Wrecked Dakota & nerf bars

From: Walter_Felix (Walter_Felix@email.msn.com)
Date: Sat Nov 07 1998 - 14:32:57 EST


>For those of you who asked, I am doing fine and no, there was no one
else
>with me in the truck. I had a stiff neck and headache for about 48
hours,
>and my left arm was also a little sore. I have a doctors appointment
>tomorrow for a physical.

Sorry to hear about your truck. Hope everything works out.

>The rail under the door did take a lot of the impact, though so did the
>front suspension since that was the initial point of impact. I was
moving
>forward, so basically everything from the passenger side front tire to
the
>bed got wacked pretty good. There is a tear in the rear cab sheet metal
that
>you can make out in one of the pictures and the side impact beam is for
all
>practical purposes, still in tact.

The nerf bar did seem to take some of the impact judging by the photos,
though I'm surprised that it that it didn't hold up better. I have seen
nerf bars, that were mounted directly to the frame, that faired far better
on a side impact. The whole purpose of a nerf bar is to provide impact
protection to the rocker panels of the truck (though most people put them on
to use as a step). I have always questioned the durability of the bars that
hang off of the cab mounts and judging by the photos, that bar bent down
further then it should have. I would also question what it did to your cab
mounts.

>No air bag deployment.

I wouldn't expect to see it blown on a side impact.

>I'm not sure what is going to happen to the truck right now. I've been
out
>of town killing fish down at the coast and when I got back tonight
there was
>a message from the insurance adjuster stating that they wanted to talk
to me
>about my claim. I will know more tomorrow. The owner of the body shop
said
>that though this was a difficult repair, that it was repairable and not
to
>worry. That was before I told him about the suspension being wacked
though.

I agree, that will be a difficult repair though they should be able to
repair it. I've been driving wreckers for 13+ years (only part time for the
last 3 or 4, though) and have worked in multiple body shops and garages.
I've seen vehicles with far more damage get repaired by insurance companies.

Walter Felix
88½ Dakota Sport 4x4
WWW.GeoCities.Com/~Walter_Felix



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