Like something out of CHiPs

Grody conversion van traveling northbound on US-1 loses wheel.

Grody conversion van winds up in GRM parking lot, right in front of the building.

Grody van leaves behind a trail of cigarette butts and pills.

Pictures soon.

Did the occupants have to free themselves and flee, making it to the dirt berm just as the fantastic explosion helps toss them over it?

By Grody do you mean "Totally grody, to the max?" or "William Jefferson Grody, coach builder"?

These photos are what really make the story fun.

Wow! Lost the caliper & rotor even!

Looks like you guys were lucky that no one was parked up front. I wish things like this happened in my office.

found the best place to loose a wheel, right on GRM's doorstep, maybe they should read the technical articles a bit more closely....

7 Mary 3 & 4 should be rolling up soon

I'm disappointed that this isn't being live Twittered.

You should of put a bunch of orange cones behind the van on their sides. When the police got there, you could say that the van's time was horrible!

TeamHighNoon wrote: You should of put a bunch of orange cones behind the van on their sides. When the police got there, you could say that the van's time was horrible!

Awesome.

The scene is already clear, apparently the incident happened sometime around 1 a.m., so there wasn't much excitement for us other than watching them haul the beast away.

BTW, the objects in the seat of the last picture appear to be pills. Quite a variety, too. The 5-0 wouldn't let us sample them.

Tom Heath wrote:

Is there part of a pole missing from this accident too?

Yep, it was once the bus stop sign. I'm firmly of the belief that he lost the wheel from hitting the curb, not the other way around.

Tom Heath wrote: I'm firmly of the belief that he lost the wheel from hitting the curb, not the other way around.

We say:

I don't know Tom...here is what the Corvair world is saying: Our vote is that the spindle nut came off and allowed the wheel/rotor to run off causing the accident. The impact into the curb would have broken the spindle. It looks to be intact in the photos

True, the spindle seems pretty much intact, but the witness marks on the utility pole and the spindle washer and dust cap make me think they must have been present at point of impact.

I think Gary's analysis is best—he thinks the nut came loose beneath the cap, allowing the wheel to get wonky. Lack of directional control put him into the utility pole and bus stop sign. This caused the wheel to fall off, took out the brake rotor/caliper, and steered him to our door.

Where's CSI when you need them?

That'll buff out.

Those look like antacids. I don't think they'll get you stoners high.

There were two Vans....one on the grassy median....and one next to the curb.

The curb van (Van #2) was in possession of the so called "magic spindle nut".

I almost had a similar accident years ago the day before my wedding. I was driving up the M1 Motorway in England (Before I moved here) at about 80mph and the spindle sheared off on my TR7, luckily the caliper held the rotor in place so I could pull off to the side and wait for a tow. The P.O. Must have over tightened the spindle nut as it sheared off flush with the underside of the nut. I considered myself very lucky with that one.

If it happened on CHiPs the perps would've escaped on roller skates after the accident.

Couldn't you have painted "Free Candy" on the side and left it there until Halloween? It is only a couple of days.

Dr. Hess wrote: That'll buff out. Those look like antacids. I don't think they'll get you stoners high.

Obviously, you've never crushed up and snorted a TUMS before.

I don't think there would have been pills in a CHiPs van. Unless, of course, he accidentally overdosed on something for which he had a valid prescription. Then we all would have learned a valuable lesson about safety.

There was parts of the van attached to the telephone further up the street. That's probably the initial impact.

poopshovel wrote:

Dr. Hess wrote: That'll buff out. Those look like antacids. I don't think they'll get you stoners high.

Obviously, you've never crushed up and snorted a TUMS before.

I would have expected a cialis/viagra type reaction, since TUMS is smut spelled backwards.