gerlo

Hi guys, looking for some pointers. Someone cut me off...could not prevent hiting this guy's flatbed on the side.
The insurance adjustor say it is probably not severe damage and it will be fine after they fix the bodywork. I mentioned to him that it had a small vibration driving home after the accident. He claims it could be just the font passenger wheel that needs rebalancing ? How can I verify if it is not some "hidden damage" that can be trouble later on. The front door will be replaced as it is bent at the hinges.The post where the hinges attach, at the bottom near the footwell is deformed and there is a big gap between top of door and roof panel. Adjutor said that the entire front end, meaning body, has shifted toward driver side. Any help will be appreciated.
Thanks,

Also the front headlight assembly (pass.side) is all broken, just hanging by the plug !

At least, nobody was hurt....

scooby snacks

Sorry, I have no idea but am subscribing to see what others have to say...

JK505

Knock on wood, this hasn't happened in my JK, so take the following for what it is worth:

I had something similar happen on my mustang when I owned it. It wasn't totaled, just had "body damage" (front passenger quarter panel, hood, bumper). The shop got the car and it was about $8,000 in body damage. They went to work and found a small amount of frame damage, so I went to take a look. After seeing it, I wouldn't have called it a "small" amount of frame damage but it wasn't that bad. The frame had a crack in it and had separated a little bit. So with me watching like a hawk, the welded the frame back up and I think they did a pretty good job. Fast forward 2 weeks of waiting and I get my mustang back. It seemed okay I guess but you could tell something wasn't quite right. The car never drove the same again, and after a while I got the mustang equivalent of Death Wobble. Controlling it while braking was a work out in itself. I would just look out for anything other than body damage. After that experience with the mustang, if I get any serious damage, I'll heavily think about just getting a new jeep/car. Hope it works out fine though

gerlo

That is what I am kind of a bit worry that the insurance says"it will be fine" but then I will have to live with it. What if something come up a little later, hopefully I can have then fix it. Just looking at the pictures it does not look too bad, but it that little vibration that was not there before the incident, makes me wonder. Also, yesterday with the adjuster, we noticed the steering wheel was like at 30 degrees (looking at the spokes being horizontal normally) while the front wheels appeared pretty straight, looking at the Jeep from the front.

While looking at it yesterday someone standing by says.....""The Jeep is not a safe roadworhty vehicule anyway ". I could not help myself to mention to him that if it would have been any car, it would have been just as bad if not worse, and my passenger would probably have gotten hurt, since the front of vehicule would have gotten under the truck platform !

JK505

It looks like most of the impact was high on the passenger side which makes think the frame would be alright. My impact was a 45* angle and from bottom of the wheel to the top of the hood. You're definitely sitting at a slope though looking at the first picture. I would let insurance take care of it and see what she feels like. The crooked steering wheel would mean something is bend (obviously). The wheels are straight so it may not be the axle. It could be something as the drag link was bent, I bent mine not long ago and I'm sitting a bit off at the steering wheel.

gerlo

Should be getting a call from the insurance, sometime today or thursday, for another estimate from someone else, as the first estimate runs around $7000. The guy said that with this much damage, the insurance company will most likely demand another evaluation. This bodyshop I went to, was referred by the insurance company.

JerseyMark

You should also get your own estimate from a different body shop so that you can compare it to what the insurance company body shop comes up with

101gargoyles

So some dude says it MIGHT be the wheel is out of balance
OK take your spare and place it on the problem area.
After that- no vibration..damage to wheel
- vibration..something else got hit that adjuster didn't see. Call BS

You already said steering wheel is no longer centered. Transport trailers have drop down bumpers and loading dock locking devices that are way lower than the deck level that caused the damage you took pictures of. If your front tire got hit you may not even see it but could have suspension but probably not frame deformation.

If you want to figure out the problem before talking to the Rocket Scientist insurance people again do this: Go to a local truck stop and find a trailer similar to what you hit
: Take pictures of the area you hit on any trailer you found
: make a drawing of the angle you hit it from

The rest is up to you Good Jeep / Bad Jeep up for sale soon.

Better yet call up the owner of the trailer you hit and take a picture of it.

gerlo

Will change wheel with spare and go for a short ride and see if vibration is gone. By the way, it was a small flatbed truck something like this picture (found on the web). I beleive my wheel it his wheel cause there are some scratches and marks on my wheel. As for steering wheel, what I mean was that it is not centered like it should be, as if I would turn slightly to the left but the Jeep/wheels are going straight !

Mark Doiron

Friend of mine rear ended a Suburban. Damage to Suburban was pretty significant. Visible damage to his vehicle was Shrockworks bumper was pointed down on one side about a quarter inch. That was it! But he told me afterward that he had a strange vibration at highway speeds. I asked if he'd checked his engine mounts. He hadn't, but when he did he found a sheared one. May not be your problem, but offer that as evidence that not all post-accident vibrations are "wheel balance". Have your vehicle inspected by a mechanic, in addition to the body shop techs.