Hi all,
First of all obviously this isn't a Lightning, but it is an F-150 and it's somewhat interesting all the same. The truck was apparently driven into a rather large stump at a good rate of speed. The front differential was driven upwards and over towards the driver side and the front driveshaft contacted the frame. many of you have seen me post pics of Lightnings with the cab removed, but this is a new one. I am not personally working on this truck, but the guys across the shop from me are having to replace the entire frame of the truck. yes that means swapping over EVERY part of the truck including the ENGINE, TRANNY, CAB, BED, AXLES, etc. Quite a job.

anyway, here's the pics:






later,
chris

 

Nothing like a good piece of wood to ruin your day.

 

here's some more:

 

Wow......that looks like one helluva job

--Joe

 

and last but not least, here are the two jokers who got stuck with the job.

call them cooter and gomer if you like, but they are both excellent techs and good guys.

Rusty is in the background all business, Ryan is up front clowning like he's confused about the whole thing.


later,
chris

 

That can't be good for a newer truck!
I would think after this is all done, this person would have a ton of troubles since the whole truck was taken a part and re-assembled.

Frame Damage = Junk.
Get a new truck and let insurance pay for it.

I thought Frame damage usually means totaled? Especially if the truck is a few years old.

I guess not always, but it should.

 

jwrape,

First of all, this truck will be as good as new when completed, these guys are top notch, second of all, It's possible that the guy doesn't have comprehensive insurance to cover the accident, it's also possible that since there was NO other damage to the truck, this was the most cost effective method for repairing it wether it was by the insurance company or the owner.

BTW, normally I'd agree, I wouldn't want a vehicle with frame damage, except thats because normally they would put the truck on a machine and pull the frame back to "as close to straight as possible". BUT, this truck won't have had frame damage, it'll have an entire new frame! not a "repaired or straightened" frame. follow me?

later,
chris

 

would this be considered "stump breaking"?

 

it will be three years tomarow 12-17-99 that i slid thru an intersection in my 1999 olds alero with 1700 miles on it. i did $17000 damage to a car i only paid $19000 for just the moth before. the insurance adj told me they were going to cut the car in half and replace the front clip. neeedless to say i was upset. i thretend legal action but it did no good. i ended up putting 51000 miles on the car with not one drop of trouble. ran the original tires to 44000. somehow i talked the wife into trading it in on the lightning. good ridnnes i say.
Don

 

Having the whole frame replaced at a dealer is probley gunna cost about 7 million dollars.

Think about how many new trucks you could buy instead.

Andy G

 

actually the labor for the job is probably only around $3000.

note: that is an ESTIMATE since I haven't seen the actual repair order

The frame appears looks to be used, so it was probably actually a bargain for the insurance company or the owner whoever is paying for it.

say $4000 bucks grand total instead of $35,000 for a new truck or writing a check to Total Loss this one? just an observation.

later,
chris

 

You sound irratated. I am not trying to ruffle feathers here.

I don't doubt the ability of the technicians. I know some great technicians. BUT when you take apart anything, you run the risk of breakage due to old or used parts being re-used. Breakage after the rebuild.

For instance, when you take off any part from your drive train, you losen and take off used bolts that have already been torqued once. Most of them could be perfectly fine to re-use and never have another trouble again, OTHERS might come lose or break, snap, etc.. after a couple days, months, or years.

I have no doubt that there are technicians in your shops that are top notch perfessionals, but I am referring to the unknown issues that can be produced from taking something apart to that extent and then being re-assembled. I am not trying to flame you or anyone else. I am simply stating the obvious.

I have experienced this time and time again with rebuilding something old into something new again. There are always the instances that something you checked, inspected, or rebuilt like new will fail and you will have trouble down the road. It's just part of the fun of rebuilding. BUT if I had a choice with a newer vehicle it wouldn't be my choice to have someone totally dis-assemble my truck, unless it was a frame off resto.

Once again, I am not trying to start a irratating thread here.

 

Not at all man. no problems here. I know sometimes it's hard to tell the context or emotion behind a text post because you can't see the speaker's facial expressions. I guess that's what smilies are for

no ruffled feathers

later,
chris

 

Thats Bizarre,

I bent the frame on my explorer by hitting a rock that fell in the middle of the road from a lone way up. I was driving to Penticton, British Columbia it was about 11:00 pm Dark out and, wham, there I was a split bumper and crushed some kind of radiator thing that was leaking Red Fluid. In my opinion the damage wasn' t that bad it was a 98 Explorer Limited it even deployed the airbags. and they wrote it off due to bent frame.

 

That's cool.
Although you have very valid points, I just wanted to explain my view.

Take it easy Superford