These are images from Monday 6/27 while on our way up to Michigan's thumb area on Lake Huron. We are all okay. A deer emerged from thin air and ran into the side of the truck and also the into front of our travel trailer. We were at a posted speed of 55mph. Police report was made at the scene and insurance claim filed.
My question to those of you who have been through this is how the Ford dealer will fix it? Obviously this aluminum will not "bump and paint" as steel. What should I expect to be told when I show up at the dealer?





Front of the travel trailer.

 

that is a new door and I see a new tailight.

As for the trailer, probably not much they will/can do.

 

Why go to the Ford dealer? I'm not in the auto body biz but I would say new door and door handle. Not sure on the bed. Maybe it can be massaged and filled, maybe a bed side(not sure if they do that with these trucks), and obviously a new taillight.

 

Bondo! For your sake, I hope doors aren't as unavailable as everything else on a Superduty or my joke may not end up very funny.

 

But the Deer is okay, right? …Right?

Recently here in CA, they enacted a new law that allows you to harvest and butcher roadkill-

 

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…….Deer are without a doubt the dumbest four legged animal I’ve ever seen.

Definitely a new door and tail light assembly are in your future.

Also, depending on your insurance company, more than likely their first choice would be to look for a used door but if one is not available, then a new one will be ordered.

 

The night I drove this truck home from the dealership, I came to a full stop, on my dirt road, to let a deer cross and dang if she didn’t run head on into my rear drivers door. I couldn’t believe it. At 53 I have never hit a deer and this one decides to run into the side of one with 8 miles on it. Couldn’t have happened the day before when I was driving my 2016. It put a ding in the bottom of the door that I didn’t find for a week. I’ll probably leave it unless a PDR guy can fix it.

 

Duct tape for the time being.

 

Down here in the south, guys been doing that for decades.

 

Yeah, dealership wouldn't be my first thought for body work.

 

Not deer but when I worked in Montana wherever we got a radio call and dispatch for cow vs auto by the time EMS arrived on scene the cow would be nearly butchered!

bob

 

Sister lives in the thumb up there and they say it’s not if you hit a deer it’s when.

 

They will skin the door, if possible.

 

We had a similiar impact on one of our trucks last month (2022 Platinum). They replaced the door, (it was available), and taillight, repaired the area round the taillight. The repair looks great. Didn't use the dealer.

 

It doesn't really matter if you go to the Ford house or a private body shop. Shops do very little true body work anymore, it's all about swapping parts and blending paint. Expect it to take 2 weeks longer than what they tell you. Don't get mad, just the way it is.

You're getting a new door + handle, new bed side, and new tail light. That's probably $7000 worth of damage.

On my 2017 I've already had a new bed side, tail gate, and tail light from a bump at a job site. It's amazing how this aluminum will sheer from such little force when applied at just the right angle.