I just got rear ended after I stopped in a crosswalk for some pedestrians. Initially, it appeared that there was minimal damage and that only my trailer hitch was bent. There is no damage to the bumper, or any body panels. The receiver on my hitch punched a 2x2" hole through the bumper of his Chevy 3500 Van. Subsequently, it appeared as though the hitch was bent down towards the road. I got all his info and left to settle up later with a new hitch.
I did a more thorough inspection after I parked my truck to find out it was NOT the hitch that gave way, but the frame! The frame is pushed in bit and distorted right around where the trailer hitch attaches. The insides of the frame rails are boxed out by about 1/2 and inch at least and there is some "compression" of the metal just behind the hitch mounting points.
Is this repairable? I'd freaking out man, I do not want this truck fixed up if it will affect the safety of future towing. Opinions?
Well, there is no doubt that the metal around the deformed area is weakened, it has been pushed past its yield point, and once straightened out will have a lower yield point. How fast was the van going?
It might be able to have some reinforcement added to those areas of the frame, not sure if you would be able to get this done through insurance or not though. Might be a good idea to have the frame measured to see if it bent anything else out of shape.
I think the guy was going about 20 MPH. He managed to shove my truck about 6 feet. Of course the van was loaded with all kinds of tools and equipment too!
[quote=jeffro]Well, there is no doubt that the metal around the deformed area is weakened, it has been pushed past its yield point, and once straightened out will have a lower yield point.
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Many steels tend to get stronger when work hardened. What is not known is whether there is cracking in the deformed area or whether cracking will be introduced when the area is straightened. My suggestion is to take the truck to a reputable body shop. They know what type of materials are used and the techniques (inspection and repair) for dealing with the damage. I hope Franko got the guy's information because to do this right it probably will not be cheap.
I don't know about Canada, but here in the US a lot of insurance campanies want a police report before they will process a claim! May want to contact your insurance company and have them contact his before he has sudden memory loss and forgets he rearended you!
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Thanks guys, I got the guys info, liscence plate, DL# etc. He seems to be a decent guy. I took the truck to a fame shop and they said it was no big deal. The guy said that it will be "good as new". I think his exact words were... "Sh!t man, I hardly have to turn the machine on to fix that!"
I'll be getting a new hitch too, which is great since the orignal one wasn't a NIssan part, and I will be getting the replacement from Nissan! The Nissan hitches have nice features for attachning the harness and plug.
I called the police, but they said it was "unreportable" since the damage did not appear to be in excess of $1000.00 (CDN). They said if that proves to be differnt, then I can file one after the fact. I called my insurance company right away and gave them the other guys info. The bumper has a copule pof nasty scrathces on the step cover but other than that it is fine. Seems too bad to replace a brand new bumper just for that scratch, but WTF. I might try to see if I can get the old one back. It's was replaced under warrantu due to some rusting on the orignal one just 3 weeks ago! So $400 for the bumper, $275 for the hitch, plus the frame work - about $400 and we're over a grand.
Well, there is no doubt that the metal around the deformed area is weakened, it has been pushed past its yield point, and once straightened out will have a lower yield point. ]
Many steels tend to get stronger when work hardened. What is not known is whether there is cracking in the deformed area or whether cracking will be introduced when the area is straightened.
yeah, I got a little repetative on that one. Meant to say and become more brittle. With another push back into alignment, and we are probably not too far from those cracks starting to appear. At least we know what we meant to say, or something like that. Been a while since a materials class.
the repair shop should plate the area once it's been pulled back into place to maintain the rigitity - metal fatigues and there isnt very many ways to get the strength back - i'm not surprised off the damage either - frames will move, that is why the bumper is there - helps absorb a lot of damage... good luck, i wouldn't worry about the effects of it, and def get an estimate and get that police report done...
HELP - Just got smacked...
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