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Another Front-End Collision Thread

Hey, guys, I've got a question to ask. My family is all about Ford trucks. I own an explorer, one sister owns a '99 Ranger, and my other sister owns an '02 Explorer Sport. Gorgeous truck, but it sat for a while in the Southern heat, and some of the plastic and rubber pieces began to crack from the age+heat. Anyways, back on topic. She recently had a (relatively) minor collision, and her passenger side front end is pretty messed up. The bumper only hangs on one side, the hood is scrap, the fender may as well just find a new home in the recycling center, and there's not much of a headlight left to speak of. However, everything else about the truck is sound. the engine is 100% and nothing in the bay appears to be damaged (thank God). That combined with the extremely low mileage (<50k) makes me think it's worth saving.
Here's a picture of the damage: http://i.imgur.com/pHF1bWE.jpg

Here are my questions:

1) Is this damage worth fixing on this truck, or would it be better to just part it out and sell the rest for scrap?

2) Do we need to be worried about the airbags going off, even after we replace the bumper?


Apologies if this is the wrong forum; I just thought for body work, y'all would have the best experience.
 



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[MENTION=9927]MONMIX[/MENTION] might be able to offer some advice

Pry need to take pics of what's hidden behind the headlight, under the hood, etc...
 






Hey, guys, I've got a question to ask. My family is all about Ford trucks. I own an explorer, one sister owns a '99 Ranger, and my other sister owns an '02 Explorer Sport. Gorgeous truck, but it sat for a while in the Southern heat, and some of the plastic and rubber pieces began to crack from the age+heat. Anyways, back on topic. She recently had a (relatively) minor collision, and her passenger side front end is pretty messed up. The bumper only hangs on one side, the hood is scrap, the fender may as well just find a new home in the recycling center, and there's not much of a headlight left to speak of. However, everything else about the truck is sound. the engine is 100% and nothing in the bay appears to be damaged (thank God). That combined with the extremely low mileage (<50k) makes me think it's worth saving.
Here's a picture of the damage: http://i.imgur.com/pHF1bWE.jpg

Here are my questions:

1) Is this damage worth fixing on this truck, or would it be better to just part it out and sell the rest for scrap?

2) Do we need to be worried about the airbags going off, even after we replace the bumper?


Apologies if this is the wrong forum; I just thought for body work, y'all would have the best experience.


1) That is a tough question to answer. The photo really doesn't give me a good enough view to gather enough information.
What grabs my eye right away is the roll on the back of the hood. It is pretty far back for that type and significant of a roll.
Can you open the right front door without it hitting on the fender ?

2) no, the collision is done, the bags are no more or no less in a position to deploy. Airbags deploy based on inertia, since the process of the collision is complete there is no longer any inertia to set the bags off.

Let me know if the door opens and closes with out any hindrance.
Take these pictures.
1) Front straight on, hood closed eye level to the headlights. Frame the picture so I can see the ground and the roof as well as day light to the left and the right.
2) Hood open. Cowel. Radiator support and both fenders all in the shot.
3) Hood open, left rear corner as much from the top down as possible.
4) Hood open right front corner as much as from the top down as possible.
5) Hood open, fender to fender, center the radiator support in the center of the photo.
6) a straight on photo of the latch striker on the hood.
7) Hood shut, the gap between the hood and the fender front to rear
8) Right door to fender gaps.

That should give me sufficient information to get the ball rolling for you.
 






1) That is a tough question to answer. The photo really doesn't give me a good enough view to gather enough information.
What grabs my eye right away is the roll on the back of the hood. It is pretty far back for that type and significant of a roll.
Can you open the right front door without it hitting on the fender ?

2) no, the collision is done, the bags are no more or no less in a position to deploy. Airbags deploy based on inertia, since the process of the collision is complete there is no longer any inertia to set the bags off.

Let me know if the door opens and closes with out any hindrance.
Take these pictures.
1) Front straight on, hood closed eye level to the headlights. Frame the picture so I can see the ground and the roof as well as day light to the left and the right.
2) Hood open. Cowel. Radiator support and both fenders all in the shot.
3) Hood open, left rear corner as much from the top down as possible.
4) Hood open right front corner as much as from the top down as possible.
5) Hood open, fender to fender, center the radiator support in the center of the photo.
6) a straight on photo of the latch striker on the hood.
7) Hood shut, the gap between the hood and the fender front to rear
8) Right door to fender gaps.

That should give me sufficient information to get the ball rolling for you.

Sorry I took so long to explain. I've been trying to juggle college life and fixing this thing back up. We bought it off the insurance company for $474.15 ( I figured I could make that up in parts even if the truck was screwed), and we took it to our mechanic who said the frame is straight (hallelujah) and the air bags stand no chance of accidentally deploying (double hallelujah). I took the pictures you asked, and they're uploading now. I'll post them later tonight. It's looking pretty good for this truck right now.
 






Sorry I took so long to explain. I've been trying to juggle college life and fixing this thing back up. We bought it off the insurance company for $474.15 ( I figured I could make that up in parts even if the truck was screwed), and we took it to our mechanic who said the frame is straight (hallelujah) and the air bags stand no chance of accidentally deploying (double hallelujah). I took the pictures you asked, and they're uploading now. I'll post them later tonight. It's looking pretty good for this truck right now.

How did he determine the frame was straight?
Did he take any measurements? Either with a tape? or a tram bar? Or a 3-D measuring system? Did he put it on an alignment machine ?
 






As far as I know, he put it on an alignment machine. I trust this guy, and he knows what he's about, even if he doesn't know Fords that well. The album of our repair is here: http://imgur.com/a/TVpVQ

It's in really good shape. I've fixed most of the other problems with it, and I'm about to replace the factory head unit with something more useful. I think we'll get our money's worth out of it.
 






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