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73-87 Chevy _ GMC Trucks => 73-87 Chevy & GMC Trucks => Topic started by: Unofficial on December 06, 2008, 02:51:39 pm
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Well, my biggest fear happened today. Crashing my pride and joy. It was my fault. It snowed and I slid into a telephone pole. I took out the rear quarter panel on the driver side along with the taillight. I put a pretty good size dent on the bumper too, but that was already bent. The paint job is only a year old, and the body WAS flawless. I banged on the metal until the tailgate would open and close, and the only thing I'm going to do for now is get the taillight back together so I can drive it.
I'm going to get a rear quarter panel and take it in to a body shop. I know the guy, so hopefully all this goes over well... I'll post some pictures later, if I'm up to the pain of doing so. :(
Edit: I can't take it into the body shop until the spring, so hopefully the winter goes fast and I can get this thing back to how it was, if not better.
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That sucks man! Put some weight in the bed and of course go slower! Everyone forgets and we're all guilty of going too fast in the snow, slush, ice, rain etc. Just glad you're alright. You can always replace any panel on these trucks fairly easily. Don't let it get you down, it'll look good as new soon enough.
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Don't lock the brakes up!!! The truck turns into a sled then. You want the wheels to roll to steer out.
We've all been there. When I was the same age as you, I wrecked like three times. Luckily I had an old 68 mustang and radiators, hoods, fenders, were like $20 and I did my own painting. Learned to do my own bodywork too.
Good luck with it and it sounds like you got the right idea to get 'er fixed.
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That sucks man, I know how you feel. You'll get it back right again! Good luck!
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Not good.
I was out playing in the white stuff earlier, Did the bed stove the back of the cab on the right side?
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Sorry to hear that. Good luck with getting it back the way it was. As always better nobody was hurt, the truck is repairable.
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Glad to hear your ok. Be careful. Get her fixed she'll be fine.
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Bummer! Sounds like it could have been allot worse though. Save up some bucks & get busy! Lorne
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Thanks for the support guys, it really means a lot to me. I can't stop thinking about it. This truck has so much history behind it and I can't help but to feel guilty. :( The thing is, I know plenty about driving in the snow, never lock up the brakes, let off the gas if you fishtail, etc... I drive in this stuff constantly because I snow shovel for my dad's plowing customers. I have 300lbs in the back too. It's just a misfortune.
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No need to feel guilty. If you had been driving recklessly and someone got hurt, then you could feel guilty. Regardless of how clean it was before, your truck's just a machine and it's fixable. Glad to hear your OK.
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I'm going to be calling my body shop soon, but does anyone have a fairly accurate guess on how much it would be to cut out the damaged quarter panel and replace it with one from Chris? It would have to be painted to match and everything also. I know he'll give me an estimate, but I was hoping for an experienced body work person on here to give me an opinion. I know it might be hard without pictures, but let's just say the whole quarter panel needs to be replaced, any ideas?
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Boy that suxs - glad to here you are OK!
You'll get her fixed up
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I'm glad you didn't get hurt Unofficial. I did the same thing once in a 4 wheel drive Ford truck. Once it's going, there's just no control...isn't it great how those poles just seem to be in the wrong place?
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Well now your truck has a bit more history! Be thankfull it wasn't worse. Plus no one got hurt.
The rear quarter is bolted on. The only welds are the two short spots at the base of the post just inside the gate. Swap it your self then its just a matter of having the shop do the finish work and paint.
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Hate to hear you wrecked, but like everyone has said...at least you are ok!
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Hate to hear that, but luckily you are ok.
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Here's some pictures of the damage...
(http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n187/w00ty_01/TruckDamage001resize.jpg)
Here you can see that there's a much bigger gap between the cab and box on the driver side, hopefully the frame didn't bend!
(http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n187/w00ty_01/TruckDamage002resize.jpg)
(http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n187/w00ty_01/TruckDamage003resize.jpg)
(http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n187/w00ty_01/TruckDamage004resize.jpg)
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I wouldn't worry about frame damage from that little dent!
The quarter is defiantly messed up., but unless you boned the frame on the end, or a hard hard hit from the side there is little chance of it being bent by bashing the panel.
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So did the bed just get knocked around a little bit and it can just be taken off and straigtened?
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There is play in the bed bolts. If you loosen all of them up you can move the bed around quite a bit. Probably you can loosen the bolts up reposition the bed and tighten them back up. Look where the bolts and bed contact the frame to see if anything has moved.
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Well I got around to calling the body shop, and I'm taking my truck out there Wednesday to have him take a look at it. My truck got keyed over the summer, (which I later found out was done with a knife) and I have a little scratch somewhere else too, so I'm trying to be optimistic because it will come out better than it was before. I'll keep you guys updated.
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Sorry to hear you wrecked but at least your alright. You will have that thing back together before you know it.
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It'll get better. Look how my wreck turned. out ;)
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Well now that the weather is nicer, I finally got some numbers and dates set up for my truck to be fixed. To my great surprise, my body guy is going to fix it all, including the scratched door, knicked fender, and the bashed rear, all for $600 at the most. I'm really happy, because I've been saving like crazy to pay for it, and now I'm paying only half of what I've saved up! I got a new quarter panel from Chris, and my body guy is going to fit it in and repaint where it's needed within the next two weeks. I'll post pictures when it's all finished.
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Glad everything is working out, and especially for less than you figured. That's always a good thing.
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Man, I feel for you there. I hate that happened, but as it has been said, at least you're OK. The damage should be manageable at least. I've been there too and I know how these trucks turn into sleds when the brakes are applied aggressively, even in nice weather. I wrecked my '82 about 7 years ago driving along on a clear sunny day. I was in a construction zone and the traffic in front of me was heavy but moving at the speed limit when suddenly it stopped. I admit I was following a little too close, but when I hit the brakes, they locked up and I went into a skid. At least I was thinking quickly and managed to maneuver it off to the right, missing the car in front of me, but still having little control I managed to skip over a pile of gravel and slid right into the back of a contractor's truck parked (and luckily unmanned) just off the side of the road. I was lucky, not only was I unhurt, but could still drive it home. I only needed a left front fender, hood, a new parking lamp assm, grille, headlights and bezel, grille supports and radiator support. My bumper was fine and it didn't damage the radiator. I was only looking at about $600 in total damages. But the contractor's truck, a 2001 Chevy C2500, was totalled. The impact moved the truck about 3-4 feet forward, destroying the bed and bending the frame quite noticeably. True story!
The moral of this story is—at least you weren't in a newer Chevy. They just don't make 'em like they used to!
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truck doesnt seem to bad at all, glad you only have to pay 600, thats a good deal. I think about wrecking mine all the time, I try to take it as easy as possible...