Landcruiser with ARB vs Chevy Aveo

[flow]

Smacked a Chevy Aveo turning across my lane yesterday on 45th street in Austin. I couldnt see behind a van in the left lane until the Aveo committed to the turn and entered into our lanes. I hit the brakes well ahead of time but the roads were slick and I slid maybe 3 car lengths straight into his right quarter-panel.

He admitted fault at the scene and the insurance rollercoaster has begun.

His car is definitely totaled. My cruiser drives fine although I feel like its out of alignment.

The only visible damage to mine is on the ARB. It looks fine but the cable opening at bottom is bent and there are scratches. What I am most concerned about is frame damage because the ARB looks to be about 1cm closer to the body on the left side of the vehicle than the right. This truck was in exceptional shape and I am worried that there is permanent damage lurking under the minor visible damage.

What other bits should I look at for damage? Other comments?

 

[jvazquez53]

Smacked a Chevy Aveo turning across my lane yesterday on 45th street in Austin. I couldnt see behind a van in the left lane until the Aveo committed to the turn and entered into our lanes. I hit the brakes well ahead of time but the roads were slick and I slid maybe 3 car lengths straight into his right quarter-panel.

He admitted fault at the scene and the insurance rollercoaster has begun.

His car is definitely totaled. My cruiser drives fine although I feel like its out of alignment.

The only visible damage to mine is on the ARB. It looks fine but the cable opening at bottom is bent and there are scratches. What I am most concerned about is frame damage because the ARB looks to be about 1cm closer to the body on the left side of the vehicle than the right. This truck was in exceptional shape and I am worried that there is permanent damage lurking under the minor visible damage.

What other bits should I look at for damage? Other comments?

That's a Land Cruiser, they can take lot more punishment than that, As for the bumper, that's minor. The only alignment on these trucks if I'm not mistaken is toe in/out. Google it the alignment for these trucks and is a a simple procedure. Sad 4 the car, anyway is fixable, I hope he learned the lesson on not messing wit a LC!

 

[ngrich99]

Looks like ARB did it's job and sacrificed it's life for you. time for a new bumper, doubt the frame bent though.

 

[Frankencruiser]

Once you get the ARB off it should be easy to tell if the frame is bent or not. I would be surprised if it is.

 

[93yotasr5]

Land cruiser/ arb ftw!!!

 

[C6H12O6]

If your alignment is off, take a look at the splined sector shaft coming out of the steering gear box. Mine was all twisted up after an very minor t-boning. Got very expensive in a hurry. Much more likely than a bent frame.

Good luck. Glad everybody is ok.

 

[mot]

Yikes!

Glad you are OK!

I had a "minor" accident a couple of months ago (my fault) and my aluminum bumper did almost as well as your ARB did (Still busted my left headlight/marker, etc...)

I did not want to get rid of the bumper, so had the body shop try to bend it back the best it could (still slightly crooked, but oh well...)

Good luck!!

 

[davegonz]

Sorry about the accident. The ARB doesn't look to be in that bad of a shape. If you want to get rid of it, I might be interested

 

[specialk396]

Glad everyones ok. ARB looks bent, frame is probably fine if thats the case. Get insurance to replace the bumper and keep the bent one. Hope everything works out.

 

[lt1fire]

Get them to buy you a new bumper.... sell the slightly bent one
Have the steering box looked over if there is twisted splines get them to buy you a brand new one.

 

[BadReligion]

Wow! Your LC totalled an eco box and all that happened to it was a bent ARB (assuming no frame damage). Glad I just put mine on this weekend.

+1 on getting insurance to buy you a new one, then sell the old one and get a winch!

Wonder how a winch would have done in that crash...

 

[Ebag333]

If anything is bent, it's likely just the frame horn (end). Not a huge deal.

x2 on the sector shaft being twisted.

 

[Walking Eagle]

If anything is bent, it's likely just the frame horn (end). Not a huge deal.

x2 on the sector shaft being twisted.

those frame horns are stout - bendable, as on a rolled one I bought and parted out, but getting them straight might be a challenge - finding a shop that has the tonnage for a good pull.

definately take it to a shop you trust though, have the frame straightness checked, ALL the steering components checked.

I'm currious as to how everyone is coming to the sector shaft? What in what looks to be a straight on hit that didn't hit the axle or any of the steering parts would cause this damage? I'd guess frame bend before any of the other parts just cause of how it's hit. But that's just a guess.

 

[Tapage]

X2 did your tires touch any part of the chevy ...? from pics to me it' does not looks like ..

 

[Koffer]

Damn, you hit him so hard the middle lower bar on your ARB was completely sheared off























Been thru 2 ARBs on the BJ70 so far :whoops:

 

[Ebag333]

I'm currious as to how everyone is coming to the sector shaft? What in what looks to be a straight on hit that didn't hit the axle or any of the steering parts would cause this damage? I'd guess frame bend before any of the other parts just cause of how it's hit. But that's just a guess.

Sector shaft takes very little force to twist. When my truck got hit and run on, DS tire took a very light impact (few MPH), twisted it rather badly.

It's (IMHO) one of the more likely places for a steering wheel to become out of alignment, especially since it's often started twisting due to P/O's hitting curbs, etc.

 

[floridan surfer]

How bad was the jolt of the impact? Did you feel anything?

 

[C6H12O6]

The sector shaft is a very weak link up there. Probably fine in a straight-on collision, but worth having the shop take a good look at it. The part is not easily serviceable and the steering box new from Toyota is $2500. Not the kind of thing I'd like to find out after signing off on repairs in a settlement. I didn't see anything special in the photos, but now that you mention it, the offset damage to the front-end of the Aveo shows there was some sort of side-ways force on the Cruiser. Also, anything hard enough to make the alignment go a little hinky makes me wonder.

 

[Ebag333]

I didn't see anything special in the photos, but now that you mention it, the offset damage to the front-end of the Aveo shows there was some sort of side-ways force on the Cruiser.

Exactly. Plus DS wing looks pushed back a little, but impact is mostly center. Means that the front end was being pushed PS after impact, which takes a lot of force on a 6k lb rig.

If the force of the impact pushed the 80 sideways, then there would have been a lateral force on the front end. Could easily be enough to twist the sector shaft.

But it's uber easy to check. Takes like 5 seconds.

 

[flow]

Yes Landcruiser definitely FTW! The impact really didnt seem that bad since we had a lot more inertia. The Aveo bounced off 8ft or so. And since we slid quite a ways, it replays in my head like it was in slow motion.

The impact for us was head on but the ARB took it slightly offset to the DS. I do plan on replacing the bumper with another and using the old to fund a winch

Thanks for the info about the steering box/sector shaft. That is exactly the kind of info I was hoping to get. I will make sure to have the shop look at these part specifically.

Koffer, the PO took off the middle crossbar to mount a big ole warn 8274.

Tapage, I dont think my DS front tire ever touched the other car.


Thanks everyone for the kind words. I will be sure to post an update asap.