Ouch! T-Boned!

long_tall_texan · **Posted:** Thu Aug 13, 2009 12:19 pm

I did not get t-boned. It was me that hit someone. I was fine, no injury, nor was the girl driving the other car. I had a girl in a Mazda Tribute (Mazda version of an Explorer) pull out in front of me on Tuesday evening. She just did not see me coming. I hit her dead straight on right in the center of her driver's side. Here are pics of my KJ. Don't have any accident pictures, or pics of her car.

Question I have for y'all here... My wife said it looked crooked driving behind me. So I had her drive down the block and I followed in another car. Looks like the rear wheels are tracking 3-4 inches to the right of the front wheels. Is that frame/unibody twisting/damage? And can that be fixed so that it is all back in line correct? What really stinks is that I just had it aligned that same day. Grrrr! Just glad no one was hurt.

Any suggestions on a reasonably priced aftermarket bumper? What are my bumper options that could be ordered and shipped ASAP? Is Arb the only one that actually has bumpers ready to ship?

tumanator · **Posted:** Thu Aug 13, 2009 12:29 pm

Dam bro....sorry to see this. I assume your not the fault driver though right, so at least insurance should kick in to help.

I don't know how the he!! you could bend the frame as your describing, from the looks of the front end you didn't hit hard enough to cause damage like that. I'm not sure how the front differential works with these IFS's but I would think it more likely you knocked your front end outta whack. I've seen some older rigs with SFA's that get in a front end collision and bend the mounts for the differential.

Again sorry to see this mate, hope it works out for ya

long_tall_texan · **Posted:** Thu Aug 13, 2009 12:33 pm

No, It was not my fault. Police report says the other driver failed to yield right of way, and driver inattention.

I am not sure why it would be twisted either. But when I hit her, it did bounce her, then spun her around and she ended up right beside me, drivers doors side by side, pointing the opposite directions. When she spun around, her car also bounced off of my front drivers fender and driver's door. Maybe that tweaked it. I dunno... We will see what the shop says when they tear into it.

wheeee32 · **Posted:** Thu Aug 13, 2009 12:55 pm

Time for upgraded springs/shocks and an ARB bumper.

Sport · **Posted:** Thu Aug 13, 2009 12:55 pm

Rusty's was selling some discontinued TJM, I would look there first.

Boiler · **Posted:** Thu Aug 13, 2009 1:03 pm

That looks like a very large amount of damage to me, price wise. If it were 2 years older I'd bet on it being totalled.

riptricket · **Posted:** Thu Aug 13, 2009 1:04 pm

I'd get a profinish hood! Seriously it would be awesome!

CRD Joe · **Posted:** Thu Aug 13, 2009 1:11 pm

darn, turbo (diesel) bummer! Sorry bout that. Total it and git yurself a CRD baby!

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Thu Aug 13, 2009 1:55 pm

Dont think that is much damage at all beside cosmetic. Its possible the passenger front wheel was hit which is making it crab walk. Could of just knocked it out of alignment real bad or bent something on the suspension.

Support for the grill and headlights looks to be gone too. Cant remember what thats called.

Blue KJ in PA · **Posted:** Thu Aug 13, 2009 2:21 pm

Yeah that headlight support is neither cheap nor strong...I was lightly backed into by a contractor working on my house and that headlight support was destroyed.

long_tall_texan · **Posted:** Thu Aug 13, 2009 3:18 pm

Sport wrote:

Rusty's was selling some discontinued TJM, I would look there first.

Just called them. THey are out of stock now. They just have ARB for around $1050 shipped to me.

long_tall_texan · **Posted:** Thu Aug 13, 2009 3:19 pm

riptricket wrote:

I'd get a profinish hood! Seriously it would be awesome!

I already checked on those too. I would love to have one, but they are about 2x the cost of a regular hood.

Sir Sam · **Posted:** Thu Aug 13, 2009 3:47 pm

Most likely the alignment is outta whack, making it crabwalk.

KJKev · **Posted:** Thu Aug 13, 2009 4:04 pm

The front end being out of alignment won't make it track like that. Something has been pushed over. Most likely the front end.
The right front wheel also looks way out of camber according to the photo.

I would guess that the right front frame rail is probably bent back just enough and possible damage to the control arms.

A good body shop will be able to figure it out once it's on the frame rack.

Make sure you get a couple of good estimates and then compare them to an estimate that 'her' insurance company will try to push through.

Don't sign or settle for anything until you're satisfied completely.

Also ask for the longest running gaurantee they will give you. You never know what might happen a few months down the road if they forget or overlooked to repair or replace something.

Take your own pictures now before it gets hauled off for repair. Make notes on how it used to drive so when you get it back you can compare that to how it drives now.

Make sure you check everything, such as power windows..how all the doors open and close. Check the operation of all your electrical items ...lights, heater, a/c....

You can pick the body shop you want to do the repairs. Check in often. And tell them you will be by often..not to check on them...well, OK..yeah..but to look at what damage they find that is hidden..and there will be plenty.

You never know, the radiator could be slightly bent and fail 12 months later. The crank could have taken a hit. The rack and pinion could be bent and fail later...well, you get the idea.

25+ years in the auto business and I've seen some pretty strange stuff.

KJKev

Sir Sam · **Posted:** Thu Aug 13, 2009 4:22 pm

A poor alignment can make a vehicle crab walk.(as well as damaged parts = bad alignment)

oddball · **Posted:** Thu Aug 13, 2009 5:06 pm

Wow. That must have been quite a hit. Look what it did to the license plate! :shock:

But seriously, that sucks, and like you said, good thing no one was injured. Oh and like KJKev said, make sure whoever does the repair work, goes over your KJ thoroughly before you settle.

HoosierJeeper · **Joined:** Sun Feb 15, 2009 8:23 am **Posts:** 1218

Ouch...glad everyone is ok.

Don't be done until it's done...

jdumont · **Posted:** Thu Aug 13, 2009 10:51 pm

I got backed into a couple of years ago and it looked identical to this. Ended up being about $5,500 of damage. Got myself a new ARB and lift out of that deal

Shreknow91 · **Posted:** Thu Aug 13, 2009 11:50 pm

Why didn't the airbags deploy? aren't they supposed to on a front end crash? How fast were you going? that may be why....

that sucks about the KJ though, hopefully everything gets fixed correctly and speedily..

long_tall_texan · **Posted:** Fri Aug 14, 2009 1:10 am

Both of us have Allstate insurance. I have made claims on my insurance before thru Allstate and they have always been very helpful and never pushed me on who to use. I have used independent body shops and their preferred shops and had good results with both. However, if you use one of their preferred shops, you get a signed lifetime guarantee that they will guarantee it is fixed right and to my satisfaction. So I am definitely using one of the preferred shops for this repair. Just happens that the body shop I wanted to use, which several people I know have used and have been very happy with their work, is now on the preferred list. We will see.

Not sure why the airbags did not deploy. I was probably going 35-ish when I slammed on the brakes. Happy to say the ABS worked great, but it is kind of hard to stop a KJ in 20-30 feet from 35 MPH. So maybe I was not going fast enough for airbag deployment at time of impact. Anyone know what speed they are supposed to engage?

Lucky for me, I had just gotten my KJ aligned 6 hrs before the accident. I have the alignment spec printout from Firestone that they got it corrected to. I am going to make sure to get the post repair alignment spec sheet too. Then if it is not as good as it was before the wreck, I will make them re-do until it is right.

Ouch! T-Boned!

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