Razzin' frazzin' morons in cars ...

[semirant] Someone ran into my Suburban today. She's in the hospital, so I won't go off too much on her, but ... Grrrrr.... If I find out she was drunk as one witness maintained ... She supposedly had insurance, and the police came out. I couldn't get there until the responders were gone, though.

The Suburban was parked properly in front of a relative's house, having recently done its heavy hauler thing for them. The front end was knocked up the curb and halfway onto the grass. How much force does that take? LF to LF collision, so she was on the wrong side of the street.

It's an '86 GMC working truck, not a creampuff. They don't bring anything on the market, so I won't get much if they total it. But, damn, it has been a reliable son of a gun.

It looks to me like the steering linkage is now bent, and possibly the sway bar. I'm very suspicious of the rest of the steering parts, the control arms and the rims, too. Then there's the sheetmetal. I really don't want to work on sheetmetal any time soon. I really didn't need this hassle and aggravation right now. [/semirant]

All of that sucks.

But if the frame is straight, the whole front of that truck is repairable. That's the nice thing about older full size trucks, the entire front clip (sheetmetal) can come off. All those parts can be had cheap.

Either way, best of luck to you and glad nobody was in it.

+1 on if the frame is strait

sux :(... always loved that era of burban... it's what I learned to drive in ('82 diesel 4x4)

another option if the frame happens to have issues is finding a clean one with a dieing trans or engine on it's last leg... should be easy enough to swap out :)

In reply to slantvaliant:

bummer dude, looks pretty clean for a work truck

replacing sheetmetal/ clip is pretty easy on those, hope the frame and a-arms aren't berkeleyed

.. if that were a northeast truck there'd be a bucket worth of rust fallen out

Those are prone to bend between the front cab mounts and the crossmember. Check it carefully before you start to rebuild.

meh, fix the steering and drive it ugly.

mndsm wrote: meh, fix the steering and drive it ugly.

yup.. people will get out of your way..

Some of us can't help driving ugly.

The Suburban in happier times: Working a flag station at the Big Bend Open Road Race

Wow, another slant six A-body owner has one of those Suburbans? Sorry to hear about that wreck. Hopefully the frame's still straight, but that looks like quite a hit.

While the Suburban has been my rescue vehicle, heavy hauler, loaner, camper, people mover, and general-purpose backup for many years, it has never been called upon to rescue or relieve the Valiant.

The Suburban is a Saint Bernard - big, sloppy,not particularly efficient, and capable of making an impressive mess. It is - or was - however, reliable and effective.

The whole front crossmember just unbolts on those, unless the frame is too bent, it wouldn't be a difficult fix.

Yesterday was a roller coaster. Of course, I was at a customer's site all day, so only got pieces of information as it developed.

The Suburban is totalled. No surprise there.

Violator's insurance was no longer valid. Oh, wait, the bank that held the note on her car had a policy on it. Doesn't help me, of course.

Yeah, I'm not happy. Might have to look into lie-yers (as my grandpa called them) and small claims court. Not the briar patch I prefer.

I doubt I'll repair it. My wrench time is limited, and I'd prefer to spend it on the Valiant.

doesn't your state make you pay for uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage?

maybe i'm being naive, but isn't that exactly what it's for? your insurance company pays you, then they go after the idiot that hit you.

but really- is any damage on something like that even worth reporting to your insurance company in the first place? of course they totaled it- $300 in damage to something that has a book value of $200 will do that. maybe you can convince them that it's worth $1000 and get them to pay that much to you for totaling it, then buy it back for scrap value. and do a quick and dirty fix on it and pocket the rest of the money.

regarding the repair- chain the bumper to a tree.. hit reverse. repeat until it's fairly straight... use a BFH and prybar/large screwdriver to get the headlight bucket straight enough to mount a new headlight.. there ya go, the truck's fixed.

Do you really want me towing a car trailer down the highway near you and yours with a "quick and dirty" steering repair and a "fairly straight" suspension?

slantvaliant wrote: Do you really want me towing a car trailer down the highway near you and yours with a "quick and dirty" steering repair and a "fairly straight" suspension?

yeah, why not? as long as everything is pointing in the right direction you are functionally good to go.. you might need a new tie rod or two and need to break out the string and jackstands to adjust the toe.

does this site not have the word "Grassroots" in it's title?