Sat. morning the 14th, around 12:10AM a neighbor down the street from me came screaming into our housing division and creamed my bronco.
http://host226.ipowerweb.com/~colora.../aab.sized.jpg
He pushed my bronco 12 feet back and maybe 18" up onto the curb. As you can see the damage is substantial and I am probably not going to be wheeling anytime soon. Cancel the camping trips this summer! There are possible broken axle shafts, tranny (which is leaking severly now), and steering.

He didn't stop there. He kept going another 100 yards and attemped a left turn and then slammed into this grand am, which them forced him perpendicular to the street and smashed this F-150, which was parked along the curb.
http://host226.ipowerweb.com/~colora.../aac.sized.jpg
Notice he took out a decorative cynder block pylon with the flare side truck.
He then slammed it into reverse, drove down the street another 350yards and pulled into his garage, not hitting his own car in the driveway and not hitting any part of the garage, but leaking oil the whole way. The fella admitted to doing all this said he was very tired from working some 20hr days and that when he hit my bronco, he had fallen asleep, but somehow managed to get his arm in front of his face before the airbag went off . He also admitted to have a couple of beers before he came home. If you're that tired, do you stop for a beer? Then he says the airbag blinded him and that's why he was still going 30+mph and hit those other two cars and then fled the scene. There is strong speculation that he was not the one driving. He didn't have airbag powder on him anywhere. I think he's taking the blame for an illegal mexican friend who WAS drunk. Thank God no one was hurt and that he has insurance. The sickning part is, here is his rig.
http://host226.ipowerweb.com/~colora.../aaa.sized.jpg
Granted, he drove it a few hundred yards without oil and antifreeze, but it doesn't hardly seem fair.

From those of you who have had something similar happen, how'd you come out with the insurance? Any pointers for me? I have put hundreds of hours into my bronco building it up and there is a lot of custom work on it, that's hard to put value on. I think it's borderline of being totaled 1) from it being old and hard to get parts and 2) from the fairly severe damage. We both are insured through State Farm.

Also I have a friend in the autobody business, but I don't know if he'd be able to work on something like this or not. If not, is there any recommended body shops around? I'll take it a long ways for quality work, but would prefer something along I-70 west near Wadsworth so I can drop in and see progress on my lunch breaks.

I will keep you posted as to what the insurance says this morning. I am praying I don't get screwed or this fella and me will go rounds in the court room. Thanks for your help!

J.D.

 

Man I am sorry to hear about your loss. But at least you know who did it. I know I keep my EB in the driveway and park my 04 F350 behind it for protection. And also to make sure it doesn't drive off at night. I live in a Socal, about 5 miles from the boarder

I hope everything works out.

wishing you luck,
Micah

 

Thanks Miach, I will keep you posted.

 

Dang, Im always worried about taking it out. I always think if i hit someone what would my bronco look like know i know.

 

How much damage is there to the body tub? Is there any evidence of the frame being bent or any movement at the body mounts? I see the front clip is torn off the body lift mount. From what I can tell in the pictures, the LF tire took the brunt of the damage, which forced the front end, driveline into the transfer case and transmission. I suspect the case to be broken or at least it pulled the threads and separated the trans. and adaptor if it is leaking. It doesn't look too bad from the picture. Looks like the bumper kept the damage from being worse.

In dealing with insurance, get all of your receipts together for the upgrades you have done. Do some checking on the 'net and make of the list of the Broncos for sale or that have sold recently. Since you both are insured through State Farm, I would look into a third party for an appraisal depending on how they handle the situation.

If they decide to total it, I would definetely buy it back. There are a lot of good parts to transfer to another Bronco.

That's too bad though. It was a pretty clean looking Bronco from the pictures you've posted.

To everyone else, get yours appraised and keep it updated. Do what you can to park off the street and out of harms way. This is the second one in 2 weeks that I've read about that was hit by a drunk driver while being parked on the street. The first was a Stroppe Bronco that was documented 1 of 2 that were originally equipped with top loader 4 speeds.

Keep us posted.
Jason

 

RCCrawler, honestly I have been in shock and have overlooked things that normally I would have caught. So, I am going to try to get my head together tonight and really start looking at things. At first glance, I don't think there is any damage to the tub. All the damage is in front of or below the tub. Even the hood might be OK?? I will report back tomorrow and let you know what I find. I am worried about tranny, t-case, rear end, & drive shaft damage as well. I might start it up tonight if nothing is going to rub and just try to move it slightly to see the condition of the driveline. I kept copies of all reciepts down to seals, not to mention the disc brake conversion I JUST FINISHED. However, a lot of the stuff I bought was purchased used and if I have a receipt it's in email or hand written format. I am calling old friends trying to get receipts from them. I might be in more shock when I find out how much I have actually put into this rig.

J.D.

 

Dang man, that sucks most royally. Hope they dont total it. Its good that you kept the reciepts because otherwise they look at it as just an old cheap truck. As for your neigbor or his "illegal mexican friend" or whoever was driving, i would go over and ram his truck a few times, he didnt get enough damage.

 

Just be glad you aren't in Massachusetts. Here all the insurance company would have to give you is the book value of the vehicle unless you had it insured for a higher amount. Anything beyond book you would have to go after the dude that hit you in court.

My wife was in a wreck a few years back and her and the guy who hit her both had the same insurance company. It actually worked in our favor since either way they were paying the claim. I think State arm wll do right by you since there is no question of fault.

Small consolation I'm sure but at least you know who did it, where he lives AND he has insurance. Hit and runs with illegals are way too common around here......

 

J.D. my 77 was "wrecked" by an idiot who didn't tie down some lattice in his trailer. State Farm wanted to "total" it, and I had to argue with them some, but they did finally just pay for replacement parts, (I agreed to fix it myself if they paid for the parts). Just talk to your claims adjuster, they may do the same for you. Good luck.

Rory

 

Sorry, I have been really busy lately and haven't had time to update. Thanks for your sympathy! They did total it. Then they offered me $4300, which is unacceptable. So I wrote a nice letter explaing why it's worth more and some reciepts as well as a spreadsheet with replacement parts, price, and labor to install. I hope to hear from them this week. I have been looking around at outher broncos. There are two that I am very interested in, so when I get the money, I can get back on the trails soon. I want to buy it back, so we'll see how that goes too, but that'll be a last minute concern. My neighbor with the blue car is suing the guy for restitution and I can get in on it too. She owes $9k on her car and the insurance gave her $2600. That's why she's suing. Depending on what the insurance does, I may get in on that too. I will try to do a better job of updating you. Thanks again!

J.D.

 

Well last week the Ins. Co. finally came through for me. I don't know what did it, but they gave me what I was asking. So as soon as my check comes in the mail, I will be buying a new one. I have pretty much already made the deal, all that's left is to give him the money and pick it up.

Here are the specs:
MAF SEFI 351W, roller cam, GT-40 intake, 65mm BBK TB, 70mm MAF, FRPP
harness, KNN, A9L EEC, Duff long tubes, serpentine belt, York AC for
OBA, Saginaw PS, EB PS gearbox, Jacobs ingnition

ZF 5 speed tranny, 5.72:1 low, .76 OD

Front axle is '77 RC D44 with disk, cut down to EB width, Lock-Rite,
4.10 gears, Rockstomper TRO with 1 ton Chevy tie rods, F250 extended
shock mounts

Rear axle is '77 Lincoln, cut to EB width, disk brakes, 4.10 gears, spool

35" Goodyear MTRs, down to about 25% tread, on aluminum 15x8.5" wheels,
3.5" (BCBroncos coils and National leafs) suspension lift and 2" body lift

New fiberglass hood, new front windshield, intermittent wipers

Full family cage, 23 gallon tank

Front and rear bumpers are ugly

Has hard and soft tops

It does have some bondo in it, the passenger door had some foam in it
and rusted through along the lower edge, the body seams in the rear
quarters would need fixing, also the driver door needs new bushings. The
body is a7 or so, the drivetrain a 9.5. I'm looking to get around $8K out of it,
just look at the specs, it's worth more than that.
--------------------------------------------------------

What do ya think? It drives real nice. The throttle is touchy, but I'll get used to that. Finally ready to continue my summer.

J.D.

 

Sounds like it has a lot of good drivetrain parts for the money if the installations are clean and done right. It's no fun to have to do someone elses work over. As long as the tub itself is solid, it sounds like a sweet deal to me.

It probably has the typical EFI touchy pedal. Mine is the same way. If you do get it, let me know. I have an article on how to change the pedal ratio to match the throttle body.

Jason

 

The guy I am buying it from is a good guy and a friend of mine. He knows his broncos so I am not worried about a poor job for installation. He's built a few broncos in his day. I didn't receive the check today as expected so that puts delivery out another day.

I would like that article, if you have a minute. Come Hell or highwater, this bronco is mine. It'd be handy to have a little more finess with the throttle and avoid snapping an axle. Thanks!

J.D.

 

Got the bronco last night. I am pleased. There are some things I want to work on, but all-in-all it's a great rig. I hope to be working on the body some and then some paint. Might be a winter project though.

Anyway RC, please send me that article if you can. I would really like it, it'll very hard to get used to the quick throttle and I know it'll be bad news on the trail. I will send you a PM with my address or is it a link? Thanks!

J.D.

 

I will dig up that article and give you the info as soon as I find it.

Gotta post some pictures of your new ride!!

Jason