Rolled my '94 XLT today...

Everybody's OK, just some bruises, though our Labrador was pretty upset
about being taken back home ( Hey! I *KNOW* we were going camping! You
can't take me home! )

So I had the experience of hanging upside down by my seatbelt, shutting
off the engine, and being helped out by some good samaritans.

OK, let's get it over with- my wife was nagging me about rolling up the
dog's window, and a moment's distraction and I was going off the right
shoulder, straddling an asphalt curb they put on the edge of some of
our country roads, scraping along on that for a ways trying to get the
right wheels back up on the road, til I finally did.

Bad idea, my wheels were turned too far left and I careened across both
lanes. Fortunately, no traffic. I almost had it straight when the left
wheels hit the asphalt curb on that side and I flipped over and down a
3 foot embankment, ending up on the roof.

So I feel pretty stupid about that lapse of attention, but since I only
suffered some relatively minor financial damage I figure I got off
easy. It was pretty embarrassing, would you believe they sent two fire
trucks, an ambulance and some other kind of EMT vehicle, and, yes, a
helicopter. Last but not least, the highway patrol. Everybody was
very nice, they insisted on checking us out, even the dog, which I
thought was a nice touch. It took like 3 hrs to get the tow truck out,
drag the poor Explorer upright and back on the road, then call a
flatbed and get 'er loaded. They dropped it off in front of our house
a few miles away, and I had to call a junk yard to pick it up. Boy,
they sure like wrecked Explorers, they were over in a flash, I signed
the pink slip, and it was gone. I was going to ask about the pros and
cons of various years, and I'm already taking a look on Craig's List
for a replacement, but I guess I should save that for a separate
thread.

So learn from the voice of experience- wear those seatbelts and fer
crying out loud, don't let yourself get distracted.
-Paul

Glad everyone is OK ! Good gosh that must have been scary as heck.
Lucky you are. I'm trying to visualize this curb you talk about. How
high was it? So you initially went to the right and straddled it, then
tried to get back on the road and things went downhill from there?
About how fast were you going when you tried to initally "unstraddle"
the curb?

HerkyJerky wrote:
> Glad everyone is OK ! Good gosh that must have been scary as heck.
> Lucky you are. I'm trying to visualize this curb you talk about. How
> high was it?

Looking at my upside down Explorer, I could see that the front
differential had been scraping on it. Must be 6" tall or so. I'm
guessing they put them there to keep you from drifting off the road,
only I did it just before the start of the curb so I straddled it.
Maybe berm is the proper term. I'm guessing they put those in places
where the shoulder is too narrow. If you were to pull off the road in
that area you'd roll as there's very little shoulder and the road bed
is raised. I realized it was more than 3' because my Explorer was below
the road level. So more like 5-6'.

> So you initially went to the right and straddled it, then
> tried to get back on the road and things went downhill from there?
> About how fast were you going when you tried to initally "unstraddle"
> the curb?

I was probably going 50 when I realized I was drifting onto the
shoulder, and maybe down to 40 when I got back over the curb. I must
have been scraping along on that for 100' or more. I don't remember
braking, I was focussed on steering.
-Paul

ouch man,
glad to hear everyone's ok though. good luck on finding a replacement
vehicle. speaking of wrecked explorers... i totalled a '00 explorer
sport about 6 months ago...
surprisingly i was only doing about 20 mph! i was pulling out from one
side of a divided highway to the other and hydroplaned as i tried to
straighten it out. make a long story short, i slid sideways for about
40 feet and got a little too touchy feely with a bradford pear tree in
the median. i got the whole firetruck+ambulance+police checkup too.
anyway, hope everything turns out good for you! once again, im glad
everyone's ok! (including the labrador! i've got 2 labs too!)
God bless,
aklmfreak

On 14 Oct 2006 08:37:45 -0700, > wrote:
> I was probably going 50 when I realized I was drifting onto the
> shoulder, and maybe down to 40 when I got back over the curb. I must
> have been scraping along on that for 100' or more. I don't remember
> braking, I was focussed on steering.

Glad to hear the damage is only pocketbook.

For future reference, the recommendation in such a situation is to
slowly let up on the gas and coast to a stop or maybe, LIGHTLY apply the
brakes. Before attempting to return to the roadway, you need to be calm
and in total control of the vehicle and yourself. Then slowly ease back
up onto the road, or if that isn't possible, get the tow truck.

sdb

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sdbuse1 on mailhost bigfoot.com

sylvan butler wrote:
> On 14 Oct 2006 08:37:45 -0700, > wrote:
> > I was probably going 50 when I realized I was drifting onto the
> > shoulder, and maybe down to 40 when I got back over the curb. I must
> > have been scraping along on that for 100' or more. I don't remember
> > braking, I was focussed on steering.
>
> Glad to hear the damage is only pocketbook.
>
> For future reference, the recommendation in such a situation is to
> slowly let up on the gas and coast to a stop or maybe, LIGHTLY apply the
> brakes. Before attempting to return to the roadway, you need to be calm
> and in total control of the vehicle and yourself. Then slowly ease back
> up onto the road, or if that isn't possible, get the tow truck.

Yeah- I think I would have been OK had it not been for that curb. I
instinctively didn't yank the wheel to try and stay on road, or slam on
the brakes. I would have spun and rolled at 50 mph had I done that. I
had it straight on the shoulder, and could have gradually brought it
back onto the road had I not straddled that curb. If I had it to do
over, I'd stay on the curb and start braking lightly. I was afraid I'd
roll to the right, so I was turning left more and more, but nothing was
happening because the front differential was hung up on that curb. Then
it got enough traction and went all at once. Bad news...

I'm going to look at another '94 Explorer tomorrow, I think it's even
the same color. 115K miles, he's only asking $2750. Auto instead of
stick, but I can live with that.
-Paul

wrote:
>
> I'm going to look at another '94 Explorer tomorrow, I think it's even
> the same color. 115K miles, he's only asking $2750. Auto instead of
> stick, but I can live with that.

Heh heh! I thought I was going to be looking at a cream puff, because
he had been asking well over high blue book, and had just dropped the
price to low blue book. It looked more like 215K miles than 115k
miles. And the photos he had posted didn't show the severly oxidized,
peeling roof and hood. He had polished the sides, so the paint looked
glossy in the photos, but as my wife said, "looks like it went thru a
rock storm." No major problems, he said, unless you count the 4 wheel
drive being inoperative. I was tempted to punch him out, after driving
an hour based on lies.

-Paul

On 21 Oct 2006 12:00:03 -0700, > wrote:
> Heh heh! I thought I was going to be looking at a cream puff, because
[tale of woe deleted]
> drive being inoperative. I was tempted to punch him out, after driving
> an hour based on lies.

Ouch.

That's always the problem trying to replace, exactly, what you've lost.
And the better care you take of your stuff, and the older your stuff
gets, the worse the search for replacment becomes.

sdb

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