Just Wrecked My Dream Car

Twister

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Wrecked a gen2 and a gen3. Its a sad sad feeling.

But really this sounds like a win win to me. You hit people. Elderly people at that. A car would mean nothing if somthing happenned to your friend or those elderly people. Praise God that everyone was ok. Getting another viper is no biggie.


Very happy your ok
 
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SYNFULL

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Wrecked a gen2 and a gen3. Its a sad sad feeling.

But really this sounds like a win win to me. You hit people. Elderly people at that. A car would mean nothing if somthing happenned to your friend or those elderly people. Praise God that everyone was ok. Getting another viper is no biggie.


Very happy your ok

Yes, I can't imagine the feeling of having hurt someone. I am very thankful that wasn't the case.
Thank You
 

AFL in NJ

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Glad you're okay! Sad about your car, but you will be able to replace her with another Viper that catches your eye. I'll be very interested to hear if you're able to determine where that brake fluid leak was....cause I'll be checking mine!!

Regards,
Aaron
 

Fatboy 18

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Did you ever go back to the place where you parked at the Gym to see if there were any tale tale signs of a leak? If you have seen the car in the salvage yard, are any of the rubber brake pipes cut?
 
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SYNFULL

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I am going to check over the weekend. The Insurance companies towing company called me to see if they could pick up the car. I told them
no way I was releasing it without getting a settlement amount from the insurance company.
Then I called the agent that originally got me the policy. I asked him about stated value. He replied that as far as he
knew stated value meant that was what you got if there was a total loss on the car. I told him what the adjuster told me
about stated value- "stated value means you will get up to that amount to repair or replace the car- OR- actual cash value.
The agent replied that he never knew that.
Then he proceeded to tell me the story of a lunch truck owner that had the car insured for 18k and it was like a 1992.
The truck owner had a loss and they only paid him $600. The agent said to me - "how can he replace his lunch truck for $600?"
Made me feel real confident of them.



Did you ever go back to the place where you parked at the Gym to see if there were any tale tale signs of a leak? If you have seen the car in the salvage yard, are any of the rubber brake pipes cut?
 
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FrgMstr

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I have been dealing with Geico on mine. The adjuster says they usually hit around KBB private owner value. Will find out for sure next week, but there have been no hassles with that company. They gave me access to the car yesterday to allow me to pull the 08 hood and StopTech rotors out along with some of the salvageable stereo equipment.
 
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SYNFULL

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I have been dealing with Geico on mine. The adjuster says they usually hit around KBB private owner value. Will find out for sure next week, but there have been no hassles with that company. They gave me access to the car yesterday to allow me to pull the 08 hood and StopTech rotors out along with some of the salvageable stereo equipment.

Good for you. Did you have to replace the parts you took off with stock ones?
 

WDW MKR

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Very sorry to read of the loss, but thankful no one was seriously hurt. Your story came at a perfect time for me, as I was working through the insurance policy for my recent purchase. The info in this thread helped me confirm "agreed value" coverage in writing. Thanks for sharing. Good luck to you with the insurance settlement and future purchase.
 
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Mopar Steve

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Very sorry to read of the loss, but thankful no one was seriously hurt. Your story came at a perfect time for me, as I was working through the insurance policy for my recent purchase. The info in this thread helped me confirm "actual value" coverage in writing. Thanks for sharing. Good luck to you with the insurance settlement and future purchase.

Wording is everything. There are two type policy's, "stated value" and "Agreed value" Be sure your policy reads Agreed Value.
 

WDW MKR

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I meant to type "agreed"... My coverage cuts me a check for the agreed value, no questions.
 
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SYNFULL

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Did you ever go back to the place where you parked at the Gym to see if there were any tale tale signs of a leak? If you have seen the car in the salvage yard, are any of the rubber brake pipes cut?

Got a call from the shop today. They said the found a ruptured brake line at one of the front wheels. I am going in the morning to document
and take some pics. I will post when I get them.
 

DrumrBoy

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I am going to check over the weekend.

If you think the lines have either been cut or loosened, it'll be hard to tell without looking at the lines themselves. Depending on the impact, there could be bends near the calipers, but if you see either a fitting that's loose or disconnected or of course a cut, then you might suspect foul-play. Better bet is that you were rubbing a line and it wore through at about that time. It can happen if you change the geometry at a corner, bigger wheel/tire combo, replace calipers and don't route and secure the lines to clear etc. It only takes a pinhole to provide absolutely no braking force whatsoever. Three months ago a pal's GTS was heading into 10A at Road Atlanta, Traqmate said 167mph before braking....he squeezed the brakes, nothing, stomped the brakes, nothing, pumped twice, nothing....and then picked a path through the kitty litter to try to get under the bridge instead of into the side of it. Upon inspection, the line has rubbed a tiny tiny pinhole in the rubber (through the mesh sleeve) and just that tiny hole resulted in zero brake force. Check the lines and fittings - for peace of mind.
 

DrumrBoy

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OK, note to self....read entire thread before posting from page 3! Glad you found it, now the trick is to figure out what weakened it so it can be avoided next time.
 

Grisoman

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Modern cars have diagonally isolated brake lines so if one line fails (ruptures) you still have the other half. While this does cut your braking ability in half, you still have some pedal to work with. You say you had zero brakes, so there must be something else going on in addition to the single ruptured line. Am I off base here?
 

terminator02

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Modern cars have diagonally isolated brake lines so if one line fails (ruptures) you still have the other half. While this does cut your braking ability in half, you still have some pedal to work with. You say you had zero brakes, so there must be something else going on in addition to the single ruptured line. Am I off base here?

Not sure. 6 months into ownership of my 2000 ACR, I was leaving my home and my brake hit the floor. No push to it at all. Looked under and a pool of fluid was coming out. Had to have my entire clutch system replaced. So if I had to guess; clutch/master slave problem. However, that is something that doesn't usually go overnight. I noticed it was slowly going but didn't make the full connect it was the clutch system given the miles and condition of the car when I got it.
 
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SYNFULL

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Got the pictures this morning. Front right passenger wheel where line goes to caliper. I have the stainless steel brake lines! There is a plastic fitting right
where the lines ends. The plastic is split and you can see the steel a little "shredded". This was on the inner side of the wheel facing the motor.
The pics are on my camera so I can't upload until I get home. When you see the pics you will understand.
I can't believe these lines actually failed! That was the whole reason for installing them (safety)
 

Mopar Steve

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Modern cars have diagonally isolated brake lines so if one line fails (ruptures) you still have the other half. While this does cut your braking ability in half, you still have some pedal to work with. You say you had zero brakes, so there must be something else going on in addition to the single ruptured line. Am I off base here?

The way I understand it, there is a portion of the proportioning valve that should "slide" to block fluid flow such that only one half of the system is operating. Often if the fluids are not maintained this "slider" will seize itself into position and you will in fact lose all braking ability.
 

JonB

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Got the pictures this morning. Front right passenger wheel where line goes to caliper. I have the stainless steel brake lines! There is a plastic fitting right
where the lines ends. The plastic is split and you can see the steel a little "shredded". This was on the inner side of the wheel facing the motor.
The pics are on my camera so I can't upload until I get home. When you see the pics you will understand.
I can't believe these lines actually failed! That was the whole reason for installing them (safety)

Without the pix, I want to say the plastic part is simply going to be a clear PVC sheath over the braided SS line which protects an inner hose....that PVC protects the line from abraision. Broken/torn line Could have happened in the incident.

I do know of ONE failure incident involving Goodrich universal lines..... standing by for more info.....
 
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SYNFULL

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Here are the pics of the brake line-
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I am going back to get the line off later.
 

JonB

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I dislike this kind of unsupported, un-bracketed "universal" brake line, vs those that are Viper-Specific with support brackets. They can flop around too much, and get caught on debris-brush in off-course excursions. Or, be too SHORT. The yellow is the primary plastic sheath I mentioned above. {I wonder if it was yellow when new? } It also has a 2nd "boot" of clear plastic, right at the rupture. That line looks like it was pulled-yanked toward the camera and split at the metal fitting. The plastic sleeve has also seperated 2-3" above that point? Just observations-conjecture on my part...
.
 
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