Well today my wife was in a fender bender in our 01 EX. She pulled in front of a guy driving a new GMC Z71. She was going to take a cut through road and didnt see the guy coming up behind/beside her and turned in front of him. Nobody was hurt other than a couple bruises. I pretty much guarantee had she been driving her 97 Suburban that she wouldnt have been able to drive it away and could have possibly sustained more serious injuries. She hit her shoulder and head on the window but otherwise ok. The Z had to be towed away, the front bumper was pushed into the front passenger wheel plus the airbag deployed. The Ex suffered its own demise but after a wheel change was able to drive away. Considering being hit in the drivers front fender at about 30-40 mph I didnt know what to expect when I got home to view the damage. The alignment is off a little bit, the drivers front wheel looks to be leaning inward a little bit but it drives straight but the steering wheel is moved way off, going straight has the steering wheel off about a quarter turn. We had wanted to do an 05 front end upgrade but there are other ways of getting it done. Going to pull the wheel off tomorrow and give everything a good once over, we are supposed to go on vacation monday and I hope the Ex will be road ready. It drives ok so far but just want to be sure, going to have to buy a tire in the morning. Hopefully the rim isnt warped. Again I am glad that no one was hurt and vehicles can be replaced, our loved ones cant. Very thankful that even though it was her fault that she was in a vehicle that was able to protect her and our family.

 

Glad she's okay!
SUVs built on 3/4 ton chassis always win

 

ouch! thats going to be big $ to be fixed at a shop. going to need to be put on a frame machine. really sorry to hear that, glad the wife is ok!

i know what its like though, my black '00 limited was totaled in a head-on crash. saved me from much worse injury though.

 

Thank God and that awesome piece of machinery that everyone got out with minor injuries. BTW you're still taking this truck on vacation? Wow...that's a lot of faith...I would put it on the bench and rent something brother.

 

Got a new tire put on, drives as straight and smooth as it had been. The impact was more at an angle than direct. The trucks front end knocked the wheel in and pushed the front bumper out. I would think if there was frame damage it would drive awkward but then again im not a crash specialist. We have been driving it all day with no issues. Going to take it to an alignment shop Monday and see what they say, depends on if they find issues as to whether or not we keep our trip scheduled. Its about 150 miles one way.

 

Well we jacked it up and checked slack in the front end. Drivers side ball joint is shot but everything else looks tight. Guess ill let the alignment shop throw one in. Any thing else that you guys would replace, given it has 165000 on the clock?

 

check all the ball joints, wheel bearings,tie rods, brakes..ect esp if your taking it on vacation.

the mention of a frame machine does not indicate frame damage. it will need to have the body pulled due to how bad the front section is knocked over to the right. i'm going to agree there prolly is no frame damage but its always best to have the spec's checked and make sure.

 

Brakes feel fine. Passenger side ball joints seemed fine, upper drivers side seemed ok also but may replace it since the lower one is being done. Shouldnt the alignment shop catch any issues with the tie rod ends? Wheel bearings feel ok also, only slack is in the lower ball joint drivers side.

 

yeah, basically the way you asked it i was just thinking a good look over before a trip is never a bad idea.

 

Oh I definately want it to be safe. Wife kinda thinks someone put the whammy on her. Got a call from her at work the other night saying a snake was in the house and my dad had to come to the rescue, luckily he lives next door. Then yesterday she has the wreck and last night I killed a scorpion in the house. She is really second guessing the trip right now. I told her someone must not be living right..lol. In all seriousness though, I wouldnt go in it if I didnt think it was safe for them, plus if the alignment shop calls out any issues I will cancel our trip. I just dont think it is near as bad as it looks or could have been. Looking at the frame and all surrounding, it wasnt even touched, bumper is pushed out by the brackets being bent. All the solid stuff is still rock solid, just mainly the fender but the hood did get buckled a little by the fender getting pushed underneath it. I am going to go ahead an order a front end kit for an 05 style probably from mkmcustoms.com. I can get a grill and both headlights for a little less than $500. Found a bumper for $300. I believe all the body shop would need to get would be a hood, fender and cowl. Plus whatever the alignment/suspension parts are also.

 

i agree once the front end issues are looked at take it on the trip, should be no problem.

i'm going to bet though, you'll find alittle more once you get it tore down..it always seems to happen. amazing what can hide in plane sight as far as damage goes.

 

Yeah true but Im trying to be optimistic, we need something good to come out of this. Plus its really our only opportunity to get away for a few days so I really hope we dont get canceled. I notice that our ex looked like your old one. Wasnt our first color choice but after we got it we love it. Hope it gets back in like new condition real soon.

 

Question! Can you get the hood up and then get it closed on the X? From the pics it looks like you may not. Just a thought though. You never know when you might have to get under the hood. Especially on the road. If you can get it up and not closed, beat the top of the fender out to make sure the hood latches. There would be no harm done since the fender has to be replaced anyway. I hope you can keep your getaway as scheduled!

 

Check steering box shaft, I've seen the get cracked and it'll work tell it sheers when is most inconvient , u wouldn't want to lose steering control in a high speed turn

 

Hood opens with little effort. Ill check the steering box shaft.