Tacoma Rear Ended

This is my first post on Tacoma World, so correct me if I do something noobish.

A few days ago, I was involved with a rear end crash that involved 4 vehicles on the freeway, I was the 3rd in line and didn't hit anyone. The 2 people in front of me got into a slight fender bender and they had minimal damage. As for the person behind me, its a different story. The nimrod was going about 45 when he plowed into me. Lucky I always keep a trailer hitch installed on my truck, although all don't tow anything. When he hit me, the coffee I was holding flew in every direction and coated the interior (his insurance is paying $500 to detail) I didn't think the crash was that major until we all pulled over and I inspected the damage. My truck had NO apparent cosmetic damage. I then walked to the front of his car and saw that my hitch had gone through his radiator and into his engine. The back of my truck:


The front of his car:

Yesterday I looked up his VIN number because he gave me his registration instead of his insurance card.. My insurance found him lucky. His car got totaled from the crash, the engine was "damaged beyond repair".

I'm still waiting for the auto shop to fix my bumper and check for alignment and all that other fun stuff. Here is a picture of the bent bumper.

 

Glad your ok, heck of a first post. Welcome aboard

 

Better take it to a good independent body shop. Most rearenders on tacos bend the frame when a trailer hitch is hit . Make sure you get this checked before signing off on this.

 

Glad you're okay man, hope the truck is alright and insurance takes care of you

 

See if the Bed dented the back of the cab

 

I checked pretty much every single possible place for error before I drove but I'm letting the body shop check everything.

 

I had a similar accident the back end tracked sideways when i test drove it after repairs.. Be
aware even if that doesn't look too bad.

 

Are you sure it was a 45 mile an hour hit,damage sure seems minor too your truck for the guy going that fast.

 

Same thing happened to me in my 2010, but it mangled the bumper also. What you are going to find when they take off the bumper is that some of the supports back there are bent, that is way the bumper is bent down on the side. You can probably look under it and see them. Also the hitch might seem ok but they can twist a bit and won't line up correctly with the frame. Body shop was only going to replace the bumper and plastic and beat out the supports with no frame check due to the other guys adjuster saying just to do that as it was all they wanted to pay. Body shop called me and showed me the damage that really needed fixing and I had a big fight with them to fix it. Make them fix it right.

 

It's always some asshat in an Infiniti. Luxury car owners are all nitwits

 

That's why I wear a hitch ))) Kiss your radiator goodbye))

 

For low speed impacts indeed you win.

For higher speed impacts leaving the hitch in will result your frame being bent beyond repair and a totaled truck. You'll do much better in a higher speed rear end if you remove the hitch.

 

I’ve been going back and forth on this. It seems to me at higher speeds if you have a trailer hitch with no ball in it they will just hit the hitch instead and do the same thing.

 

My wife was rear ended in our truck with a hitch by an 18 y.o. girl who didn't slow down from the 40 mph zone as wife was turning. 2015 Camry was totalled and little dimples in my bumper.

 

The 2006 in my avatar was totalled in a similar accident. I had a hitch installed too. Definitely have that frame checked out. I agree 100% with the post about low speed hitch is a good thing, but it's also true that the frame gives after about 40mph long before the hitch does. My truck looked fine after the accident, but the frame was bent. You'll know when you drive it for sure. Good luck, and welcome to the forum.

 

I think you are right - the receiver hitch itself can cause the same problem. The ball would only make it significantly worse if it was a ball that hangs down quite a bit as that creates a longer lever arm.

In the end there is only so much you can do and every accident is a bit different.

There are some products you can put in the receiver hitch meant to absorb a fair bit of energy in a collision to reduce the frame bending problem.