Question for body shop guys...just got rear ended

I have that bumper and my frame was check for straightness(checked out fine) by Toyota and not by my Insurance company. The car that hit me did go under the truck a little bit. Here's the pictures of my truck and the car that hit it. I say the bumper paid for itself after this collision and I got a brand new replacement for free including shipping

 

BTW I was hit at roughly 25-30 mph

 

Ouch....

 

They can fix it, does it weaken it yes, enough to where you would ever notice no. Worst case bring it over lets bob this shit

 

I wouldn't attempt to straighten this. Zip it off just after the crossmember and bolt in a splice plate. Or better yet get a custom plate bumper made by one of the vendors on TW with longer extensions.

 

Your industry, so maybe you know. Never understood the "only got hit on the hitch and WOW" statements I see here sometimes. The hitch is bolted to the frame and then becomes more or less a part of that frame, right? And the body is also attached to that frame. A hit to the hitch will transfer directly to the frame and body panels attached to it.

What's the surprise there? am I missing something? Makes perfect sense to me.

 

I think it's from people seeing a newish truck get written off from a somewhat light impact. The tundra really doesnt look bad at all in comparison to what you would expect the amount of damage needed to write if off would be.

 

I suppose that's just new technologies at work, though right? I'd way prefer my frame to crumple and truck be totalled from a 25 MPH hit on the ass end than have all that energy instead transfer into my neck and back, which is both a lot more painful and a lot more expensive. Either way, insurance pays the bill so I'd think they prefer this also, even though writing off a new truck as total loss isn't cheap. Medical costs are a whole helluva lot more, though.

Seems logical. Am I totally ignorant?

 

I got rear ended in my GMC way back in '07. I remember pulling into the insurance shop, everyone was looking out the window and pointing at my truck. The adjuster came out and said, "You drove here in that?" Rest In Pieces you magnificent beast

 

It can be fixed and if fixed right won't be an issue. Some insurance companies have what they call "Pro Shops." Ask your carrier if they have any in your area. If go for an estimate and visit to see if your comfortable. Any work done by a pro shop is backed by the insurance company.

I wouldn't total it for that unless I really wanted to get rid of the truck.

 

I would too. I would rather lose my truck than possibly have neck and back issues for the rest of my life personally. My buddy got hit in his old ranger at like 10 mph 2 years ago now I think and his back and neck still bother him.

Any bit of energy being taken away from the people inside the crash is a good thing. There's a reason F1 cars explode into a million pieces when they hit anything.

 

Your buddy is doing a great job at insurance fraud.

 

I don't know much about insurance but if the truck is still in your hands I would either 1) Make sure insurance pays you for those brand new parts or 2) Take them out if it is only insured for stock.

Again I don't know how it works but would hate to see you lose your new mods.

 

maybe he never got any money as far as I know other than for the truck

 

I don't normally get involved in forums but the discussion on this thread is exactly what we've been studying for the past 13 years in development of our impact attenuators.



The culprit for each of you with frame damage after being hit in the rear is your ball mount. If you take a look at the Jeep Grand Cherokee above you'll see what I mean. This vehicle was hit by a small Ford Focus at less then 10 mph and although it has little rear end damage it was a total loss.

The problems start because passenger cars sit lower then pickup trucks or SUVs and when they hit the rear of your vehicle they don't hit the bumper they hit your receiver hitch and they start to dive (because of their soft suspensions). This downward force or wedge effect is really accentuated if the driver of the bullet vehicle applies the brakes right before impact.

If your ball mount or any other fixed or static receiver hitch product is in your receiver hitch it acts like a can opener forcing the receiver hitch down in the rear and upward in the front. Notice the Jeep's ball mount is bent downward and the roof was raised. This ruined the frame and the vehicle was a total loss.

It only takes an impact around 10 mph to wreck the frame of a uni-body vehicle like the Jeep above and a 15 - 20 mph impact to wreck a frame railed vehicle like most pickup trucks and SUVs. Plus the more the ball mount is dropped (like a 4" drop type or 6" drop type) the easier it is for the bullet vehicle to apply the force.

That's why driving around with any non-energy absorbing receiver hitch product is not a good idea.

A receiver hitch completely changes the crash dynamics in the rear of a vehicle by creating a stiffer "crash pulse" because of it's rigidity. Receiver hitches actually increase your risk of whiplash by 22% so leaving anything in the receiver hitch only moves this problem toward the bullet vehicle. Now that 22% may not seem like much but your wife and kids are already two times more likely to suffer from whiplash then men because they're necks are not as strong.

That's the main reason we developed our attenuators - the Superbumper and Sparebumper...to absorb some of this crash energy, soften the crash pulse and reduce the whiplash risk.

Some of our customers have been involved in impacts to 45 mph and have not lost their vehicle due to frame damage. Part of the reason is that the absorbers crush 2.125 inches which shortens the length of the lever and because they're tubes, there's little for the bullet vehicle to grab. Plus at impacts over 12 mph the actual tubes start to crush so that the lever ends up to be just over 2" in length. The typical ball mount is basically an 8-10" lever. See crushed Sparebumper photo below.



Most people think you need something bigger in the rear but the fact is 6 out of 10 rear end collisions are direct hits and another 3 out of 10 are 2/3 rds over-lap. In other words at least 2/3 rds of the vehicle will hit yours.

If you add a stronger bumper you will protect the rear of the vehicle but you will also increase the rigidity consequently increasing the risk of whiplash to the passengers. That's the main reason OEM's went with flimsy bumpers.

But keep in mind only passenger cars have 2.5 mph energy absorbing bumpers. Pickup trucks, SUVs and mini-vans fall under the category of "trucks" according to the Federal Bumper Standard so they do not have energy absorbing bumpers. But, as I mentioned earlier, passenger cars won't hit them anyway.

My first 17 years were spent as a teacher and a coach so sometimes I feel compelled to educate as many people as I can about the hazards of a receiver hitch. So this may sound like a pitch for our products but forgive me if it sounds that way.

If you feel the need to drive with your ball mount in for protection then turn it so that it's in the "rise" position and not the "drop" position even if the hitch ball is upside down. This will prevent the bullet vehicle from grabbing it and using it as a lever. Like Archemedies: "Give me a lever long enough and I'll move the earth."

You want to get the bend of your ball mount above 15-16" if you can because the Federal Bumper Standard for passenger cars is set at 16". This will allow them to under-ride your pickup truck and although you may think under-ride is a bad thing, it actually dissipates the crash energy over a longer time period resulting in lesser chance of whiplash.

Sincerely,

Jeff Mohr
CEO
Mohr Mfg

 

I like your post. Logical and well defined. Thumbs Up!

 

I agree and that's why I bought from them. It is the best aftermarket part I ever bought for my truck period

 

Great info thanks

 

Awesome post right there, thank you so much for that useful information. More people need to know about this, perhaps you or someone else could make a thread in a certain pertinent sub-forum.