Well, I've neglected the forum for probably a year now... I know: Shame on me. Sorry guys. I'm not a regular poster, but I think the advice my grand-dad gave me long ago was worth-while..."You ain't learning if your mouth is moving!"

Halloween night, my '01 got hit by a drunk driver. (He blew a .091 almost an hour after the accident ) Thanks to the Smittybilt front guard, a LOT of damage was spared, but still came out about $4,000. Seems the 21 year old driver of a '93 Dodge Dynasty couldn't resist driving too fast on a rainy night on a hill that has an "S" turn in it. This young man bounced off a short concrete wall and spun directly into the path of my truck. (Pictures of his Die-Nasty are at the bottom) Luckily I wasn't injured other than being sore for a few days.

I posted some pictures on my website of the accident, and I'll share a few here, too. It took 16 calander days to repair, and for the most part, everything is in good shape. X-2 Collision in Maryville, Illinois did the repair work, and as requested, OEM parts were used. (I think it's reasonable to say that it says "FORD" when it came off, it should say "FORD" when it goes back on!)
My Truck:
front end damage
Side View
His now scrap Dodge
non-impact side of HIS vehicle (Front end damage from hitting concrete wall)
Bent chassis/total loss
ONLY impact point for the truck!

 

Wow! Glad you made it out without too much injury.

 

Here's another case where you wonder what damage there would have been without the brush guard. It LOOKS like the top left of the guard pushed into the grill, any grill damage?
Some say that there would be less damage and all of it absorbed by the bumper if the guard wasn't there (minus the quarter panel damage). I've seen a couple of wrecks where the guard destroyed the grill and radiator but the other vehicle actually hit at bumper level. In those cases the bumper wasn't allowed to do it's job and the guard INCREASED the damage. Hope they check your frame too.

I'm not there and I can't see, but what do you think?
Glad you received only minor damage to your person Dave.
EDIT:
I was thinking .091 was too far above, misplaced the decimal, error corrected.

 

.091 is just BARELY above the legal limit (.08 in Illinois). That works out to 2 beers in an hour!

The body shop that repaired the damages seemed to think that the damages would have been worse without the guard. To answer, yes. The guard pushed into the grill, as well as took out the condenser coil. The radiator suffered no damage, however the bracket that holds it and the cond. coil was replaced.