**Lots of Pics** 04 DC "Totaled"

Hello Tundras.com, Long time no see!

It's been a few months since I've posted here. The last post I made was a tutorial for tailgate latch lubrication when I was sick with covid at the end of November. Thankfully I'm well over that and have been doing great. I spent the beginning of 2022 repairing and refinishing my coastal offroad bumper, refinishing some wheels, repainting the front clip of my truck, and getting it back together and on the road.

Bumper Back from powdercoating

Bumper and what it was being kitted out with.

Bumper assembled and mounted.

Hood/Grille off for paint (fenders not pictured)

Hood after some light bodywork

Grille and filler plates after the first coat

My buddy helping with the spraying.

End result.

I was very happy with the way my truck turned out.


But, it didn't last... on May 6th, another road-goer swung across 3 lanes of traffic without looking and hit my truck in the driver's side front fender/bumper area.

My tundra

Offending bumper car. 2014 Yaris.

My driver's side fender.

Fender where it meets the door.

This photo was to show how far back the wheel was in the wheelwell. The steering wasn't completely straight, but it's pretty obvious how far off it is.

I always hate surprise bumper cars, but Toyota vs Toyota is always the worst.

After having my truck sitting at the body shop for over a month, I finally got to bring it back to my shop (or in this case, my buddy's shop where I happen to lay my hat down at).

I took the liberty of removing the fender to get a better look at everything. As it sits in the photo is as far as I can turn the wheel to the left before the tire runs into the cab.
After some more poking around, I found that the LCA rivets had moved inside their holes.

LCA Rivets. You can see where they moved.

I also discovered that the LCA mounting tabs on the subframe appear to be bent, although not too badly/much.

Bent LCA Mounting Tab.

I'm guessing I can probably just bend them back, or just put a portapower on the back of the LCA to bend it back. As for the rest of the truck, everything except for my bumper seems to be serviceable.

I guess my bumper was a bit of a sacrificial lamb for the rest of my truck, thank goodness.


It's all really unfortunate, but I'm glad everyone was ok. Things can be replaced, people cannot.

Now, as far as insurance goes, here's the preliminary estimate they came up with.

P1, As far as the grille and hood go, there is one chip where paint is missing, smaller than a dime on the hood, and there was some plastic residue on the grille/hood that I was able to remove with reducer.

P2, The estimate stopped at ~$8,000.

Insurance sent me an offer for just over $7,000, they keep the salvage. I declined, and I'm still in the process of fighting with them to get a better offer.

Long story short, I'm now left with the task of repairing my truck. So far, everything is going smoothly. I'll probably post periodic updates here and there.

Thanks for reading.

 

Sorry to hear this. I hope you win the fight with the insurance company. If nothing else, tell them you'll accept $5,000 and keep the truck. It's going to cost them to deal with disposal, maybe they'll work with you.


I can't bring myself to click "Like".

 

I have a number in mind on top of keeping the truck that I'd like to get. I'm not going to publish that until I've worked things out with said company, on the off chance they somehow find my post since it's still in progress.

 

sorry to hear. The insurance company of the at fault driver should make it whole. They need to pay you however much it costs to get your truck to its previous condition and then some for your troubles and for their hassle and depreciation. Threaten to hire an attorney if you think that would help your case. Keep us posted. Hope it works out in your favor. Don't lose the truck over someone else's recklessness. They (insurance/driver) need to face consequences and not think that they can just pay you what they feel the truck is worth as we know these trucks are going for a lot $$$. They should cut you a decent check which you could use a portion to restore the damage and have some extra for whatever else.

 

Good time for your back to start hurting so you can get yourself a new truck like you deserve. Thats why we pay insurance

 

I know we’re talking USD here, and not Canuck bucks, but unless you’ve accumulated some seriously significant miles, they’re lowballing the crap out of you.

 

So sorry to hear this. I have a bumper similar to yours and I've heard people say they actually act as a damage multiplier but who knows if that is true.

I've mentioned this a few times but I'll use this post as another reminder that you can actually over insure a vehicle. I sent my insurance pictures and some receipts of all the extra money I've put into the truck. For around $200/year extra they gave me an additional $8,000 in replacement value should the truck be totalled/stolen etc. Given how expensive it is to replace a truck right now I feel it's worth it.

I really hope they give you more. $7,000 is a not a serious offer at all.

 

230,750 miles.

 

You are very fortunate to be in a position where you are able to fix it yourself. That is a very nice classic truck and worth fighting for.

 

Sorry that happened to you.
Great looking truck, I hope you can get it back in shape..

 

These insurance companies are something else. Your vehicle gets wrecked, and if an older vehicle, they decide it cost too much to repair. They offer an amount that's much less than repair cost for owner to keep, and in return owner has to give them the vehicle as though they purchased it. If the owner declines the offer because he wants to keep ownership of vehicle, the insurance company completely withdraws their offer and says to keep the vehicle in trade for their money offered. Makes ya say since when did you own my vehicle and I have to pay you to keep it. It's more like I payed you to fix it or put something toward fixing it and then we'll part ways.

That's not fair and should be considered criminal. The insurance company should pay the person the amount they offered, or negotiated agreement, and not force the owner to relinquish the vehicle to them. Doesn't matter what the owner wants to do with vehicle. Whether he parts it out or puts some or all insurance money toward repair is not their concern. People buy insurance to have their vehicle repaired by the insurance company when paying for added insurance over minimum PIP.

Owners with older vehicles are typically the ones left holding the short end of the stick. They're being taken advantage of and pushed around to accept insurance company's demands is ludicrous. Yet it's an old game and was told when a kid to stay with minimum insurance with older vehicles, otherwise it's a waste of money.

 

Unfortunately what's right and what insurance companies are allowed to do isn't the same. Did they total the truck without your knowledge leaving you with a rebuilt or salvage title? They just did that in PA.

 

Well, if anything, I’ve learned you have to cover your ass every step of the way. Receipts, lawyer, dash cam, making sure coverage is up to snuff etc.

And I’m getting boned by insurance that isn’t even mine.

 

There are times when lawyers are worth it. Don't be afraid to consult with an attorney or at least threaten to do so. Keep negotiating.

 

I called and declined their offer. I also sent them a pile of receipts, and they said they would take a look and see if they could adjust their offer to accommodate some of the modifications. I don’t anticipate the updated offer to be much better, but fingers crossed.

 

You shouldn't be dealing with them. Your insurance should be. That's what you pay them for.

Bummer that you are stuck dealing with this because some dipstick doesn't know how to drive.

 

I'm still on my parents insurance since their rates are much cheaper than I could ever get solo. My mother is a penny pincher and got rid of the collision coverage without asking what it was for because it saved $20 a month. Without collision, my insurance won't handle the accident, even though it wasn't my fault.

 

OOF! That bites. Perhaps this experience will help your Mom to realize the value of that little bit of extra on the insurance. Still hoping for the best for you and your truck.

 

^^^ This!

You and your insurance company have a contract... you agreed to their terms when you took out the policy. If you don't like it, you're kind of stuck with it. But when it comes to other people's insurance, you have no contract with them. They are on the hook to make you whole. If they aren't doing that, contact an attorney.

 

Good luck scooter. My other car (Honda Civic) was rear-ended this weekend. I'm reading this thread for moral support, gonna have to deal with insurance soon now that it's Monday.

 

That was a seriously bad decision by your mom. I'm not sure how old you are but I doubt it's that bad to get your own policy. I would find a local insurance broker in your area that can get quotes from all the insurance providers in their network and find the best deal for you.

 

Is it a pain in the ass to get the fender off? Looks like a viable way to install headers.

 

Scooter, I'm bummed for you in every aspect. I recently got my own insurance. I have three speeding tickets on the books, and my monthly quotes were in the neighborhood of $400 a month for liability on my own standalone insurance.

Here's what I did. I brokered a deal with my dad who's insurance I was listed as a driver on.

State farm allowed him to release the "credits" for his two policies for the white truck, and for my corolla to my name. His policies being older, and having history with them were much, much, much cheaper. Liability on both is $60 a month.

You may be able to work something out with your Maw, and the insurance company after this fiasco.

 

It wasn't difficult for me to get it off, especially since my splash guard was already cut up. I'd just remove the wheel and not mess with the fender to put headers on.

I've technically got to get my own in about a year and a half, but until then, I'll be on my parents. I'm still paying my portion of the insurance though. I'm not sure why she changed my coverage...

 

In this case, having just liability is what is screwing him. There really is no reason to have only liability when it costs so much to replace vehicles right now. Even on 20 year old trucks it makes sense to have comprehensive coverage now, preferably with high limits.

I pay only $120/month for comprehensive coverage on both vehicles and the extra $8k in replacement value for my truck.

 

In a no fault State the above is correct. Where I live, as long as I don't cause the accident and the other driver carries insurance you're OK. The real problem is the inordinate amount of poor drivers that don't carry insurance and there you are flat out screwed. So, yeah. Spend the extra few bucks to get the full coverage. If you really want to save money increase your deductible.

 

I was in the same position as you in December of last year. Was debating posting a thread similar to this but just never got around to it. The insurance company offered me a $10K+ buyout but I chose to keep the truck and ~$7,300 payout instead. I think once all was said and done, the shop bill came out to ~$9K. For reference, my '04 DC had 278K miles at the time.

 

Well, I finally got my truck on my buddy's lift (time on the lift is hard to come by, doncha know?). The fun only stopped once I couldn't find the 24mm socket to take my LBJ nut off. Along the way, it gave me an excellent opportunity to survey the rest of my truck.
Here's a quick list of things I've found:
- Passenger side steering rack boot is torn, Also feels a little crunchy when you move the tie rod around as compared to the driver's side. Probably a lack of lubrication from the torn boot allowing water entry.
- Driveshaft center support bearing is blown out, tons of play.
- Sway bar end links are blown out. They appear to be original.
- Driver's side lower front eccentric bolt was completely stripped.
- Driver's side lower rear eccentric bolt inboard most locating tab is completely bent flat.
- Lower shock bushing and spring isolator is blown out (common issue with rancho shitlifts, these are less than 6 months old too)

I believe I'm going to get the MCM Fab long travel kit once insurance cuts me a check, along with a 333 Fabrications Cam Bolt eliminator kit. For now though, I'm going to try to get everything back together and on the road with stock components. I still have a warranty on my lower control arm, so I'm definitely going to exchange it. I've got to figure out a way to bend the mounting locations back in place before I can throw any new parts in the mix though. I'm thinking that I'll have to make some sort of solid spacer to go between the two tabs on the frame, then use a porta power against the transmission cross-member (since it appears to be very sturdily welded to the frame.) to force it back forwards. Not sure what I'm going to do for the front tabs though. Maybe a bottle jack between the two sets of tabs...

 

Another update:
The lower control arm, steering rack bellows, and tie rod ends showed up today.

Got everything I received installed, but I'm still waiting on the eccentrics. They should show up tomorrow morning at my local Toyota dealership. Fingers crossed that I should be able to get everything completely back together tomorrow evening, and off for an alignment.

 

Woot! I buttoned up my suspension this afternoon and got an alignment.


The truck aligned pretty well, with the only issue being 1.1 degrees of negative camber on the passenger front.
Next on the chopping block is getting a fender back on.

Edit: Fender is ordered, should be here tuesday. Gasket to go between flare and fender should be here tomorrow. Flare is prepped for paint already.