Front end collision... now what?

[zxing]

Hello everyone, long time lurker here. I really hate that this is my first thread but I was driving on the highway last week in my beloved 4runner when it slid on ice and I crashed into the concrete divider.

The car runs fine, airbags did not go off, I was able drive back home which was several hours away, and I’ve been driving it all week with no issues. The entire front of the car got pushed in, however, with the AC condenser jammed into the radiator and the radiator bent. The radiator support is also bent, as well as possibly the corner of the frame where the bumper mounts to, although I haven’t verified this myself.

I’ve went to several body shops around town and was able to get a quote from two. One shop quoted me $2800 but I don’t see any AC or radiator components in their estimate. Another quoted me $6300 which is out of the question as that’s basically the full value of the car. I have little experience working with cars other than basic maintenance so doing repair work myself is out of the question. What are my options here? Does this look like something that could be repaired or am I just SOL? I really love this car and its a very rare configuration (super clean model year 2000, 153k miles, with 5 speed manual, 4 wheel drive, 4 cylinder engine and no other options) and I really would like to get it fully repaired if possible.

Update: The very front of the frame where the bumper attaches to is bent, and I’ve included pictures below. Is this fixable, and if so what should I expect it to cost?

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[AgeOfOctane]

That sucks! Sorry to hear it. I would say it's time to hit your local pull a part salvage yards. You should be able to score the bumper, lights and fender pretty cheaply. Have someone else install them if you don't feel comfortable, but it's all just nuts and bolts really. If the frame is bent, that's another issue, but if you're only dealing with bolt on components it's not a big deal. You may have trouble finding matching paint and trim, but you may get lucky.

 

[negusm]

You look like you live in the rust belt. How rusty is your rig? Factor this in.

If it is still solid, jack it up, crawl underneath and look at the frame. Find the front of the frame rail and follow it back. Look how far it is moved out of position. Will it need a frame pull? That's not cheap.

Like was said above....make a list of what you need. Go get the parts from the junk yard(s). Don't worry about the paint. Bonus is it looks like your hood escaped? That's definitely a bonus. Front bumper and grill, etc do NOT need to be gotten right away. Those are easy to put on yourself...and ebay has cheap ones.

If it were me, I would start unbolting everything, making a list and calling around for parts. If it needed a frame straightening, I would take it in for that and get the inner fender straightened and then back to my place to put parts back on.

But if you don't wrench much, gathering the parts will save you. Just make sure you have GOOD parts. Parts that fit. Don't get a 2002 fender if you don't know for sure it will fit. Used parts that the body guy needs to fudge around with will cost you.

-Mike

 

[spartacus]

start by taking off all the busted parts. All you need is a wrench and sockets and a bfg maybe also a pry bar. Once you get to the good part make a list of what you need. look at junk yards, picknpulls and rear ended runners on Craigslist. This forum will help you do'it yourself and you get trial by fire and save major bucks. The only other option is shop prices or sell it.

 

[HiLife]

Dispite the disastrous outcome, just glad you came out of this unscathed. Metal always can be purchased or replaced, not so much with flesh and bone.

I echo what other here have said so far. Start taking off the damaged pieces, and call wrecking yards for parts. Who knows, maybe you can be lucky and the yard would have the whole intack front clip to purchase. It could really save time finding this part here and that part there. The budget will be blown if the fame has to be straightened out.

Just bummer that you are not able to do the repair on your own at this time. This is much project for a new wrencher but, not imposible. The labor to do all this work is going to cost. That same labor cost could've gone to parts and tools for yourself. Best wishes out to you!

 

[Joelzy]

What they all said, first thing is to figure out if the frame is bent.

my front end was caved in when i bought the truck. Frame was untouched but the rad support was bent in and everything in front of it had to be replaced.

Core support took some work(drilling out spot welds) but everything else is very very easy. Like, dont need to be mechanically inclined to do. So maybe you can get a hand on the support and handle the rest yourself to save cash?

I only did the half bumper but i think i fixed it all for under 200 bucks including headlights online and buckets from a junkyard.


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[Rolling_Thunder]

I got into a similar fender bender but I hit dead on center - I was lucky because it didn't damage the frame at all --

As others have said - remove everything that looks bent / broken so you can see what's left. Basic hand tools will get you there.

Bumper, bumper brackets, bumper plastic, headlight, turn signal, fender, grille....

Here's my logic - if I planned on keeping the truck I wouldn't overthink what needs to happen - my radiator core was bent so I just attached a chain to a backyard tree and slowly pulled it back into a more natural position. If you're still running the truck then the majority of work is cosmetic and easy.

Get a new fender and use that and maybe a body measurement diagram to bend your passenger side corner of the core support back in place and start rebuilding from there. All the front stuff bolts on in like an hour.

Biggest concern would be making sure the frame is not bent

 

[thennen]

Man, sorry to see this! Glad you're ok.

Just wanted to throw this out there - hard to tell from pics, but did air bags deploy? If so, you have that decision to make. If not, amazing - they were probably "this close" to going off!

Looks like you're getting good advice. If you have a buddy who can wrench, buy him some pizza and beer and help him start removing things.

Best wishes!

 

[Drobs]

Look at it this way, the repair is cheaper than 10 car payments on a 5th gen.

Edited to add: A good time to replace that bumper with a winch bumper.

We're having a 15% group buy discount on Shrockworks...
1996-2002 4Runner Front Bumper, 3rd Generation

*NEW* FINAL SHROCKWORKS GROUP BUY for 2019

 

[RandyBobandy]

I don’t know where you’re located but if you’re anywhere near southwest pa I would help you put it back together

 

[phattyduck]

You may also want to weigh the option of reporting this to insurance. It *will* end up being totalled if you do that, but you can buy it back and use the $$$ to repair the truck. That will cost you 'value' of the truck (salvaged title) and future insurance rates though.

If there is no/minimal frame damage, it is all repairable...

-Charlie

 

[zxing]

Thanks for all the helpful replies everyone. I took a closer look this morning and the very front of the frame is bent, which definitely complicates matters. I’ve attached pictures to the original post. How bad is it, what kind of repair process and cost are we looking at, and is it even worth fixing at this point?


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[brillo_76]

Yes I figured that frame was bent with the damage that . :[

Insurance would total that.


Option 1: A frame straightening shop could bend that back.


Option 2: Cut it off and get a replacement one and weld it back on with inside plates to regain the strength.

Oprion 3: Cut the cover off the front of the frame and get the bent area almost red hot and bend it back to position as well. Then plate the crumple zone area.


This is just the Frame mind you. Not the inner fender, the fender. The front clip, radiator support etc.


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[nissanh]

Tie the front frame end to a good strong tree (tree must be to the right side of the truck, not in front or back to the damaged area), start the engine and turn wheel to left, engage 4WD low and in 1st gear, then straighten it up!
It will work and this is called "toyota self-heal option" and comes only with 4WD trucks.

 

[brillo_76]

Tie the front frame end to a good strong tree (tree must be to the right side of the truck, not in front or back to the damaged area), start the engine and turn wheel to left, engage 4WD low and in 1st gear, then straighten it up!
It will work and this is called "toyota self-heal option" and comes only with 4WD trucks.

We can make this option 5)...


The bummer is once metal is bent it looses strength and will rust faster in that bend area. :[


However, it will get it a lot closer to what it supposed to be.

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[jross20]

Do you have full coverage?