Well i got some really crappy news to report, got in an accident yesterday with Dale and screwed him up pretty good. Before i get into the gory damage details let me explain what happened.

I was going up the interstate (I-17 if it matters) and apparently a car had stopped in the road to avoid some piece of debris. The car behind that one stopped fine however thetruck in front of me (dodge dakota)wasnt paying attention and at the last second hit his brakes and swerved just barely kissing the bumper of that car. Now im right behind this guy and i only have about 7-8 car lengths to stop (at 60mph) so i lock up the tires and turn the wheel and hit him pretty good.

Now the damage report. Brush guard is toast, front grille destroyed, headlight housings intact but they no longer stay in place,one fog light is toast, tweaked radiator core support,partiallytwisteddrivers side fender, tweaked hood, and thebumper is pushed back and has a huge dent in it from the support pillar of the brush guard. So far ive pulled the brush guard out a bit so i can get it out from under the hood, i beat the core support back with a sledge, bent the hood back to where it closes and looks mostly right and ive duct taped the lights back in place. Gonna have my parents take it the insurance adjuster monday to have it checked out but im sure its over 1200 in damage.

Driving it so far it seems like everything is fine. No leaks to speak of and the frame seems like its fine because its still driving straight (well as straight as it was before, alignment was a little off before hand and since it hasnt changed any better or worse) nothing rubs and for the most part it feels safe to drive.

I'll take some pictures tonight to show what it looks like now and ill post the pictures from last night that my buddy took with his camera

In the end im glad no one was hurt but im just so irratated that this happened. Im especially pissed about the brush guard because that was $500 and i really liked it, lol. Actually its the brush guard that saved me from more damage. Thanks to it im pretty certain i saved my radiator and my frame from being tweaked or destroyed.

 

Wow, sorry to hear that that happened. Sounds like you should be able to get it fixed somewhat. Keep us posted on how things turn out. Glad no one was hurt.

I know what thats like. I used to have a 94 Ford Taurus SHO and had just got everything setup and the way I wanted it for a while and was stopped at a stoplight and a guy runs into the back of me doin 25. And totaled both his car and mine, as he pushed me into the back of an exploder. And thats how I ended up with the Blazer which I love.

-Lenny

 

man that sucks. and i was pissed about mine that was only at about 35mph and all i did was bend the bumper. at least you didnt get hurt. hope everything workd out for you.

 

Yeah, definitely sucks! Good thing for you that there are so many trucks that use the same front end components that it should be pretty cheap to replace the affected panels (if you were going to do it yourself).

Glad to hear that no one was hurt!

 

awwwww bummer!! glad no one was hurt...could have been a lot worse! from the way you sound it shouldn't be too hard to fix if you do that

 

Thanks for the kind words everyone, been kinda feeling like crap since the whole incident. As far as fixin Dale goes im gonna take him into a local collision repair shop and have them check it out because im not completly certain that the frame is completely straight. Anyways Dale should be back good as new in 2 weeks or so, so im looking forward to that.

Anyways here are those pictures i promised i would show you all. Got some before and afters taken with my buddy's camera.

Before we fixed it (note the only thing holding the hood is the safety latch and thats how i had to drive home)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...2/DSC00808.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...2/DSC00809.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...2/DSC00810.jpg
Tweaked core support
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...2/DSC00812.jpg
Me not too happy giving my buddy the finger before he tried straightening the brush guard with his tow strap.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...2/DSC00813.jpg

After we straightened it. Hood shuts mostly right and the headlights are kinda in place (they are held in with duct tape now). We were testing all the lights on this picture. Hard to tell but the driver side low beam light is out but all the others (minus the fog light) work.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...2/DSC00815.jpg

 

Yeah, things are definitely tweaked. How are the gaps at the front doors? Probably going to have to strip down the front clip...

 

Actually so far i havent seen any issues with the doors but i havent checked the gaps (add to ever growing checklist, LOL). Regardless i know both fenders are pushed out because the hood gap is greater at the front than back by the windshield on bothsides.

 

I hate it for you man...

So far I'm 3-1 for crashes I've avoided three and I've been rearended on dad's truck before, but it hit theball mountand saved the bumper

 

Heh, too bad i didnt spin out and hit him backwards, lol.