jonharis
Adventure Imports
So, I've delayed writing this post for sometime until I found some more info about the outcome. In March, I bent the frame of my truck while driving on unmaintained roads in Utah. The route was washed out from a recent storm and there was no definition to the drop off. My truck dropped 2-3 feet at 35+ mph. At the time I was towing my Adrenalin and a witness stated that it went into the air and then came down very hard. Basically the weight of the trailer (~2200lbs, completely full with water propane and 15 gallons of extra gas) augured into the hitch which was mounted to the Slee bumper, which was mounted to the frame. Testament to Slee's product and the Adrenalin, both went away without so much as a minor bend or ding! The truck was not so lucky. The frame creased just behind the bump stop for the rear axle as pictured. I did not know this had happened until after I got home and crawled under the truck. I honestly thought that the Slee bumper had just shifted in the mounting bolts.
Note the angle difference in the rear bumper. Some shot's show it better than others.
Here are some shots of the two frame rails.
OK At this point the damage is easily quantifiable. THe 100 series frame can not have heat applied while pulling and the bend is on a weld and severe enough that it can't really be pulled out. Let's start the tally.
New Frame: $6500 OEM Toyota.
R&R: 36 Hours
Micelaneous: 8 Hours
Re Paint Quarters (Wings Hit the Quarters): $300
Re Powdercoat Bumper (exhaust blistered PC) ?
My initial estimate is for $13,000. Going to the same shop that did my last repair. I trust them and they know how demanding I am. I know they will make it right.
Now for the less quantifiable parts. The Body got tweaked in the incident and now door/window gaps are not aligning. The body shop has no clue what to estimate for this and neither do some of my claims adjuster friends. Might be $1K or $10K. The later makes it a total but how do we deal with that once the truck is already in two pieces? These are the questions... I've been told that shops will sometimes not total a truck so they can get the work and then end up with a job costing enough to total. I hope this is not the case but we will see.
Now for some bad news. The shop ordered a frame from a depot in California which is in stock. (there are two frames in the country right now). It was supposed to be here in 6-10 days. Two days ago the order got canceled by Toyota and the shop had to reorder or something. Not the lead time (still from CA mind you) is 6-8 weeks! Something is not right here. If any of you parts managers are listening who can help a guy out please, please PM me. I would like to hear if anything can be done to improve this. Apparently our local Toyota dealer ordered the frame and my experience with/opinion of them is less than stellar.
So that's where we are now. I'll post pics and pricing of the project over the course for future people to reference. I'm thinking of having my frame strengthened by a local frame guru after this and have already drastically changed my driving with the trailer.
Note the angle difference in the rear bumper. Some shot's show it better than others.
Here are some shots of the two frame rails.
OK At this point the damage is easily quantifiable. THe 100 series frame can not have heat applied while pulling and the bend is on a weld and severe enough that it can't really be pulled out. Let's start the tally.
New Frame: $6500 OEM Toyota.
R&R: 36 Hours
Micelaneous: 8 Hours
Re Paint Quarters (Wings Hit the Quarters): $300
Re Powdercoat Bumper (exhaust blistered PC) ?
My initial estimate is for $13,000. Going to the same shop that did my last repair. I trust them and they know how demanding I am. I know they will make it right.
Now for the less quantifiable parts. The Body got tweaked in the incident and now door/window gaps are not aligning. The body shop has no clue what to estimate for this and neither do some of my claims adjuster friends. Might be $1K or $10K. The later makes it a total but how do we deal with that once the truck is already in two pieces? These are the questions... I've been told that shops will sometimes not total a truck so they can get the work and then end up with a job costing enough to total. I hope this is not the case but we will see.
Now for some bad news. The shop ordered a frame from a depot in California which is in stock. (there are two frames in the country right now). It was supposed to be here in 6-10 days. Two days ago the order got canceled by Toyota and the shop had to reorder or something. Not the lead time (still from CA mind you) is 6-8 weeks! Something is not right here. If any of you parts managers are listening who can help a guy out please, please PM me. I would like to hear if anything can be done to improve this. Apparently our local Toyota dealer ordered the frame and my experience with/opinion of them is less than stellar.
So that's where we are now. I'll post pics and pricing of the project over the course for future people to reference. I'm thinking of having my frame strengthened by a local frame guru after this and have already drastically changed my driving with the trailer.