Stupid me....

Making a hard turn into a gas lane I hit one of those gas-pump-protector things,
my 'steps' took the brunt and saved the body from any damage - thankfully.




The step is bruised but not too bad however it's now slightly off angle - you can see
the second step is at a downward angle a bit. The first one is too but not as bad. Was
nearby my go-to-shop so I swung in there and asked if there was any secondary damage
I should be worried about - the guy said nah those things acted like rock-sliders and
saved your body from some potential damage....

Then he suggested I get an old-school car-jack and jack-it-up and it might just angle it
back up into place - this kinda makes sense to me - any thoughts out there about doing
that or should I just live with it and worst-case replace that side?

 

the step did its job

 

I would replace it unless it doesn’t bother you.

 

Very Clever.

 

I will be the putz here, since @RIX TUX took the "high road" and behaved ...

They paint those "yellow" for a reason.

 

Before you go jacking it up, get underneath and visually inspect how much adjustment is needed and where.

if it were me, I would fix or replace, but if I notice something that is off by a half degree from 50 ft on anything, so I couldn’t live with for very long.

 

Loosen it and make sure you can adjust it to your satisfaction. (I think you can)

Then remove it, clean and paint with a spray bedliner product, and 99.73% of the population will never notice the deformity.

Then remove the other side and paint to match.

Before reinstalling either, clean, prep and paint that pinch weld below the doors in the same black. It will make the truck appear 'taller' and the faux sliders 'beefier'.

 

I barely even noticed the damage

 

First off, I have to concur that hitting a brightly colored inanimate object is indeed pretty stupid! But live and learn!

Make it look as good as you can and keep on driving! Your truck has become what my brother used to describe as a "good 10 footer"

 

Oh I knew it was there - I just turned too sharp and clipped it....

Funny thing is within the next hour I came close to 2 more accidents -
Someone pulling into a parking lot way too fast almost clipped me and someone else decided
to change lanes without thinking twice about it. I could smell his breath it was that close.

Made up my mind to ease back to the house - park that thing and call it a day.

 

Yeah ... sometimes you just have to pay attention to the gods when they give you hints ...

 

Do the same thing to the other side so it's symmetrical

 

I wouldn’t try straightening it on the vehicle… just run the risk of bending something else.

Take ‘em both off, beat on the bent one ‘’til it’s straight, sand, prime, paint.

 

He would probably break the wrong end of the other side ...

 

But did you pump gas from the green handle?

 

It's just a battlescar. Take a look underneath, bend it back in place and move on...

 

I agree..
Those things are attached (bolted) to the bottom (sill) of your taco's cab. I would not go pushing on these. - It is not a hard mounting point.

- I suspect there was some flexing happening on the initial impact.

I'd check the attachment points and surrounding areas for damage, then take those things off to work on them.

 

If it makes you feel better my wife sideswiped my truck last night with her BRAND NEW van. Got my bumper her bumper her fender her sliding door. No other cars within 100 ft of my truck. Just kill me