Alex,
Have the body shop check your frame alignment. If the frame ain't straight
everything else will never sit exactly right. At 25 mph, your frame may
have been bent. Good luck.
Ron
00 SLT QC 4X2 5.9 46RE 3.55 LSD
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-dakota-truck@buffnet.net
[mailto:owner-dakota-truck@buffnet.net]On Behalf Of Alex Harris
Sent: Saturday, August 12, 2000 9:54 AM
To: DML
Subject: DML: My brand new Dak got crunched.
Yup... never been in a collision before, had to happen 7 weeks after I
bought my first new car ever.
Driving down Grand, some fool in a big ol' Ferd was pushing a buddy of his
in a junker bumper-to-bumper at about 40 mph (on a busy street on a Friday
night). I had the good fortune to be in front of them, and when I got to the
light and stopped I looked in the rear view and said "oh, my, he can't stop
in time." I just closed my eyes and waited for the crunch.
I got knocked into the car in front of me, and we pulled over and got out of
our cars and these fools TOOK OFF! I said "No f**king way!" and we both
hopped back in our our cars and gave chase. Caught them two blocks up, and I
pulled around in front and blocked off both lanes so they couldn't get by.
The Ferd gave his buddy a push to get him out of the way and drove around
into oncoming traffic and tore outta there -- but not before I got his
license number. I kept the other guy there and they slapped him in cuffs and
shipped him off to jail.
Anyway, got the claim in and I'll be sending in the truck for fixing (can
you say "deductible?" Argh). Not too much damage visible, the bumper got
knocked into the tailgate a bit and there's minor denting to the gate and
the back of the right quarter panel. The passenger door seems to be a little
off-kilter.
I don't think it was a hard enough collision to cause any serious damage
(hit me going maybe 25?), but obviously I want this truck to be back LIKE
NEW!! Anyone with experience PLEASE tell me what to watch out for, what to
make sure the shop looks for when I take it in, in terms of hidden damage,
stuff that might get knocked out of whack but might not be noticeable
without really checking, that sort of thing. I have no experience with this
sort of thing.
The only good thing about the whole event (aside from these two IDIOTS going
to jail) was that in the car in front of me was a mom with a 3-year-old boy,
and it was a small car. If I hadn't been there they would have gotten
rear-ended and it might have been worse, so maybe it was a good thing I
played the buffer. The car that hit me sustained a lot of damage from my
bumper plowing through his grille, lights and hood, but it was a piece of
junk anyway.
Thanks for any advice! My poor baby Dak that I adore so much.... sigh.
Alex Harris
00 RC SLT V6 5-speed
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