I got into (what should have just been a fender-bender) a rear end collision with a Ford F150 on thursday... traffic stopped too quickly, and i couldnt stop quick enough. idk what happened, but i'm certain i could have stopped faster if the ABS braking hadn't kicked in (bone dry weather too)

So being 18 years old and only causing a dent in the F150's back bumper, we both decided not to contact our insurance companies since i'm not covered for collision damage and my insurance would skyrocket.

My damage is a totally different story: my pushbar was shoved into my grill and hood, causing damage to the grille, mis-aligning the lights (including breaking some mounts behind the lights) and buckling my hood more than an inch back. once i started the truck again after the accident, i heard the fan rubbing against something, so i stopped only a couple blocks away, even though my temp. and other dashboard gauges told me i was fine...

I brought in my blazer for repairs on friday, and they had to use a forklift to straighten out the pushbar and pull it out enough to open the hood. under the hood were broken fan shrouds and the radiator mount shoved towards the engine, and my AC compressor knocked out of alignment. before the accident, i already needed about $700 worth of work needed for the front end (Tie rods, upper control arms and bushings, and idler arms, along with the front end alignment needed afterwards). now i need this, + repairs from the crash, + the extra alignment work because of the crash!!!

I'll just be happy when i get my blazer back... pics when i can get them off my phone...

 

I feel for ya!

 

that is why i wont buy a brush guard. The only purpose they sever is to look good. They cause more damage than they protect. If you didnt have it it would probably just have a dented bumper like the ford.

 

i cant begin to explain how happy i am to have the pushbar... with it, it did cause some cosmetic damage (and some other damage, but that was fixed) but based on how high the ford's bumper was compared to mine, and how hard i hit, i would have had the ford's bumper somewhere in my engine bay! despite the amount of damage the pushbar may have caused, it did its job by protecting the most important parts of my truck.

without it, i would probably have totaled my blazer. or i would at least have to replace everything in front of the engine block itself, including the radiator, radiator mounts, fan, and other parts in that area.

my point is, my bumper would never have made contact with the ford's... until it was already underneath!

BTW: i got it back today!!! the important stuff is all ok and nothing had to be replaced in order for the truck to run. best of all, the mechanic only charged me for the idler arms, upper control arms, tie rods, and alignment! (the front end work was scheduled to be done on friday anyway, then the crash happened the thursday before). i seriously got lucky, and plan to never let something like this happen again

oh, and i'm keeping the pushbar, lol

do you guys want pics of the damage? it doesnt look that bad from the photos...

 

We love pics, even if they are of carnage

 

Sorry to hear about the wreck, but
I highly doubt it. If your brake system is working correctly the anti-lock shouldn't increase the stopping distance.

 

That's what I originally posted.. why it's short for me. Then i thought I'd better check it out.

I think the 'longer distance' IS mostly perception but we all know warm rubber grabs better than cold. And I guess there's a few tests on panic stop show it.
HOWEVER.. it's not much and if he'd trained himself to pump pedal in skid, as many of us do .. and actually did it just once, ABS would have won.

Look at it this way.. your tires arent flat-spotted. And if it rains or snows on the roads where you live.. prolly will more than make up for it.

 

I agree... on my next day off, i'll do a test! what speed do you recommend? i plan to do a few trials of each: pedal to the floor vs hard but not enough to engage ABS...

ok, i'll post pics in a minute... and there isnt much "carnage" in the photos, lol

 

sorry to hear about the wreck =/

 

Funny, I had a fender bender with an F250 offroad a few years back, head to head. His front bumper crumpled like a beer can and I couldn't find a scratch on mine.

Though, I have a winch and the fairlead was what crumpled his bumper.