Ok I had posted this originally in the General automotive section but when I put a pic in someone elses thread kidding around at least one comment made me realize many in this section probably hadn't seen it.
Basically I got into a wreck with our Expy a couple weeks ago, it was my fault but I was Tboned by a semi tractor trailer rig doing apporx 60mph in the passengers door. Was then thrown into the ditch and flipped over onto it's top. The impact was severe enough it also totalled out the semi bending the frame and breaking the cab off. The passengers door was ripped off and was embedded onto the tow hook on the semi also.
Most people that have seen the pictures or especially everyone that saw the accident or the vehicle later all have said they can't believe this was not a fatality accident but I assure you it was not. I actually walked away from this with nothing worse then a couple of broken ribs, some bumps and scraps and sore muscles. I actually extracted myself from the vehicle and was standing outside it looking for my cell phone so I could call my wife before anyone got back to check on me and no one not even the state trooper could believe that there wasn't a death involved. (amazing what types of things go through your mind in an accident) Now had I had a passenger with me things would have been different as you can see in the pics the passengers seat is shoved backwards into the rear seat and like i said the door is completely gone.
But the fact is had I been in any less of a vehicle I would not be here to type this or show you guys the pics, I thank God everyday I lived through this and Thank ford for building such a tough dependable and safe vehicle

Ok here are the pictures of it, and warning not for the faint of heart. Also these ARE thumbnails you can click them to see the full sized image.

 

OK, WOW that is truly amazing that you walked away, and glad to see you are here to share this with us. Did you replace the Expy with another??

 

First off, glad you made it out of that alive. Your story is why I've been driving an Expedition since 1998. Alot of people think it's a "macho" thing , but it isn't. I used to belong to a volunteer ambulance service, and I saw what happened to these subcompact cars on when involved in a serious accident. Many don't survive. Glad that you did, and it's a testamant to the way these trucks are made. "Built Ford Tough", If you were in a Honda, we'd be reading your obituary.

 

Glad you walked away. Are you going to fix it or sell it?

 

Glad you are OK! This is sorta like a tread on another site that I belong to about a Ford F250. It was a multiple roll over & the guy got out on his own & walked away with a couple of cracked ribs & such.


click on the link....
Thank You Ford for building the F250 like you did. Lincoln Mark VIII

Nice to know that the Ford trucks seem to be very safe!


After seeing those pics, how in the world did you walk away from that??? You must have somebody looking over you!

 

This is part of the reason I hold on to mine. People continually say to me "small cars are just as safe as big ones," and all I can think is bullcrap. Yes small cars can avoid things easier but impact wise no thanks put me in something with a lot of steel around me.

T-bone crash is the worst type and for you to walk away from it is truly amazing in itself. Are you looking to get another expedition?

 

I truly would like to replace it with another Expedition, but we have been looking and looking and the ones I could find were either not something we really wanted (the one I wrecked was very low mileage and LOADED so was a great vehicle all around) I found a couple that were ok but one of them was the same color and a year newer then this one. I didn't care about the color and my wife SAID she didn't be everytime I mentioned that one she got real quiet and negative attitude so I think the reminder of how close I came was just too much for her, plus she is pretty superstitous. The other one already had someone trying to buy it by the time I found it and they did in fact buy it. We had another one to look at for a fair price etc but it had some rust on the rear door so was in the body shop, but when it came back first thing I noticed was every door had the edges all banged up (you know the type of people that pay zero attention to what they open the doors into) then I found one rim with a 3" chunk missing from the bead area and another rim bent and cracked and basically from what i could tell just basically abused to turned it down.
So since it had been a couple weeks and we were sharing my superduty as our ONLY vehicle we found a really nice loaded explorer with the 4.6 in it and everything we wanted for $3000 under book so bought it, but trust me I plan on keeping my eye out for another really good expy like the last one and since we have this explorer can take my time and find one just like we want.

 

More proof Ford is scimping on the A/B/C pillars and it is causing the roof to cave in more easily than it should. $50 in metal to reinforce these areas would give the roof much more strength.

 

actually if you look the drivers side pillars DID support the roof for the most part (the A pillar did bend about half way up but the C pillar is pretty much intact and remember the vehicle hit the ditch at around 50mph head first and slammed into the far side bank) and is probably largely to account for me living. The passengers side was completely torn off the vehicle from the impact. Note that I mentioned in the original post the drivers side door was ripped from the vehicle and was actually embedded onto the tow hook of the semi and had to be pried off so they could hook up to it with a tow truck. Look closely at the bottom middle picture you can see the metal of the roof was actually ripped from the impact.
I mean could Ford put in more metal and make it stand up like a 12pt roll cage? Sure but the vehicle would weigh so much the motor couldn't pull it. I have seen full roll cages bend with enough impact. I really can't fault the vehicle for the most part. Yes a passenger would have been dead without any doubt in my mind but man there is only so much you can build in for safety and as far as I can tell all the safety devices worked as designed within their limits.

 

You are very lucky. The truck held up for what you went through. But I have seen F-150's rollover at 30mph and have the roof cave in considerably. This is a known problem in many automakers circles. Again, not taking away from how it performed in saving your life.

 

another proof why FORD TRUCKS ROCK! WOW BUD PAT YOURSELF IN BACK.......you made it ok..WE GLAD YOU DID! best of luck finding your new ride!

 

WOW!

Thanks for sharing. Glad to see you took out a semi and lived to tell the story.

I think I know what my teenage daughter is getting for her first truck!

 

WOW!! I've seen some nasty accidents in my day!! I'm just glad that you got out safe.. Glad that you were alone without any passengers!!

Built Ford Tough!!

 

Dang! When I saw you post this on another thread I assumed it was something you dug up on the net, not your personal experience! Thanks for the story.

Just wondering, how'd you miss seeing the semi coming at ya at 60 mph?