Insurance lesson #2

Washington state.

Insurance lessons: Have insurance, have uninsured motorist (too many people driving w/out insurance to not have). Unattended vehicle is most straightforward. Someone hits you, you didn't see it, Insurance still pays out. Attended collision with uninsured motorist hitting you, (have police come and take report) Insurance will need to see that other vehicle was at fault / cited. My normal deductible is $250. Uninsured collision drops that down to $100. And, my normal rental cost split for a rental vehicle during repairs is 80/20% up to $1K with me paying 20%. Uninsured collision rental is covered 100% up to $1K. Rates do not go up whatsoever because I am not at fault. -Class is over-

I was rear ended the other day getting off of I-5 by somebody who’s messing with their phone. I literally passed him about a minute prior and they were looking down to the right side near where there gear shift would be at their dumb phone cruising at 60 mph. I passed him shaking my head and started to pull off I five at my exit. I didn’t notice him change lanes and get behind me to pull off the same exit. I cringed a second time. I came to a stop and have been there for a few seconds when I was rear ended without even hearing any skids from breaks. Of course he didn’t have insurance. It bent my 4 X Innovation rear swing out bumper. It looks like most of the damage is confined to the actual swing out arm as it bent the tire down.

It looks like the only damage to the rear hatch is a small indentation where the fold down table latch contacted the body.

In theory I could probably get away with just replacing the swing out arm. However, I know that generally swing out arms and bumpers are made as a pair to get the tolerance is correct as the heat and cooling Impacts how they line up when they’re being fabricated.

Overall, I got a hand it to 4X Innovations for making a solid bumper. My large 35 inch tire pretty much took the brunt of a full on no stop impact and was sturdy enough to confined that energy to its connection to the swingarm. Mind you, I don’t think it bent the swing out arm itself, just where the spare connects to the swing arm.

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Bum luck man! but I'm glad you are OK. There are so many uninsured driver in WA its nuts. The last time someone hit me was also under the same circumstances, distracted cell phone driver with no insurance...

Thanks man. That 4X Innovation bumper jacked his S-10 up. The damage was really isolated to my tire carrier, and mainly the point where the carrier is welded to spare mount. It kept damage from the rest of the hatch or body. My back is a bit torqued, but it could have been worse. I will start to give distracted drivers a w-i-d-e berth. I will now change lanes if they get behind me... drive an extra exit if I need to. It's not worth it.

I'd still get the frame checked out

Guess that answers the question about after-market steel bumpers and impacts. I can't believe that's all the damage that you got. Rad.

Does the swing out still swing freely and level through it's range of motion? If so I wouldn't even bother with a new swing arm. Just cut off the tire carrier. Have it plated and re-welded in the correct position. Any decent welder could do that in under an hour.

Id like to thank you for this post as my wife has been minorly rear-ended 3 times in the last few years and me once in my pathfinder. She gets anxiety driving on the highway and is afraid to drive my runner anywhere during normal traffic hours because she knows its my baby and is afraid to get it smashed. This post has her thinking a nice set of bumpers could be a good investment ;)

I am sure that the extra tire volume of a 315/75/16 spare helped play a part in absorbing energy, but the bumper, hell, mostly the swing out ate that other vehicle like a champ! In my mind, I thought that if I ever got rear ended, I didn't want it to be a truck or other high-contacting vehicle that would be level with my swing out, (the least supported part of the bumper.). I figured that a sports car would hit the more stout main bumper portion and I'd be better off. I am not sure how fast he was going when he hit me, but he wasn't crawling along. Like I said, I didn't hear any brakes or tire screeching.

The anchor points for the swing out are just the hinge and the latch / handle peg. That's it! Not to mention the rectangular body of my particular 4X Innovations swing-out only flexed enough to push one of the table latches, (I removed the actual drop-down table after the noise annoyed me), ever so slightly into the rear hatch.

I'd say it did a pretty damn good job. It might have been different if it was a heavier / higher sitting vehicle. I am running 861 springs and a 1" BL, so my runner isn't exactly a low-rider. Something like a F150 would have done more damage. I'm glad this dude that hit me without insurance couldn't afford an F150. LOL.

I might have to look into possibly just getting the part rewelded. Maybe I'd want it raised up an inch or two. We'll see what insurance says after they get the quote.



I really think they are a great investment. I am a believer in vehicle armor. Bumpers and rock sliders offer some piece of mind that other people's stupidity has consequences. I love coming out from the grocery store and seeing a new, thin vertical scratch on my sliders where someone flung their door open and left a bit of their door paint on my sliders. Serves you right A-hole. LOL. If I only had a stock rear bumper, my vehicle would probably not be drivable. The stock bumpers don't do anything. The rear stock bumper is the worst. It's only connected to the body and really is only cosmetic.

The best thing that stock runners have going for it is the stock or aftermarket rear hitch. The rear hitch IS stout and IS connected to the frame. In essence, the rear hitch IS your bumper. I wouldn't take that thing off unless you had a rear offroad bumper. But... Even the hitch alone would not have saved me it this type of collision. That bumper and tire carrier saved the day.

Sucks you lost it but with that payout, theres room to build something far nastier! I have a rider on my insurance policy for all of the aftermarket components. Costs a bit more a month but well worth it to have it all documented up front and them already having the pricing documentation.

Call me paranoid but I drive around Atlanta with a Superbumper in my hitch:

Receiver Hitch Step that helps eliminate rear end collision damage | shock absorbing hitch step | Superbumper | Bumper Shield

It has rubber cushions to damp the shock when rear ended. It also keeps tailgaters back a bit due to the “WTF is that thing” factor. It’s also a great step for accessing the back of the roof rack and makes an easy tie down point for kayaks and stuff. It is a bit of pain to maneuver around it when accessing the stuff in the cargo area but it’s not a big deal.

If it gives you some piece of mind, it isn't that paranoid. I can't tell you how many times I have near misses on the interstate due to some other jackwagon beboping around completely oblivious to where they are in the world. Driving is their tertiary task on a GOOD day.