wish I had easy access to snow again for this kind of practice. Other than that, I don't miss the snow.

 

[BlackVert]

glad to hear you are both ok at least

my son did something similar in my car back in january. the problem there was driving on summer tires in 20 degree weather. ruined 3 of the 4 wheels and the k member. cost me about 2 grand to fix it.