OK, so here's the skinny on the accident. Basically, I was up visiting my father, and we left his house to go pick up his wife's new guns. Both he and his wife do Cowboy Mounted Shooting, so for x-mas, he got her some Ruger New Vaquero Montados. Very nice guns, stainless steel, .45cal single action.
Anyway, i digress. We were on our way to pick up said firearms and it started to rain. Now, there had already been at least a foot of snowfall up in his neck of the woods in NH and it was starting to melt. No biggie, all the roads were clear, just wet. As we were approaching our exit on the highway, the rain turned to snow. As anyone here probably knows, that makes for some REALLY slippery conditions.
Now on a smaller local road, with a speed limit of 35, we round a corner and crest a hill. There's probably about 1/8th inch of snowfall collected on the road now, so it's all very pretty
. I notice that the traffic at the bottom of the hill (a good 400yds. away) is slowing down. I figured I'd play the cautious driver and start to slow down (from 30, 5 under the posted speed limit) before I ran into any issues. Well you can guess how well that went. As soon as I touched the brakes they locked up and the truck went sideways.
Unfortunately, this road didn't only slope downwards, but also to the left (into oncoming traffic). I did everything I could to regain control, but the truck wouldn't respond. I steered into the skid hoping to get across the road and into the snow piled on the shoulder (about 18in. deep) figuring that would be enough to slow me down without hitting a tree or anything else. That didn't work, so I tried cutting the wheel the other way to try to get the truck to spin, thinking that might slow it down, again, nothing. I was watching the car in the opposing lane come up the hill in slow motion, as all these things do.
For some reason, the driver of the other car didn't feel it was necessary to hit the brakes or even steer to avoid me until we were about 20ft. apart. She ended up sideswiping me and continuing a good 10+ ft into the snow on the side of the road, so it was obvious (at least to me) that she was still going at a decent rate. I don't know if she tried to gun it to get around me or what, but it didn't work
.
As you can see, this impact was enough to tear the axle from the shock mount and the lower link, pull the driveshaft out of the t-case, snap the universal joint, bend a lower control arm, flatten a tire, dislodge all the fender flares and rear bumper, tear the side molding off of the rear door and shatter the mirror. Who knows what other kind of damage there was, but I'm sure it was extensive.
Luckily, everyone was fine. Needless to say, she was shaken up, and I was pissed, but I guess that's just me being disappointed in myself for not being able to do anything. If there's one thing I hate the most, it's feeling helpless.
Her Subaru seems to have fared well, but I didn't really get a good look at it, being in the snow and all. It looks like all her damage was cosmetic, bringing to mind the question of why the KJ was so badly banged up. But my guess would be sub-par repairs to the rear axle the first time around. (When I was rear-ended last Dec. 27th on my way to my dad's)
To answer the questions of all the vultures out there (I'm just playing guys, I'd do the same thing), i don't really have much off of the truck. The front end was buried in snow and there was a Merc. Diesel parked in front of me when I got to the truck to strip it, so the lights and tow hooks were unsalvageable. I prolly could have gotten to them by laying in the snow after digging out the front end, but it just wasn't worth it. I did manage to grab all my stereo components including HU, speakers, tweeters, subwoofer/amp and RCA patch cable. I grabbed all the loose stuff too, flashlights, manual, maps, quarts of oil I had in the back (just in case), lithium grease, etc. Oh, and the fitted rubber "Jeep" floormats, which I'll consider selling.
As for the stuff that wasn't on the truck at the time, that I'll be willing to part with, I've got the original intake and airbox and the original wheels. So if anyone's interested, feel free to shoot me a PM with an offer.
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Basically, I've been looking for a new car for the last week or so. Top spot on the list was obviously a Jeep, a '99 - '04 Grand Cherokee (WJ) to be exact. I've done a lot of research on JU and came to the conclusion that a '02 or newer Laredo with Quadra-Drive and the 4.7L V8 would be the best option for me. Regretfully, there aren't many Laredos to be had with the V8. I could choose to either settle for the anemic (at least compared to power/weight ratio of the 3.7L in the Libby) but dependable 4.0L I6, or find a Limited and deal with the possible issue of the Dual Climate Control system giving me issues. I chose the latter option as I found the adjustable lumbar, plush leather interior and standard 6-CD changer with steering wheel controls to be more to my liking. All three vehicle that made the list are 4x4 with ABS.
The whole reason I'm so intent on something with a really good 4WD system is that I'm moving out to PA for school so I need to make sure I'll be able to get through the snow without any troubles. (No-ABS in the snow is what cost me my Jeep) This truck has drums in the rear, but they're still ABS, I'm just not sure how much i trust them. I've also heard that the road noise can be pretty bad in the Dakotas.
I know the Aisin automatic hubs that come on most Japanese trucks are troublesome, and i'm 99% sure it'd be the same parts for the Warn Premium hubs that I put on my Montero and Trooper, so it'd be less than a $100 investment. Parts cost on Japanese rigs are usually up there, too...a Jeep will nickel-and-dime you to death, but when something goes wrong with a Nissan or Isuzu, WHAM...it's a big chunk o' change.
But I need to keep a DD that's in good shape for obvious reasons. The Dakota would make a good parts truck in that it has a toneau cover and a bed liner, but I'm sure there's plenty of people that could help me get big parts from the store if i need it.