I smashed the truck up good today. I am ok just a bit sore. I was driving down a back road and the guy in front of me started to pull over to the right with his breaks on so I went around him on the left (two lane road) and from the shoulder he puts is left signal light on and started to turn left. I avoided him but hit a large boulder garden and a telephone pole. The front driver side tire is flat and rim is toast, pushed into the fender, and due to the huge bolder the front axle is twisted about 15 degrees down. The phone pole made took out the bumper, grill, hood and radiator/intercooler (not sure what else under the hood). I probably hit at closer to 40mph and the air bags did not deploy. The cop wrote it up as I swerved to avoid him and crashed my own truck. Do you guys think my truck will be totaled?

Thanks,
John

 

You should have let him hit you so it would be his fault. If there was no contact it might be harder to prove his fault.

 

as he stated the cop already wrote it as he swerved to avoid... which pretty much means you are responsible for your truck. it sucks but the same thing for motorcycles that swerve to miss cars and crash... you are stuck with it.

as for your truck, hard to say. no major frame damage? probably repaired...
frame damage? i would guess totaled...

 

I would say they will prolly total it with that kinda damage. There is always more parts needed than what it appears. I just had a minor fender bender over the summer and it was over 3000 for just a bumper, headlight, quarter panel, and grille along with the required brackets. Plus your truck is five years old now, totalled is usually 50% of book right?

 

Yup responsability is all mine. I think the only thing left on the front of my truck was the head lights every thing else was hosed. I am more qorried about the axle and front tire damage and what parts of the suspension and stearing were damaged. I half hope they total it.

 

its a ratio of the damage verses the worth of the truck i believe if repair is more than 75% dont hold me to but it work something like that they will total it

 

with what you say is wrong, they will probably fix it.... truck worth $20k, damage prolly $6k or so....

 

I bet itll be double that $6k all said and done fixed right at a reputable body shop all said and done.

 

Keep us posted when you get an estimate.

 

If it has frame damage up front, and the whole front end needs to be replaced(axle/suspension/body parts, radiator, intercooler, etc) id say it might be totaled out.
Any pics of the damage?

 

Thank Goodness you are okay.

Four months after I purchased my brand new 2005 CTD Ram, I hit a cow broad side on I-35 at 70 mph at night. Had just come over a small rise with cruise on and there it was standing crossways the lane. Cars on right and concrete barrier on left so could only go straight. It hit just below the crosshairs and pushed everything back into the block. $12,000 later (Thanks Geico) was back on the road. The $12k was all the front end stuff except axle plus and labor plus additional $400 for the Ranchhand bumper. Frame did not get damaged. Dang cow was not tagged or branded and of course the owner never reveiled him/her self to Sheriff even though the adjacent pasture had several similar cows.

I would think you will be way more than $12K with the additional axle damage and possible frame damage. If the frame is okay your insurance company might be willing to pay for a rebuild.

 

The pics don't look all that bad but I did not get a good one of the axle. You can see from the one that the front wheel is not in the right place.

 

The boulders were at the bottom of the hill infront of the phone pole. I launched them good. Mainly with the front axle.

 

It will need new control arms and axle more then likely, if they use used junkyard parts it may not be totaled

 

Why didn't the airbag go off?