Scotty

After selling my Road Armor Bumpers in order to get this truck back to stock and sell when the new Mega Cab Long Bed dually is available I ran into more issues.
First off the place I left my bumpers at decided it would be ok to take all the mounting brackets, tow hitch etc etc. So I drove home with no bumpers on the truck and its taken 3 wks to get all the parts.
I recall the bodyshop telling me it was quite a challenge to get the RA front bumper on the truck and it took me 4 hours to get it close to being aligned but never perfect. By mistake or ignorance I blamed the bumper and never dug deeper.
Well, I go to put the front factory bumper back on with all the new hardware and even with the brackets moved to their furthest outboard positions, I still have another full inch before they can slip onto the frame ears and get the bolts in. I figure there must be a mistake but once I was under the truck I see that the body mount that is welded to the frame on the passenger side is all rusty, has a big weld where it must have been damaged and its dented and twisted. I go over to the driver side and I can clearly see weld marks on the frame. Now I know why the RA bumper was a bear to align and now I know why this one was not going on. The frame is bent on both sides and never got repaired properly.
So I got to call the insurance company [the government run one up here that was difficult to deal with even though I was not at fault] and they actually worked with me. nice.
I take the truck to a different bodyshop...the same one that helped fix the botched fix from the bodyshop that messed it up worse then before the accident and two techs see the tweaks in the frame. It goes on the frame machine tomorrow morning. This truck needs to go away if I do not get a new frame because one of the techs told me that if it bent it that bad its got more issues further back. Anybody familiar with hydro formed frames and repairs to them?
We also ran into another big issue. The factory bolts that mount the bumper on the frame come as one piece with a metal strap between them. The holes on the frame are over 3/8" further apart then these bolts! We double and triple checked the part numbers and we do have the correct mounting hardware. I am curious as to why the holes are further apart and the speculation is that the frame was heated from the welding and not cooled and then it stretched as they tried to straighten and pull the bends out of it.
Too bad so sad, I want it fixed, not patched.

This truck will never end up in the classifieds on any of the boards I go to, nor will it ever get sold to anyone I know. I will trade it, or dump it.
Man am I PI $$ ED.

This post might need to be moved but it is a third turd gen truck.

Beware out there.

Scotty

IA_James

Wow, hate to hear about that kind of thing happening Scotty. I'll keep an eye out for a black dually with a shaker hood on it, and stay away.

Cargun

After fighting with my insurance company for over 5 months (drunk that caused the accident only ha 15k in insurance) I finally got my 05 totalled. They spent over $20k trying to fix it, including straightening the frame twice... but once they figured out that when I told them "good as new" I really meant it they decided to cut their losses and total it. Don't know how your insurance up there works, but I found that if you're enough of a pain in the butt Statefarm will work with you. IMO it's the partly the insurance companies fault for not wanting to total these trucks when they're badly damaged. A hemi with damage like that would be sent to the scrapyard... but just because it has a Cummins sitting in their they'll try to fix unbelievable amounts of damage. And I think they know 99% of people will never know the difference if they're car isn't repaired 100% correctly.

Geico266

Too bad you gave up strongman stuff. You could have gone over there and put a whoppin on the dude.

ed paul

i was hit by a drunk drive about a month ago,,she ran a stop sign and nailed me,,not awhole lot of damage,,new front bumper and repaint the back bumper,,she didn"t have any insurance,,but i have uninsured motorist, and $500. deductable, the insurance guy that handled the claim seem bound and determined to place blame on me,,tape recorded about 50 questions he asked me about what happened during the accident,,the accident happened in about 1 second,,and this guy has 50 questions ,,right,,,,,he even asked me if i was accident prone,i guess it didn"t matter that the woman insisted to the police that she had a green lght((it was a stop sign) couldn"t pass the soberiety test and was hauled away in handcuffs,,i felt i was treated poorly and with no respect and I"m going to get a different carrier when the policy is up

Scotty

I had a kid with his drivers' two months turn left across traffic in an intersection. I had to go straight into him. If I swerved left I would have hit the car beside me, swerve right and I would have hit the 3 kids in the cross walk. He was charged, his folks' van was totalled and I am still dealing with shoddy workmanship and in my opinion, a permanently damaged truck.
I would take a new frame or a new truck now.

Scotty

wyosteve

Man, Scotty, you had me in a brief panic. I've not mounted the RoadArmor yet and was hoping it would be an easy job. Sounds like it should be since my truck has no damage. Bet about now you wish you'd have just left the RoadArmors on the truck and dumped it!

Scotty

The thought had crossed my mind. LOL The RA has more adjustment then the factory brackets.

Since the RA has seperate bolts it was easier then trying with these bolts that have the straps joining them but having a spread of an extra 3/8" on the frame between the mounting/bolt holes is not a good sign.

Scotty

bigdav160

Unfortunately I'm not a bodyman but when I worked at the Chevrolet dealer I say many full frames replaced. Here's a industry link on hydroformed frame repair.

http://www.i-car.com/html_pages/abou...04/091304.html

Scotty

Thanks for the info and link!
Today one of the techs was telling me we had the wrong bracket straps...the two bolts with a metal strap. Even after we checked the part number three times yesterday they said it was wrong and ordered new ones. I bit my lip and said, "Did you take the number off the reference drawing for a 3500?"

Answer was ...yes. Same drawing I had, same drawing the parts department used to order the part before. I will see what transpires tomorrow. I was also corrected on some terminology. Its not a frame ear as the shoddy bodyshop stated. Its a frame horn. Of course the insurance company stressed to the bodyshop they are not paying a penny unless the frame has a problem...uh...yeah...good point.

Scotty

wyosteve

Well Scotty, I think the tech is blowin' smoke on you. My factory bumper is atteched w/ the 2 bolt strap thingies.

Scotty

No parts came in today but I did go over there. I showed the mgr my concerns on the truck and he took notes. The parts guy came with me as he is positive that he got the correct parts. Somehow, somewhere, the bodyshop got a different series of numbers and what they have told me is the number they have is not on the information that parts has as it was part of an error, an error I now have experienced firsthand. The bracket straps for an 04 3500 are different. Not sure why or what to believe but I guess I will know tomorrow.

Scotty

JThiessen

Scotty - the FSM has a section in it that discusses frame repairs. If you dont have access to one, PM me and I'll see if I can get you the info.

Scotty

I just got a call from the dealer. Apparently not only where the bracket straps the wrong ones, but so where the actual brackets on the bumpers...all for a 1500. Bumpers are on, frame is fine...within spec less then 2mm off.
The owner and I will be discussing the efforts of the parts guy who ordered this stuff in, assuring me it was correct. I guess I eat some crow, and so will someone else later today.

Scotty

Lary Ellis (Top)

Yummm.....crow..........