Today's (mis) Adventure

[ThundahBeagle]

Glad everyone's ok. That's the main thing.

Here, for a while anyway, it became illegal to have your ball hitch inserted into your tow frame unless you were towing. Reasons were causing undue damage to other cars and people (in the case of careless backing up). But it is true that someone rear-ending you, and possibly then trying to backup or separate,can cause more frame damage.

I always try to get K1500 trucks, full size Blazers, or even Jeeps, and I get them with the tow package. Without inserting the ball, it provides a lot more protection for the gas tanks of Jeeps, Blazers of all sizes. Not so much for k1500 trucks, as those tanks run along the drivers (right) side frame under the bed.

[ThundahBeagle]

I think the guy who was texting needs to send me a Thank You card, because I am certain a three car pile up would have gotten him out of a ticket! 

Depending on how everyone's insurance companies want to play this, he could be paying for all of it since in a way he caused the accident. Sounds like everyone is ok, even the lady who got popped in the nose by the airbag.

Never seen that except in case of fatality and they want to send a message.

The guy texting may have been breaking the law, but that was being properly handled by the police and as I understand it, was at the side of the road and not moving. Saying what you said would mean that anyone pulled over by the police for any reason, and not moving, would be responsible for any accident on that road as long as they were detained, or as far as the horizon in the case of highway travel, and that's just insane precedent to set.

Anyone who was distracted while driving, was driving while distracted. It will fall to the first person who struck another car, and domino from there. Each person who rear-ended someone was at fault for not paying attention to the car in front.

[ThundahBeagle]

Glad you and Megan are OK.

Me, I'd pop a couple of ibuprofen before bed.

It often seems that the distraction of police activity leads to accidents of inattention. Here in Montana we've had five or six POLICE cars hit in the past year after pulling other traffic violations over to the side of the road. I assume all accidentally.

Now, in the future, try to avoid hitch-slapping womens.   

There is even a "thing" sometimes called moth to flame, where at night, on a perfectly clear highway, no other traffic, sufficiently tired drivers but who might not have otherwise driven off the road, have fixated on police lights two lanes over and crashed into the cruiser.

[Syncop8r]

Oh well, I wonder what kind of rental I will get while they are dissecting my poor Jeep?

Probably a Kia.

Now, if everyone drove a Jeep I wonder what the damage would be..... 

[ThundahBeagle]

Sorry this happened, but glad everyone is OK, and glad the damage is minor.

Also,  you, (Like myself) are able to joke about the bad things in life.  I feel this is a great attribute.

In the immortal words of Heath Ledger, what doesn't kill you makes you stranger! 

Def

Then again, he is dead...

[ThundahBeagle]

(Image removed from quote.)

If you will permit me some humor as well...

You'll have to speak with Megan about that blue ball, sir.

[ThundahBeagle]

Glad no-one was seriously hurt.  I hope your damage is very minor, easily fixed and the other driver's insurance company doesn't give you the run-around.

Seems some people can't even avoid running into a vehicle which is right in front of their nose.  I saw a (very minor) rear-ender yesterday, 3 lanes of traffic, everybody stopped at the red light, the lights go green, everybody starts to move off, the leading car in the lane next to me was a bit slower than the other two lanes so the car behind it hesitated, then the car behind them promptly ran up their butt !  The offending car was quite close to the car in front (too close as it turned out). 

I suspect my new car wouldn't let me run into the car in front of me unless I trick it somehow (it has auto braking, auto lane keeping and who knows what else).  I'm hoping that when this new safety tech filters through to more of the active car population then we might see less crashes (note I call them what they are - crashes, they are not "accidents" because they are almost always preventable with proper attention and correct driving technique).

You may be right but I believe it will be hard for it to detect a skinny person or spindly deer legs running out into the street?

Also, there must be an override, yes? How else would you get out from between two large snowbanks after digging out?

[Don Pablo]

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If you will permit me some humor as well...

You'll have to speak with Megan about that blue ball, sir.

Groaaan

[Syncop8r]

Perhaps keep the paint on the towball as a reminder/badge of honour?
Or paint little Kia's on your door (two so far - three more and you are an "Ace")  .

[ThundahBeagle]

Years ago when SUV's started to become popular, anti SUV groups said that everyone who bought one was buying their safety at the expense of someone else's.  Thy were concerned that these large, heavy beasts would crush smaller cars in accidents.

My response to that is "yeah..... And?"

If someone's life and well being are worth less to them than paying for an extra tank of gas see and there then why should I give a damn about their lives and well being?   

Def

+1

Originally, the SUV was essentially a truck with a cap on the bed. So, they have existed more or less as long as any cars have. I think it was mid to late 90's in the US when trucks/ SUVs first outsold cars. I remember that argument. A moot point, since things like 18-wheelers happen to exist.

I'm all for a clean environment, but really can't stand the self righteous Cambridge types who drive a Prius and think everyone has to. I'm not against the Prius, mind you, but I'm sure they aren't hauling wood, someone's refrigerator, tools, 20 computers, that type of thing, on any sort of regular basis. They also don't Often realize that they should be buying and using winter tires. They don't want to harm their fuel efficiency, so they tend to use regular tires, and have been the bane of anyone else trying to get anywhere on the road this winter, because they can't climb any sort of incline with any snow or ice on it, unless they do get snow tires

[ThundahBeagle]

(Image removed from quote.)

If you will permit me some humor as well...

You'll have to speak with Megan about that blue ball, sir.

Groaaan

YES! That's what I was going for. The groaner! Thank you. I'll be here all week

[Don Pablo]

Perhaps keep the paint on the towball as a reminder/badge of honour?
Or paint little Kia's on your door (two so far - three more and you are an "Ace")  .

Assuming that the jeep has survived undamaged.

[ThePeacent]

Perhaps keep the paint on the towball as a reminder/badge of honour?
Or paint little Kia's on your door (two so far - three more and you are an "Ace")  .

Assuming that the jeep has survived undamaged.

well the Jeep it's definitely tough because the other two were definitely Killed In Action   

[Syncop8r]

well the Jeep it's definitely tough because the other two were definitely Killed In Action   

Ahhh well done! 

[Don Pablo]

  

[Grant Lamontagne]

Can't beat having a dashcam.

Yup- I keep mine mounted inside the local police cars for safekeeping.   

Def

[Grant Lamontagne]

Perhaps keep the paint on the towball as a reminder/badge of honour?
Or paint little Kia's on your door (two so far - three more and you are an "Ace")  .

Assuming that the jeep has survived undamaged.

I have inspected somewhere in the neighborhood of 750,000 cars over the last decade, so I apologize if I am armchair appraising here.... 

I left the body shop today looking for another body shop.  They didn't even put it on the hoist to look underneath it to check the frame rails and/or cross member that the hitch is attached to.  They are offering a new bumper and that's pretty well it.

What I want is a thorough and accurate measurement of the frame, cross member and hitch assembly, the replacement of the bumper, and possibly a very close look at the tailgate, hinges, spare tire carrier and a replacement of the spare tire itself.  The rubber of the spare took enough of the impact to bend either the carrier or the tail gate, and I have no desire to use a tire with that much pressure having been placed on the sidewall.

I don't feel like I should have to ask for this kind of inspection from a (supposedly) accredited repair facility.  I use this vehicle hard for both personal and business use, and it damned well better be perfect when it's done or my insurance company is going to have to pay HUGE money when I get killed because the rear end fell apart on the highway somewhere.   

Def

[Nix]

I'm with you on this, Def. Too easy to miss a bent frame.

[tjfarrington2000]

You should see the other guy

Fixed it myself



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[Syncop8r]

You should see the other guy

Was it Def? 

[redmond]

Keep after them Def. 'Accredited' body shops are employed by the insurance companies to low ball the damage. Bash to fit, file to hide, paint to cover...

Use your choice of repair shop (not the insurance company's) and make sure that they know you expect them to check the whole Jeep while they work on it to look for hidden damage.

Ask for pictures as they progress.

Make sure they use Jeep brand parts, not knockoffs.

Do a test drive with the repair guy before acceptance - low speed, high speed, etc.

It's not fixed until you say it's fixed.

Sure glad you and Megan are OK!

[Whoey]

should I look into cutting some Kia "kill marks" for the Jeep?

[ironraven]

should I look into cutting some Kia "kill marks" for the Jeep?

 

[tjfarrington2000]

You should see the other guy

Was it Def? 

Nope. 15 year old, and friend of mine in a brand new Chevrolet Silverado. Worst part is, he bought the truck himself. I felt horrible for him, and we got through it alright. We still park next to each other every day.


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[Alan K.]

Definitely need to check the back door. A friend of mine took a hit to the back of his Jeep and described similar damage as yours and they ended up replacing his back door as well, because, while no damage was showing, the impact from the spare tire or tire carrier had damaged a structural cross member inside the door. 

[Grant Lamontagne]

should I look into cutting some Kia "kill marks" for the Jeep?

I have often thought about putting kill marks on my Jeep.  Maybe it's about time I started!

Do I need to confirm those two kills for it to Count?

Def

[dks]

You need to see how much damage happened to the Jeep Vs the kias.

If you have a bent frame and they have some bumper damage then they win

[Grant Lamontagne]

I wasn't happy with the slapdash inspection done by the first body shop so I went to another yeaterday.  They insist that they have to get an ok from the insurance company to measure the frame properly, so not much got accomplished.

I decided to go next door to the Dodge dealer and very nearly drove away with a 2017 Dodge Ram.   

In fact, I did on a way- I brought it home on the test drive and found out that it wouldn't fit between the buildings to get to my parking lot so I had to take it back. 

Def

[Syncop8r]

Perhaps that's why it's called a Ram.

[dks]

You can sell the house and live in the RAM