Honda Civic EP3 wishbone sheared!

[djt205]

Hey everyone, here's a weird one, got call from my friend saying she'd broken down in her EP3 Type R, 1st time ever that car has let her down.
Got there and the nearside wishbone has just snapped clean about 5cm from the balljoint end.

I dread to think what could have happened if it had broken at speed somewhere, she was just on a country lane, no bumps or anything.

Unfortunately it's made a right mess of the wing / door etc, I hope it can be fixed :-(

 

[Mr Plums]

When was the mot?

 

[djt205]

18th of July.

Sorry someone had to move this - I thought I'd put it in general seeing as it's not Clio related, except for that I went to it in my Clio!

 

[montana]

She must have hit something to cause that (today/past), never seen that before

 

[JamesBryan]

Country lane with no bumps.... Not in this country I take it :tongueclosed:

Seriously though, that's definitely gone down a pothole and sheared off.

 

[djt205]

I guess we will never know what happened in the past, but I drove down the same road she did and there was nothing unusual immediately before.

The place where it happened was pretty much flat, you could see the tyre mark on the road where it had gone, nothing there at all. Believe me I asked all these questions!

Could it be a crap replacement wishbone? The metal looks very thin for the load it could take, also looks like it's been on there ages though.

I'll ask her to check through the history and see if it was replaced in the past, she's had the car for 10 and a half years. Horrible failure to be honest.

 

[imprezaworks]

Hi. To get to the bottom of this we need pics of the driver.

 

[djt205]

Looking at my pics again it looks like it had been cracked at the top for some time, also the tyre wear could confirm that. b****cks to that happening at speed going round a bend. I drove this EP3 about 3 weeks ago and it felt fine. Obviously wasn't though. Be careful out there.

@imprezaworks: sorry man this is about the car ;-)

 

[imprezaworks]

Ah no worries mate hope you sort it

 

[djt205]

Thanks, me too, it's easy to sort mechanically, but the damage it did to the door / wing / sill probably won't be cheap... Easily more than the car is worth.

 

[djt205]

Update: Honda dealer where it's usually MOTed have agreed to repair and fix damage free! Also wishbone was confirmed to be the original 15 year old part. Very good customer service from Rowe's Dobwalls. She's getting the one on the other side replaced for peace of mind.

 

[JackJack]

Great result that :up:

 

[bashracing]

They are doing it out of their own interest, corrosion issues within 90 days of an mot can be appealed against with vosa, they're covering theirs and the testers arse as that has been missed

 

[djt205]

Yeah I expect they are... f**k VOSA and all that s**t though tbh, at the end of the day, old mechanical parts can fail and I bet most people wouldn't have spotted that without being really thorough. With hindsight I bet it would have been easy to spot. Anyway, car is back on the road, 2x new wishbones, new drop links and a driveshaft.

Has picked up some nice damage to rear bumper and driver's door from who knows where though, presumably some fuckwitted recovery company expecting it to be a total loss. Grr.

Thanks for the comments everyone!