Anybody have any idea what my options are? Sun roof damage. (1 Viewer)

[Paydday]

I took the LX 450 through a car wash by the gym. (Yeah I know, I was in a hurry for the West side Fort Worth meet up tonight.) While going through, I heard 3 giant thuds that shook the whole darn truck. Anyway, a piece of the car wash broke away and crushed the roof. The sun roof is shattered and there are about 3-4 major dents in the roof, plus the rear spoiler was ripped off. How difficult will this be to fix?

 

[Marco Lau]

Yikes.!!!
Sorry to hear..

 

[clx16]

There are body work guys who can make that metal good again. If you throw gear up top, you might consider getting the metal straightend out and doing a mostaliner or some other textured paint...... I used to live in the DFW area, so i recommend you go with white up top, and tell people it is a tribute to an fj40 and NOT an FJ cruiser. You can source a used sun roof (which is what I would do) but there are a few, and you might be one of them that would like to do a sunroof delete. This would be that time to do it if you want to go that direction.

Before doing the insurance thing on your end, go to a body shop and get a quote. Maybe a couple body shops, takes them about 15 mins to write one up for you. Then I would see if you can submit that to the carwash on their insurance. I am going to guess they are going to be in the 6k range. and you could probably get the sheetmetal straightened for a LOT less and use the extra to get yourself a used sunroof/or deleted, and coated with something and a replacement aftermarket rack.

I would not let your insurance total the rig though. Thats just me though.

 

[bigredmachine]

spoiler shouldnt be a big deal to repair, jut remove the feet and reuse the holes in the lid. sunroof glass is no big deal thats 4 screws to remove from the lift arms and your good to go. the roof is going to need a body shop, the skin is fairly thin as there are cross members between the headliner and roof skin. looks like you also lost your rear cross bar if you werent already missing that

 

[jfz80]

Payday seems appropriate name here

Really sorry to see this. I’d venture to say ins may total loss it because involvement of the fix. If you don’t want a tarnished title I’d get ready for a battle.

Roof skin could be replaced. Used to be available new but doubtful anymore.

I’d opt for skin vs any pillar work for structural integrity’s sake.

Perhaps a good body shop could straighten and rework but I’d be holding the car wash co to making it as it was or compensating appropriately if you find an acceptable compromise. Looks like it was a clean rig.

I’d call up Jason at cruiseryard aka @arcteryx and see if he had any roof donor rigs and or other parts you need.

 

[FJ73Texas]

Campteq. Pop top tents for Land Cruiser 60 Series, 77/76 series, 80 series, and 100 - https://campteq.co/

 

[leonard_nemoy]

That sucks, is the car wash liable?

 

[AndrewInf]

That sucks, is the car wash liable?

Surely they would say "nope!"

 

[clx16]

I am going to say.... you were just one wash more than it could handle. The damage on your vehicle suggests that it broke up top, swung down and pivoted hit your sunroof, broke it and caught the metal of your roof as the your vehicle and the machine were not stationary in relationship to each other. I don't think your vehicle had any thing to cause the issue. those arms moving back and forth.... fatigued that (what looks like aluminum or maybe part of the stainless) bracket and it dropped the stainless bracket. I would think with the side to side action those create. that would be a common failure point. If you know anyone who services those, it would be interesting to ask them about what fails on those. Better to have known facts before you deal with them.

 

[gummycarbs]

Look at the Trypo thread to see what the factory recommended approach would be, which is replacing the entire roof panel:

The Holy Truck / was Trypo the trypophobia-Inducing truck / was a chopped model 80

I apologize for the click bait, but I could not resist... I've spent the last couple of days pulling stuff from a donor 80 in preparation for having the junk man come and drag off the remainder. The last thing is the roof. I made a mistake recently at an auction for a manual transmission 80...

forum.ih8mud.com

If it were me, I'd find a body shop to hammer it reasonably flat, weld a panel in place of the sunroof, then repaint it if they can make it look nice enough or Monstaline it if they can't fix all the ripples without resorting to excessive body filler. Then enjoy the extra headroom.

 

[Paydday]

Thanks for the input, should be interesting tomorrow. I'm not going to let them total it.

@clx16 - The car wash admitted responsibility, you're correct, it was a machine failure on their part. We will see what they say tomorrow, but I'm ready to go to war.

 

[shocktower]

Thanks for the input, should be interesting tomorrow. I'm not going to let them total it.

@clx16 - The car wash admitted responsibility, you're correct, it was a machine failure on their part. We will see what they say tomorrow, but I'm ready to go to war.

So what did they end up saying, that was terrible, and I am glad you didn't get stabbed in the head by the car wash