Well.....mother f@%#$&g Yokes...there goes some of my savings

[Drew]

Well, on my way back to the office today, I was approaching an intersection with a traffic light. The light was green and I had to make a left. But, I had to wait for oncomming traffic to stop. I approached the light and slowed down to about 15MPH. The light turned yellow and I got ready to go. The last vehicle (oncomming) passed and I jerked the wheel to the left to make the turn...not a violent jerk, just a regular "turn." The next thing I know is there is a loud banging noise coming from the front of the car and my steering wheel jerked to the right suddenly. I was moving at again about 15MPH. As it turns out, my front passenger side Yoke blew out and even with ABS, probably because the tire was blown, I skidded. I skidded right into this triangular median thing...which had curbs. I f'ed up my tire even more, f'ed up the rim, cracked my front lip spoiler in half...which then decided to rip itself from my car. In the process, the lip spoiler, which is screwed into the front bumper, ripped the bottom of my front bumper. My front bumper also has a gash in it and my wheel well is gone. What a way to start the day. So.....I was forced to drive home 40 miles on a damn donut. I even got passed by a Wal-Mart tractor trailer...sad...real sad. But, thank God I was not hurt or anyone else was hurt. And thank God this tire decided to go then as opposed to on the Expressway at 55MPH and plus.

So, I am not about to order another damn Yoke...especially since they are worn after only 15K miles (I know they are not supposed to last). So, I just ordered 17" Konig Tantrums with 215-45-ZR17 Michelin Pilot Sports...I always wanted this combo on my Celica but not like this. I figured since my bumper was already screwed I could not reattach any front lip..so I had to order a new bumper and front lip. But, instead of doing this I just ordered the TRD full bumper...it was just a tad more...all unpainted of course. I really didn't want to go with anything other than TRD for my own reasons...but, still, this is not the way I wanted to get this stuff. So, I am now without my Celica for probably at least 3 weeks (2 weeks for the bumper to come and I figure at least a week for body work). I don't see how I can drive the Celica without any front lip since those bottom engine plastics attach to the front lip and would thus fly away if I did not have a front lip. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...I just have to keep telling myself it will look all better when it's done. Sorry about this long post but I just thought I would share my pain...which will hopefull later be joy.

Oh, and add an alignment to that too!

[DaileyDog]

Sorry to hear that. How many miles were on the Yokes when they went?

I have Pilots, too, but not the Sports. Those are damn nice tires. I think you'll like them except in the snow and steady rain. Then, I'm not so sure.

Good luck with the new stuff. It's unfortunate how it happened but it's still a good thing.

Mike

[huangc2]

Hey drew, you represent partznet.com right? What happened to the Kaazuma exhaust system they used to sell? I can't find it anywhere on the site.

[Drew]

Originally posted by DaileyDog
Sorry to hear that. How many miles were on the Yokes when they went?

I have Pilots, too, but not the Sports. Those are damn nice tires. I think you'll like them except in the snow and steady rain. Then, I'm not so sure.

Good luck with the new stuff. It's unfortunate how it happened but it's still a good thing.

Mike

Ya, I'm kinda curious as to how they will handle the rain...the Yokes had less than 16K miles on them!! I heard the Pilot Sports stick like glue though.

[Drew]

Originally posted by huangc2
Hey drew, you represent partznet.com right? What happened to the Kaazuma exhaust system they used to sell? I can't find it anywhere on the site.

I used to represent Partznet...well, I still hype them up and so forth, but I don't work there anymore. I worked there while I was in college. I now work in a CPA firm. So, I honestly don't know what happened to the exhaust. Email Brian, he should be able to tell you.

[larryd]

damn Drew sorry to hear about it bro.. but aint that the way we all end up getting what we want.. you have to have a reason first :)..

btw.. just take off the lower plastics until you get your new front bumper.. then yuo can drive withuot the front lip with no problem.. i didnt have platics for well over a year.

[Drew]

So I can drive without the plastics? I always kina figured they were there for a reason ;). You know how paranoid I am about my car...I'm almost as bad as Nick (the guy with the yellow Bettle...wouldn't even rev it past 4000RPMS because he was afraid of breaking something.)

[larryd]

hehe.. yeah.. you can drive with out em.. Alot of people do.. basically they are there as a catch for fluids, and aerodynamics.. not.. they also protect your tranny from getting hit by anything.. but if something big gets under your car then the little plastic protectors arent gonna do any good :)

[yakkosmurf]

Sorry to hear about the car Drew. That was a bad break. I hit a curb at twice the speed you did and managed less damage. Have you thought of getting a different front bumper? At least you can get new rims to replace the scratched one.

[Drew]

Ya, I'm gonna get the TRD full bumper (I think). I really didn't want any otherones. The wheels will be here Wednesday so I can how they look on the car at least. My insurance agent wants me to go to some place called Carisma instead and have my bumper filled and then have a new lip spoiler jury rigged to the old bumper, I'm not too happy about that.

[yakkosmurf]

That's why I didn't bother with my insurance when I hit the curb. I didn't want the scratches fixed. I wanted new body panels. I ended up getting everything taken care of for the same amount as my deductable. But I also had no problem with the car taking a month to get fixed. Get an estimate from the place the insurance company wants you to go, and then put that money toward getting a new piece from Toyota. I bought a new front lip from Acura, and it came painted from the factory. It wasn't much more than it would have cost to get the scratched one fixed, and it was the same price as the unpainted aftermarket ones.

[Smaay]

Drew, how did you order the TRD front bumper and how much was it... i went to a dealer and the replacement part on the action package is like 1100 bucks...the TRD bumper is discontinued. details please


thanks

[Drew]

I ordered it by getting as$ raped by Toyota. I really wanted to bumper so I am going to fork out $700 for it (that's cost). I realize I could get a painted Kaminari and such for less than this unpainted TRD one, but I really want the TRD one. I am hoping the shop says I need a new bumper, that way I can use the cash for a stock bumper for the TRD one.