So I rolled my 80. Now what?

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sheeplehearder

sheeplehearder

10 Year
Joined
Mar 7, 2014
Threads
3
Messages
18
Location
Fayetteville, NC
Been a long time reader of this forum and what keeps bringing me back is the amount of expertise and knowledge you all possess. So I'm looking for some advice. I rolled (only onto the passenger side, not all the way over) my LX450 on Friday and I'm not sure what I should do next. For some background, I was lucky enough to purchase an awesome machine from another member a couple years back.

For Sale: - Selling my baby, fully built lx-450

Once I got the truck back on its feet it ran OK but I couldn't get it up past 30 MPH. I'm not entirely sure what was wrong with it so I had it towed to a buddy's house. The entire passenger side is crunched in and it appears the roof is all out of whack now. The windscreen is still holding on but two of the corners popped out of place and the rear tailgate won't open more than a foot because the back passenger corner is smashed in. Everything underneath appears and feels to be in working order. I was able to drive it down the dirt road up to 25 MPH and the steering felt normal and no crazy rattles or anything visually appears to be busted. The truck is an hour away so I'm heading out shortly with a pressure washer to clean up as much as I can to get a better look at the carnage.

Now on to the advice part. For any of you that have been in the situation, what is your advice? I'm assuming my insurance will only give me a couple grand. How does the salvage process work? Any ideas what it would cost me out of pocket to try and return the truck to "normal"? How about cutting the roof off and leaving the doors off? I know there are a ton of variables but I've never been in this position before. I appreciate any advice you have to offer.


I couldn't get the pictures to post here correctly so here's the link to the three I have right now.

Kaiju - jessetafoya

Kaiju - jessetafoya

Kaiju - jessetafoya


-Jesse
 
I picked up my full rolling chassis (93) for $2200. So long as your frame looks good, I think I would start researching a body swap, unless you would rather go full truggy with 0 f%*#s given, then start cutting it all to pieces and have a body cage welded in (thinking similar to 1st gen 4Runner).

But first I would diagnose the running issue. If you aren't throwing codes, I would start with checking the exhaust piping and work from there.

Most importantly, I'm glad your ok to post this.
 
If you rolled it off road with no police reports or anything, insurance might not give you anything at all? I rolled my 4runner on the road and Progressive took really good care of me--actually came out more than whole.

If you've got the space and the time, I'd be looking for a body swap donor.
 
Glad you're ok, sorry to hear about the LX450. Id figure out the problem that's preventing you from going over 30 first. Then figure out if keeping, then go with donor body or do the cage thing. Locked axles?
 
First things first, figure out the running issue. Second, if this isn't your daily driver, I would suggest repairing the A and D pillar and then just keep wheeling. Wear the carnage as a badge of honor.

No one will ever try and cut you off from the passenger side again.
 
May depend on where you are? Have seen several taken care of, have a roll over at the shop right now that was fully covered, recovery, tow and total loss.
 
Well, I finally had some time to get back out to the truck and to talk to insurance. The truck still runs just fine, I'm pretty sure at least. The windshield popped out so I didn't get a chance to run it on the street. My frustration lies with my insurance company. They didn't balk at the situation or me filing a claim. However, when I asked them if they could tell me approximately how much I would get for a total loss they wouldn't give me a number. The adjuster did say mid 90's vehicles are maybe getting $3-4k. Based on my deductible, buying it back, and fees I would maybe make $1500-2000 on the transaction. Also, they couldn't give me a quote until they have taken possession of the vehicle to get quotes on repairs. At that point, even if I reject the claim, it would still get reported to the state as a total loss and I would have to figure out the salvage title mess. I also asked about taking parts like the bumpers and sliders off to sell separately and was told I wouldn't be allowed to do that once the claims process has started.

So, really I'm still the exact same situation I was in before. I would like to cut it up and make some sort of truggy but I think the body is too warped to do that. I would literally have to scrap the entire body and build a tube frame of some sort. The second option, at least that would make me some money, is to part it out. I've never done that before so I have no idea how to go about it. The truck is an hour away from me on a buddy's farm. He's been patient so far but I'm not sure he would like me taking the truck apart piece by piece on his property. Last option is just going with the insurance claims process and hoping for the best.

Again, I'll ask any of you for suggestions or recommendations. Specifically, if you know approximately what a "fair market" price would be. I asked my insurance if there was any way I could look up what insurance claims have been paid out for vehicles by year/make/model and she didn't know of anything. I appreciate any help I can get.

Jesse


I suck at uploading pictures on here, but here's the link to the gallery.

Kaiju - jessetafoya
 
I wouldn't mess with your insurance unless you absolutely have to. I had a similar thing happen to me but not as bad. I repaired the damage as best I could, made it water tight and now I'm not concerned at all about trail damage. Like Jose said...looks like a great candidate for a chop and a cage. I would have gone that route if mine was any worse. That way you can still enjoy and appreciate it without too much worry of future carnage. Sorry to hear about it btw, it's a tough spot to be in. Best of luck, you'll get it worked out. Tons of great info here on options.
Paul
 
Have done a body swap. Mine was far more complicated than it needed to be, on account of combining a 94 LC chassis/engine with a 97 LX body/harness.. but if it weren't for that and you have the resources a body swap is actually pretty easy. not sure about NC, but in TX the process of getting it legal wasn't even that difficult.. Provided all the documentation for where the parts came from, and they reissued a VIN tag that matched the frame, then put it in the new body door jamb.

If you did it right, you could end up paying very little.. needing only a clean body, you could get one with trashed interior, part out the chassis/engine/drivetrain, have a lot of spares, etc. it'd just be work.

The logistics, however. You need EITHER
A) 2x2-post lifts (lift body off both rigs, swap chassis, set body down)
B) a 2-post lift and some form of dolly to move the body around (use lift to set good body on dolly, move frame out, use lift to remove bad body from frame, set bad body on frame you don't want, use dolly to place good body on lift, roll good frame under, set it down)
C) a forklift with long fork adapters and lifting straps. This is what I did.

IMG_20150704_201519.webp

20150711_164417 (Large).webp

20150711_200949 (Large).webp
 
IMG_20150715_114613.webp

IMG_20151027_160830.webp

IMG_20151028_181950.webp
 
Now:
IMG_20160307_101714.webp


The whole thing has seriously made me reconsider the weight and weight distribution of any future mods too.


So yes, I'd keep insurance out of it. I got the body I did for $800 and had to spend another $600 on hood/fenders (because of a front-end accident). Sold the motor for $500 and if I weren't in such a hurry I could have made much more back on other stuff. As it is I scrapped most of the extra metal. If you were patient and not picky on color (BE PICKY ON YEAR/MODEL. LX/LC 96/97 have significant wiring differences) I'd bet you could find a good body for cheap and get the work done in a week easily.
 
@bloc truly inspirational. No way the wife would let me tackle a project like that. We'd be getting a Rav4 at that point. :o
 
If you turn this rig over to your insurance, i'll buy it.

With that being said, there's far worse damage out there. Straighten the pillars out, and put a new windshield in. Justin built this truck as a crawler and now it fits the roll.

How'd it roll, anyway? Smashing too fast down a muddy trail, lost control and pitched it into a ditch?

For good measure, here's a picture of my rig with the LX450:

 
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Some good points from lots of folks here. I have been down this road as well. Personally, if you have a good driving record, I would go with the insurance claim for the money it will get you. They will give you a low-ball offer to start off with--they will more than likely end up giving you 7k ish because they HAVE to justify the amount paid out based on comparable rigs (mileage and condition) PLUS some allowance for extras (this will be far less than the extras are worth, but they do include them--i.e. 100 dollars allowance for an ARB bumper). This will be a negotiation process between you and them. Once you have agreed on a value, then get the salvage value--this is the amount they could sell the rig to a junkyard for. You are entitled to "buy back your truck for that amount and then be payed out the difference--less your deductible. I.e. Value is 7k, salvage is 1500, deductible is 500, you get the truck and 5k. The hassle of getting a salvage title is really not a big deal--some states don't even require it if you buy it back before it goes to a wrecking yard.

My 2 cents--Negotiate the best possible deal with the insurance--buy the truck back and then do what you want with the money--body swap, cage, truggy, lots of beer, another 80, barrel of whiskey, etc.

As far as off road use goes: You, the paying customer are allowed to drive on dirt roads, in the mud, in the snow etc. Unless you were participating in some kind of sanctioned off-road event like KOH or something similar, there should be no question about whether you are covered. My incident was out hunting in the snow...
 
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