I new it had to happen once day

[RickOTR]

Well all came to an end on March 17 of this year. My 1997 Explorer was destroyed in a car accident because a female driver made an illegal lane change and I had to apply the brakes causing me to slide sideways hitting the wall. I guess we will never know if my Explorer will make it to one million miles.

 

[410Fortune]

Dang sorry to hear that!

Any chance of bringing it back to
Life? Buy another one and swap parts over

 

[Josh P]

Will she or her insurance pay for the damage? Stupid drivers seem to be more common lately.

 

[C420sailor]

Body swap?

 

[RickOTR]

Dang sorry to hear that!

Any chance of bringing it back to
Life? Buy another one and swap parts over

Nope, right side had too much damage. Would be nice if I could resurrect her though. I loved that truck like it was family.

Will she or her insurance pay for the damage? Stupid drivers seem to be more common lately. She fled the scene even though there were witnesses no one got her license number. CHP is still investigating like a felony since I was injured and hospitalized.

Body swap?

Yep thought about that since I have a engine and trans that just rebuilt. Transfer case only has 8000 miles on her not to mention suspension and brakes.

 

[Fix4Dirt]

nooo!!!! you were so close!!! will the spirit of yours live on in another X? sorry to hear about this....... hopefully all works out, and I hope you recover(ed) quickly!

 

[410Fortune]

If some schmuck ever t bones my bii or I flip it over I plan to get another frame and body and do a full resto she will live on

Been driving that truck for 25+ years, I have almost lost her to my own mistakes and to stupid other drivers more than once. One morning I put her in a snowy ditch in order to avoid a young girl In a luxury sedan who just came right out in front of me without even looking… very close call that morning
She’s also been rear ended once on the highway in traffic…. Small dent in the back bumper
Plenty of times off road I thought she was going over too, many many close calls. Sorry to hear you lost yours I would be on the lookout for another

 

[Fix4Dirt]

what color, etc was your sport? (i think it was red) i'll keep an eye out everywhere i go! are you going to keep the powertrain and ome leaves etc?

 

[CDW6212R]

Yes Rick, I know that feeling too, I hope you can find a decent replacement for what that truck did for you. I saved most of my 93 Limited by reconstructing a wrecked 99, it can be done but the time and labor etc, may not be worth it. First try to find one that is the closest to what the old one was. Then decide what it the best path.

 

[C420sailor]

My girl was rear ended by a semi. Couldn’t let her die

She still looks a little f’d up, but she drives great

 

[RickOTR]

I'm going to be looking at her on Monday so I'll decide what to do with it next. I'm in California and California is tough to get a salvaged title in, but not impossible. Would like nothing more than to make it road worthy again. Thank you all for the support.

 

[sehaare]

I'm going to be looking at her on Monday so I'll decide what to do with it next. I'm in California and California is tough to get a salvaged title in, but not impossible. Would like nothing more than to make it road worthy again. Thank you all for the support.

If it is just body panel or door damage you might be ok. When someone T-boned my 98 while my daughter was driving it, the insurance company totaled it out. But I was able to buy it back for $400 and then got a door from a salvage yard and paid to have the other scratched painted. I ended up money ahead. You can tell that it has been hit, but then again up here in the Chicagoland rust belt you can see where I made half ass repairs to the rust out rear wheel wells also.

Also, my daughter who was driving it was 4 years old when we bought it new, so she grew up in it and had quite an attachment to it.

Good luck

 

[RickOTR]

The guy at the wrecking yard said most of the damage was to right front fender with some damage to right side. Both airbags deployed and front windshield shattered along with left side rear panel glass. Hood was bent on right side. Left side was mostly undamaged. Thats why it was totaled. I'm hoping I can fix her back to almost normal.

 

[sehaare]

The guy at the wrecking yard said most of the damage was to right front fender with some damage to right side. Both airbags deployed and front windshield shattered along with left side rear panel glass. Hood was bent on right side. Left side was mostly undamaged. Thats why it was totaled. I'm hoping I can fix her back to almost normal.

I haven't priced the ford air bags but for most cars those are pretty expensive. I guess used is an option, can't be any worse than what was in there and they worked.

 

[sehaare]

The guy at the wrecking yard said most of the damage was to right front fender with some damage to right side. Both airbags deployed and front windshield shattered along with left side rear panel glass. Hood was bent on right side. Left side was mostly undamaged. Thats why it was totaled. I'm hoping I can fix her back to almost normal.

I found out while looking for a leak that the rear glass panel just bolts in. You could easily replace that your self and there has to be a ton of those in the yards.

 

[RickOTR]

Found an Explorer just like mine at the bone yard so I might look into changing out the body's or just the parts. The guy wants $1500 for the body or $600 for the parts.

 

[donalds]

Sounds like a ok deal with car prices and expensive parts to

I couldn't imagine not having my family truck

 

[Josh P]

Do you have pictures of the damage to your car?

 

[RickOTR]

Do you have pictures of the damage to your car?

This is not going to be an easy post as I just got back from the salaved yard a few minutes ago. A lot worse than it looks. Oil was leaking from the front engine, Rack & Pinion was toast, Needs a complete front clip, Front of frame was slightly bent, etc. But here are the pictures...

 

[Josh P]

It's done