Bumper / Fender Flare Advice. (1 Viewer)

[SirJester]

Hi All,

Back in April I took my '97 in for an exhaust transplant and the tweaker mechanic drove my orange beast into the building. Get a panicked call from business owner and I show up to see the carnage. What makes this über epic is that we had just taken a quick weekend shakedown trip to Moab to test out my new suspension, tyres, battery setup, and roof top tent.

Then to add extra awesomeness; the owner finds out that the building is leased from the railroad and the insurance only indemnifies them... and the owners are a very nice young couple struggling to start this new business. I admit to bring an unmitigated dick when needed but I am not an a******.

So I worked out a deal with they guy;

• Do the exhaust for free.
• Get the fender looking perfect.
• Either fix (to perfect) or replace the bonnet.

(Ladder Frame, Rim, and Radiator untouched.)

​

The paint job needed to redone and I already have the paint in the garage. - So I'll do that.
Already had new LED headlights to install. - So no worries. Not 'road legal' but I live in Nevada.

I had every intention of replacing the bumper anyway and fenders flares so I won't charge him... but I will let him install the bumper for free.

Here is where I have a question(s):

• Any recommendations for a bumper? - Next year I want to replace the rear one as well and would be cool to have them match... but not critical. Need to be able to mount winch. (Was thinking Zeon 10 or 12.)

• Needed new fender flares as the over-sized MTs throw up quite a bit of gravel.
  • Any experience with 92-97 Land Cruiser Pocket Fender Flares ?
    • Quality? Ease of Install? Extra side coverage?

Last week I was in Iceland and saw several epic builds which gave me WAY to many ideas including new bigger fender flares.

(We rented the Defender: So sexy, so rubbish.)

I have a hard time shelling out $1800+ extremelandcruiser.com for overkill (not knocking the product), but would love some input.

Thanks for Reading.

 

[Cruzerman]

You are heck of a nice guy. Anyhow, I hate fender flares. I don't run them with my 35's and haven't had any issues with gravel. I would think that is more of a mudflap things than a flare thing. I find the flares are the first thing to hit and break. My '93 came with them and it wasn't too long before one was broken and another totally ripped off. Took off what was left and didn't miss them at all. My '95 came deflared. And now is the time to do it. You can weld up the holes before you paint the rig. JMHO.

As for bumper, I'm guessing more overlanding than wheeling? To me, they have different requirements. For overlanding, I'd be more looking for a bull bar / deer defender bumper. For wheeling, I'd be looking more for a strong / in tight bumper. Again, JMHO.

 

[slow95z]

That's a ton of damage and work. You are way too kind. I would get them to pay for all of it. I just started another business 3 weeks ago but I got a 1m policy day one. Not your fault they didn't get the correct insurance.

 

[flintknapper]

That's a ton of damage and work. You are way too kind. I would get them to pay for all of it. I just started another business 3 weeks ago but I got a 1m policy day one. Not your fault they didn't get the correct insurance.

^^^^ Exactly!

 

[slow95z]

The more I look at it, and I would know since I part them out, if you get insurance involved that's going to be a total loss. Maybe you are on the right path if you want to keep the truck. Man that's one hell of a hit.

 

[jfz80]

I can be entirely too nice as well at times but......No way man.

New hood, bumper, valance, lights, grill, fender lightbar, exhaust, paint, alignment etc on them.

Did you get to see the incident scene?What was his story?
Looks like an oops on a store run vs pulling into a mechanics bay at 25 mph. Any random receipts from his beer run that night?!?

 

[flintknapper]

Did you get to see the incident scene?What was his story?
Looks like an oops on a store run vs pulling into a mechanics bay at 25 mph. Any random receipts from his beer run that night?!?

^^^^^ That was my first thought too. WAY too much damage to just be a parking lot mishap pulling into a service bay.

 

[slow95z]

New bumper, valance, lights, grill, fender lightbar, exhaust, paint, alignment on them.

man its going to need inner fender, core support, hood, maybe trim under the wipers, who knows about the radiator and fan shroud. the battery box is toast i would think... i have 3 trucks in my yard, with a salvage title, with half the damage that thing has.

 

[White Stripe]

Looks like about 5k in damage. They should pay for it. If they don't have the money they can take out a small loan.

 

[Conundrum]

If they are running an exhaust shop without garage keepers liability and only find out what type of lease they have and who the building owner actually is only after an accident, what other aspects of their business are they not doing correctly? Some people should run businesses and some people should work for people who run businesses. I'll play devil's advocate here and say if your wrecked 80 is what puts them under, you might be doing them a favor. It might not seem like it short term. How long until one of their employees is badly injured with $100k+ in med bills only to find out they are not carrying work comp insurance? He sues and the DOL and Industrial Commission heavily fine them. I could come up with many examples on how things could go really wrong for this business owner, much worse than covering the damage they did to your 80.

Ultimately, you let them off on this one, who gets screwed on the next "accident"? And for how much? It will happen.

 

[Kaninja]

I'm nice, but I would make them pay. That is quite a bit of damage. Sad to see that happen to your awesome 80.

 

[Tools R Us]

Ouch!!! Check the sector shaft for twist.

 

[flintknapper]

Ouch!!! Check the sector shaft for twist.

A/C drier too. That is a BUNCH of damage...even if mostly external.

 

[inkpot]

IF the fender came off during the incident, there may be damage to the rear fender mounting positions on the A pillar/door frame and the lead edge of the driver’s door.

 

[decoco]

what I would like to know is what speed was the tweaker mechanic going and wtf were they doing to do that much damage.
We're talking about a completely damaged hood a torn fender ... from what we can see.
Was he trying to Ken Block the 80 into the building?

 

[Kaninja]

what I would like to know is what speed was the tweaker mechanic going and wtf were they doing to do that much damage.

Yah, now we need steel bumpers to not only protect our 80's from rocks, trees, deer, and driverless cars, we can add tweaker mechanics driving into buildings to the list.

 

[decoco]

Yah, now we need steel bumpers to not only protect our 80's from rocks, trees, deer, and driverless cars, we can add tweaker mechanics driving into buildings to the list.

not to add partners saying "why don't you just get something newer like a volvo"

 

[Biggreener]

@SirJester what are the deets on your paint?

 

[SirJester]

what I would like to know is what speed was the tweaker mechanic going and wtf were they doing to do that much damage.
We're talking about a completely damaged hood a torn fender ... from what we can see.
Was he trying to Ken Block the 80 into the building?

As of 18 months ago I am a bellow the knee amputee. While I was (and still am) learning how to do everything with carbon fiber and titanium instead of bone and muscle I have a left hand pedal installed. Apparently stepping on the accelerator like one would a clutch can be somewhat tragic.

 

[SirJester]

@SirJester what are the deets on your paint?

Used Monstliner Monstaliner do-it-yourself roll-on truck bed liner outperforms Herculiner Bed Liner, Duplicolor and Rustoleum Road Warrior Apocalypse. Wife and I ended up painting it in our garage, not a bad way to go but having learned the hard way... Wait until the temperature a bit warmer, remove the door handles and fenders, and buy extra rollers because few things suck more than having to pick roller material out of drying bed liner.