Front end accident. Repair follow up with alignment tabs and more.

truck looks sweet though

 

Yeah I guess it couldve been a LOT worse. I feel bad because he kept asking if I was ok, and i didnt ask him. I was just furious. That my pride and joy just got hurt
I can't imagine what others go through in total losses... I've been in a couple wrecks in my teen years, but they were beaters and I didn't give a shit, and I had liability, no insurance claims, no tickets or anything on those.

Anyways... Thanks guys.

 

Well just got back from the shop. My friend whom is the adjuster went over the initial inspection when arrived.As far as the custom stuff goes, he said he'll for sure be crediting me for one of the headlight housings. As well as one of the 8" led bars and the grille mesh. And of course the noticeably damaged body parts from initial inspection. Then they'll update me on the rest. I tried to ask the shop owner about considering the aftermarket alignment tabs and he just avoided answering and said they'll have to inspect everything first. I even said I'd pay for them. We'll see... I'm mostly worried about those tabs and how they'll handle it. Also said they do the frame check there too.

For the sake of argument, worst case scenario, lets say they end up totaling it. What are my options?

 

they arent going to total it
those tabs are simple.

 

Ask them what your options are,,once they decide that. I probably wouldn't have mentioned anything about paying for a repair portion at that time,,even if it was a upgrade and you are a honest person. That gets the dollar signs swirling in someones head and takes there concentration off of the claim. Hope for a square frame,but not to hard. All reciepts saved or accessible?,,hope so. More leverage that way,,if it goes to sc court, sometimes.

You could talk to the wrench man on your next visit and tell him that you would like the tabs replaced/upgraded and that you can furnish those tabs,,see how they respond. From this screen, they are laid over pretty good, it seems, but it could be made to track straight again pretty easy I am guessing. The big hammer is going to be put into motion to get those right and a upgrade to your Hd tabs would make it better with you as far as safetly tracking down the road. that sort of thing,,. See how much the tack-on cost is then, or at least get the good customer quote rate for having those done at say, a later date.

 

for what its worth:

 

Holy crap! Just got a call from insurance adjuster. Over $5600 worth of damage!!!!!!!

But, nothing that affects it to being an issue that they can't repair. They did already order the aftermarket kit for the alignment tabs and will be doing one side. Idk what kit they ordered, but hopefully the good one. Idk if they even make other ones besides the one I found...Anyways, they gave me the option to do the other side as well but quoted $400 to do it. The kit comes with both sides and is covered as well. So I can do that easily at home. At least with my brothers help with welding it.

I should be getting a list emailed to me with all the details. But he went over a few and it's basically getting a whole new front end and fender with splash guards and windshield reservoir.. New grille I think he said. Lower control arm. Bushings... It's a long list. I'll keep y'all updated.

I also got another call from the insurance claim rep who took over the case. Needed to get my statement yet again, and on recording this time. He said it was being disputed, and that "there may be some responsibility on both sides". Which made me think they are questioning who's at fault or maybe there is fault on both ends. But I can say for sure, there isn't!!! I will also be uploading a bunch of pictures to him. So we'll see how that plays out. Regardless.. I'm getting my truck fixed for a max of the $500 deductible which I may get back depending on the claim results after they're done investigating the whole thing. If not, I'm at least getting a check for the custom parts like the headlight housing/one led bar/grille mesh. So that will help with the deductible I have to pay out. Also thought about how much profit I could've made if I had just gone with the inspection and got a check to get it repaired. Or repair it myself. That could've paid for a new off road bumper!! Skipping some of the parts that probably didn't need to be replaced of course like the bumper , and fender if I could've found a used one. Stuff like that. But, ain't nobody got time fo dat, when it's yer DD... So yeah. At least it's nothing too major and it's all working out. Now to just get out of the blame, as well as the ticket. I think my pictures should be sufficient to get it all tossed. We shall see...

 

Man.. I've been going over the list of parts they are replacing. And beginning to wonder if I should've just taken an inspection and check. I could've done a lot of this myself. AND probly have some left over. I coukdve just gotten some fiberglass fenders, a nice $1k bumper, lower control arm, welded on the alignment tabs myself, other aftermarket parts here and there... Probly would've been hard to find a few body parts like radiator support or internal parts like that but... Oh well. at least it's all getting done and I'm not left without a vehicle while I find time to do all that myself. and the parts will be guaranteed for life. I just didn't know what to do and now that I know how the whole process works, I might've gone a different route with repairs.

 

This exact thing happened to my tacoma. The steering was way out of alignment. I took it to toyota and many other repair shops but they had no idea what caused the problem. Finally a small town body shop guy saw the problem but refused to fix it because of liability and legal stuff. So after he showed me the broken tabs, I just drilled two holes and put two bolt through it to act as tabs to hold the cam in place. Now a year later it is still good. But the steering wheel is still a little off sometimes and sometimes it is perfectly straight.

 

Yeah that's another thing I was worried about. If yours is a hair off, you should be able to just adjust the yoke a couple nothches I would think?? But yeah, my tabs were bent flat and pretty much not salvageable. I'm not 100% sure, but since all parts will be guaranteed, I don't see why the alignment wouldn't be. at least within reason, and within a period of first driving it after repairs and discovering it isn't up to spec, then they should be able to take it back in and fine tune that whole system. Would be my hope anyways. He did tell me that the alignment would be covered. But I doubt it's a lifetime deal. Besides that I have a normal alignment warranty /3 year plan through big o so I can get it aligned whenever. But I'm hoping everything works out and I've heard great things about Brighton. As well as from the geico insurance adjuster whom is an old friend/co-worker. Used to be my boss. So if I ever have any issues afterwards I'm sure I'll be taken care of.

 

Ok another thing that I'm thinking.. since they are replacing the passenger side lower control arm and bushings, would it be a good idea to replace the other side as well?

 

How many miles on them?. It's best to do as much as you can afford on those pieces, because it will probably cost more later, and it's better to match that type of component, especially if the mileage is far apart from new to old, and also your vehicle has been hit, being amongst those.

 

Well I didn't realize they were fairly cheap. $84 so I'll definitely change the other side too. comes with bushings anyways so that's good. I just wonder if it's gonna matter if it's a different brand from what hey installed. Should be fine. I'll ask when I pick her up. Or call them. I'm sure it's not oem they are replacing. I was trying to get the list posted up here of all the parts. Stay tuned.

 

Well my baby should be done soon today!! God how I've missed her. I took a glance yesterday in the shop as I had to bring him some of my older headlight brackets. The front end was still torn down. But he said the alignment along with lower control arm went together quite nicely. And it was the total chaos alignment tabs that he got so I was psyched about that. Hopefully this weekend maybe next I'll get to doing the driver side as well at home. Still wondering what I should do with the driver side lower control arm too. Not sure if I'll have to remove the control arm to weld on the tabs. But figured I should anyways and maybe replace just the bushings and paint it so it matches the other side, instead of buying the whole control arm. From what I understand it's a bitch to replace those bushings. But I have one of those c clamp style ball joint clamps or whatever, at my disposal. So I should be able to get er done fairly easily. And I'll post some pics of those tabs they welded on the one side. haven't seen them yet so I'm hoping they did a good weld job. Then after all that I have to install all my led bars back into the bumper valance. Then start on my new headlight retro too. I think the passenger headlight retro that was in there during the collision should still be fine, minus the trim that broke off the edge. At the very least I'll just put in my old set of halogens till I finish my new retro. Good thing I already have new housings as well as newer version 6.0 projectors. That'll probly take another weekend to do..

Also an update on insurance claim and court. Insurance concluded their investigation and found me to be at 0% fault. I'll have to shell out my $500 deductible today when I pick up the truck, but insurance should be getting that back to me in due time. Also went to court yesterday. Only to wait in line for half an hour, with all my shit organized and ready to defend my case, to have the lady tell me that I needed to request a hearing and will receive a letter in the mail regarding that in 4-6 weeks! Sigh. I was hoping to be done with all that shit by now. Oh well. I'm still confident the ticket will get tossed when that time comes.

 

Well, just got her back today from Brighton Collision Center. Not so sure I like their work or not. Granted it was in a wreck and there are gonna be some slight issues with repairs. But, I think they couldve done a better job overall. At the least, called me and had me come down there to go over repairs and how I would like certain things done. I understand It's their shop and business, and they get paid by insurance, but it's still MY truck and I could've chosen to take it anywhere but I chose them. So.. on to the long story...

I called first before I left to make sure it was ready to go and asked if they still had my light bars and they said they already installed all of them back in the bumper valance. So right away I was REALLY anxious to see how it came out....
Well... when I arrived... First thing I noticed was all the led bars were pointing down towards the ground!! Like, WTF! I didnt say anything because I figured I'd wait and figure out how to handle it. Those lights took a lot of cutting and mods to get them to fit right, which they did probly to the best of their ability, but crap... They look pretty retarded right now. And I'm hoping I can take them out and get them fitting properly, after they already did all the cutting and drilling holes. Sigh. And on top of that, all the parts they replaced were of course crappier than oem quality, so things dont exactly line up perfectly. It looks good on the outside. But the headlight doesnt fit perfectly on the side that was damaged, mostly due to the aftermarket grille and fender that has minor but effectively interfering differences. I had to remove the headlights and grille to get them to sit flush a bit better. Pretty much as good as it's gonna get I guess. They also connected one of the wire connectors from my led bars into a connector for custom running lights that I took out prior to giving it to the shop. I really wished they wouldn't have messed with any of the custom stuff done to it. I would've done a MUCH better job myself starting fresh with it all. They did't even call me to ask me if it was ok, or to have me work with the mechanic on the custom things IF I decided to have him do it. I did not think for one moment that they were going to do that stuff. The tires were also rubbing REALLY bad especially on the passenger side with the new fender flare and splash guard that I had to cut extensively again like I did with the old ones. It's still rubbing but just a hair more than it used to before. Also the alignment/steering is a LOT tighter than it was. Idk if thats normal now that they buttoned it all up better, but it was harder to turn the wheels than it was before. I hope it's nothing that they tightened down too tight. Idk if tightening down some of the suspension parts such as ball joints or tie rod ends would make the steering tighter...


The alignment is in pretty good shape. I think it still needs adjusted. probably the camber adjsuted as well maybe? To help with the rubbing, because it is rubbing a little more than it was before. I can see fresh tire marks on the driver side fender flare where its no rubbing where it didnt before. But other than that, it feels nice and tight and absolutely no play. Just a little harder to steer and a very slight pull to the right.

Checked out the welds on the passenger side total chaos tabs that they fabbed in for me too. Those look REALLY good actually. Nice welds all around, new plates... They did miss a spot on the painting though. I can touch that up later.. Looking forward to doing the other side myself now.
Other good things were it's an all new and shiny bumper, valance, grille, fender, radiator support, windshield washer resevior (which actually needed replaced anyways)... So it DOES look pretty good, if not better in appearance from just glancing at her. But really upset about the bumper valance and led bars. Idk, I'm gonna look through the reciepts and see where and for how much they got the valance for, and maybe just order a new one eventually. They cant be that expensive.. I wonder though, if I can argue the fact that it looks like shit and make Brighton order me a new one!! Whatdya guys think!? I hate to be the bad guy, because they are good guys there and SEEM to know their shit, to an extent, but they aren't no custom or fab shop that has a ton of experience by any means. Neither do I, but, you know what I'm trying to say here... lol.

So yeah, here's some pics...













So yeah, lots of negatives, and really only a couple positives.

 

Those new tabs look great. I am planning on redoing the tabs on my truck in the near future, however those total chaos tabs are pretty expensive for just some scrap metal.

 

Yeah I'm sure you could make your own. But these were just thrown in on the repairs that insurance took care of. And I got the rest of the package to do the other side. So yay for free stuff. I got credited like $111 bucks for the led bar (which actually isn't even damaged, except the bent to shit brackets I made which they just mangled back in place) as well as credited for one headlight housing. So I only paid out $333 I think it was for the deductible. Which I'll call I sirance and probly mail them the receipt and should be getting that back. So hopefully after some work to the truck on my end and she'll be in better shape than she was beforehand.
Still debating whether or not to fight Brighton for a new valance. Idk. They sent me a customer satisfaction email to fill out so maybe if I word it nicely they'll respond back and credit me or something, or even replace it and NOT install the led bars so I can do it. Hmm whatdya guys think about that?

 

Well I found some valances on eBay in the $50 range so I think I'll just buy one with the money I got credited. And not hassle with it.

 

I don't know about fighting them on it,,but maybe tell them that you are not sure if that looks right just yet. Something to that effect. See what there response is. Maybe they will 1/2 price you a new valance,,or just hand one over. (Edit: just seen the ebay post.)

The rubbing tire is not good. if it was not rubbing before. That question definitely needs to be addressed regardless and very soon. And prepare yourself, cause it could roll ugly if you decide to go that path of having them correct that. Just sayin, from past days experience.

Depending on the person and there general attitude, the old days of body men leaving something "not quite right" for you to find,,so they can do a quick fix and make you happy are pretty much gone. Alot, if not all, nowadays shoot for perfection,,or there slightly skewed version of that so they don't get a repeat,,again. Yours was a custom fix,,just not something they drive everyday. I betcha they were cussing you at one point in time,,lol.

You have a picture perfect look of 20? yards with that truck. The question is,,can you accept that, or a part of that?. If not,,battle fourth with respect!.

It was always in the cards to put a wrench on it after you got it back, eventually. A recustomization after the crash sort of thing. Happens to all of us.