I got hit by the Good Humor man!

[mjfrank]

Hey all,
I haven't been around here in awhile, but I need some opinions.

This past Saturday, I was turning left into my subdivision, and an ice cream van turned left out of the entrance and right into my left rear quarter panel.

He hit basically dead on the rear wheel with his bumper, and his hood caught my fender just behind the rear door. The rear door isn't closing right, and the wheel is pretty scarred up.

My question is, what kind of damage could have been done to the axle. I'm sure the body can be fixed, and the frame wasn't hit, but the wheel/axle took the brunt of the impact. I haven't driven it yet, but I have to take it in for an estimate this week, so I'm going to throw the spare on just in case the wheel was fractured.

I just want to know what to tell the estimator, so that they fully checkout the axle, as I don't want this thing failing 6 months from now, and me getting stuck with the bill.

Any thoughts? 4 wheel alignment?, pull the axle shaft and check for cracks/bends?, etc?

 

[Thai]

I would ask the body shop to check out your rear axle along with checking for frame damage. The body shop would be more than happy to list all the damages to his/her insurance company.

 

[<<<<]

Yes, 4 wheel alignment is a must after all repairs done.

 

[<<<<]

One more thing; get Free Ice Cream for Life out of the deal

 

[RamThis]

If you take the car to a body shop that's in your insurance providers preferred list, they should offer lifetime warranty on the repairs. Meaning if you have trouble with it later due to unseen damage, like something with your rear differential, it will be covered.

 

[mjfrank]

Thanks for the advice.

I'll have to check with them on the provider, since I'm not sure yet how they will handle this. I have to go get a couple of estimates and fax it to the company's office. I guess they will then decide whether or not they will turn it over to their insurance, or just pay it out of pocket. I'm fine with either method, as long as it's not a PITA for me.

As a side note, I put the spare on last night, and drove it to work this morning. I can't notice any vibrations or abnormal handling so far, so hopefully it held up okay.

I guess these are pretty tough trucks!

I'll have to bring up the "free ice cream for life" option with them. I'm sure my kids would love that!

Thanks!
--Mike