When it rains it pours - Do I repair or go ARB?

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TexasCrane

TexasCrane

10 Year
Joined
May 13, 2014
Threads
30
Messages
345
Location
Austin
Finally confirmed my time off next week and got registered for Overland Expo. Then today I managed to crack the screen on my phone. Not the end of the world, but not something I had planned to spend money on. Then when I came out of the parking lot at Walmart this evening, I found this lovely surprise.

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This is the second time I've been hit in a parking spot in the last 4 months :bang:. At least this time the woman waited for me to come back outside and gave me her insurance info. Last time it was just a hit and run.

Now I've got to figure out if this impacts next week's trip out to NC. On one hand the car is drive-able but on the other hand it bugs the hell out of me to be driving around in a smacked up looking vehicle.

This also forces the discussion of putting bumpers on my LX. I had been holding off in part because I wasn't quite ready to spend the money with a baby on the way in December and I'm also unsure what to do re: the AHC. I originally thought I would rip it out right away and go with an OME set-up. However I've found that I actually like it and it seems to be running strong. I was going to wait for it to fail and then think about OME/Bumpers.

Now I'm wondering if I let the insurance company buy me a new rear bumper, buy myself a front bumper and sliders, and then instead of ditching the AHC, swap in LC torsion bars and coils to handle the extra weight.
 
rear tail light, rear bumper r/r, trim piece above bumper, impact damage under bumper on beam, paint, looks like at least a grand to me. That is a huge discount on a 4X4 labs rear bumper, if not free. Take the check, order the bumper and drive it 'smacked up' while you wait.
 
Hair dryer and pop that thing out so it looks less smacked up. After the insurance adjuster looks at it.
 
Thanks for the advice everybody. I'm a little less upset about it today after a good night of sleep. It does look like the bumper bar underneath the cover is toast and it go pushed back up into the left side body panel. You can't see it from the exterior but if you open the tailgate you can see where it's cracked the body panel.

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I'm going to go get an estimate from the Lexus dealer after lunch before I take it to the insurance adjuster. I'm thinking maybe a slee or ARB bumper set up for dual swingouts but without them installed for now.
 
GatorPlater said:
rear tail light, rear bumper r/r, trim piece above bumper, impact damage under bumper on beam, paint, looks like at least a grand to me. That is a huge discount on a 4X4 labs rear bumper, if not free. Take the check, order the bumper and drive it 'smacked up' while you wait.
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Yeah, don't go gung-ho on the front bumper and sliders unless you are dying to get rid of your AHC suspension system and replace with a standard suspension. If you have the money and time, that is fine. Otherwise, I would hold off. Have the insurance guy look at as it is right now and get a couple of quotes from high quality auto body repair shops. Take the money from the insurance and get the light and lower plastic fascia piece fixed and then take the rest and buy an aftermarket bumper. I wouldn't be surprised if you are looking at closer to 2K.

After the insurance process is complete and you have the check, pop out the bumper and live with it until you get the aftermarket one.
 
You don't have to get an estimate before hand at the dealer. Just take your insurance estimate when you drop off your truck to be fixed. The body shop will deal directly with the insurance company if more repairs are needed than was initially estimated.

And of course you can get it fixed wherever you want. Insurance companies will try to push you to their "approved repair facilities."

Does the ARB have a receiver for a ball mount? I was looking at bumpers recently, but I two some and would probably remove the factory hitch.
 
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If I'm not mistaken, most after market bumpers (including ARB) should be cheaper than a factory bumper that is installed and painted.
Note what I said: the cost of a factory bumper installed and painted should cost more than an after market bumper. That's not including the cost of having the after market bumper installed and assuming you can live with a black bumper.
 
From what I can tell, the aftermarket bumpers are quite a bit more than the factory bumpers. I received an initial estimate from the insurance company of $2300. From what I can tell about $900 or so of that is the bumper. The cover and actual steel bar are less than $600. It's hard to figure out all of the labor charges on the estimate but I'm guessing it's in the neighborhood of $300 for paint.

That's good chunk of change towards a new bumper, but Slee and ARB both start and around $1450 + $600-1100 depending on additional accessories.

Instead of booking it through them, I'm going to see if I can get the insurance company to write me a check for a rental car. I've got another car available to drive so I could potentially get another $400+ to put towards a bumper depending on how long it's in the shop for.
 
go with the after market bumper get the spindles and cover but skip the swing outs until later.....
 
Check out the BIOR rear bumper. You can have him build it with 2 spindles and nothing else. Then order the swing out and ladder rack or whatever DS accessory you'd like at a later date. The ARB is ugly. I prefer the BIOR over the Slee but that is just personal opinion. The base BIOR starts at $1k.
 
It is great that the lady waited for you to come out so her insurance will take care of it. Good time to get a nice offroad rear bumper.
 
Bloomer said:
Off topic, but good gosh...your left rear corner and mid section of the passenger side of her car. Was she pulling into a parking space and just cut it way too close?
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That seems to be what happened. The killer part is that this was a slanted row of spaces. I don't know how you misjudge one of those that much and then don't stop when you first make contact.
 
Bloomer said:
Off topic, but good gosh...your left rear corner and mid section of the passenger side of her car. Was she pulling into a parking space and just cut it way too close?
Click to expand...
My wife did similar when she had an Enclave, combination of horrible turning radius and it being a lot bigger than it feels inside. She clipped a suburban bumper in a tight parking garage at about the same spot.

Tucker
 
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