A lot of work ahead.

How I pulled the frame back out.

 

Cut off the damaged radiator support w a big ass grinder.

 

I ordered most of my replacement parts from Rockauto. Small stuff from EBay. I will total it all up before I post my completed photos. Mind you. I’ve never done anything like this before. Barely watched YouTube videos. Just started fuckin w it.

 

FF to about 3 weeks, about $3000 and idefk how many aggravating hours….im back on the road bitches!!!! For all of you that doubt my perseverance- kiss my black ass. I didn’t know shit about taking on any kindve hopeless task like this but I had no other choice. I came. I saw. I conquered!! Still gotta fine tune some gaps and she’s definitely not riding as smooth as she was but surprisingly all of the body parts fit on relatively smooth w minimal bending and alterations. Got the bull bar because clearly the integrity of the vehicle is under question. But you know what isn’t??? MY MOTHERFUCKING SKILLS.

 

Damned good work old chap. You got 'er back on the road again.

 

My first time welding. Def not the prettiest but I coated it all in flex seal. Went around and did most of my undercarriage also. Fuck yea. This whole experience ran me like 5k. Fmlllll.

 

Now. To address the no insurance thing. So. 2021 was a horrible year for me vehicullarly and otherwise. First. I was pulling out of a Dunkin’ Donuts around a bus just as another driver was pulling in. To avoid hitting him I sideswiped the bus. Barely scratched the bus. Fucked my Traverse allll up. I think my coverage had lapsed maybe a week prior to this. So while waiting for the police to pull up I called progressive to renew my policy. I made a halfass attempt to file a claim the next day and was informed by the adjuster that that wouldn’t be the wisest decision so I redacted the claim. Took it on the chin. Paid for the bus paint job and went on my way. -Important side note *while purchasing my policy on the scene of the accident I distinctly recall the agent asking me if I wanted uninsured underinsured motorist coverage. I asked what’s that? Was informed. Then told it only added $8 a month to my policy. I said hell yea, I live in Cleveland. All types of assholes driving around wo insurance. Had gotten hit by one a few years back. Moving on- so I retracted my claim. No harm no foul. Two weeks goes by. I get hit by a drunk driver who was uninsured. Totaled my Traverse. Progressive paid me out some embarassingly meager amount. I messed my neck up a little. Asked my adjuster not once but called him back to double triple check to ensure I had uninsured underinsured motorist coverage. He said yes. I’m covered 25-50k. Week or so after that I received notice that progressive dropped me because of a questionably fraudulent claim-remember the one I redacted- yea that one. But it’s ok. Fuckers. I just finished my 3 mos of outpatient therapy. At which point when my lawyer when to file I was informed that Nooooo. I didn’t have uninsured motorist coverage. Wait what? Called the adjuster. Remember when I asked you all those times? His exact words “I must’ve misspoke”. Was the conversation recorded. Course not. Did I have a paper copy of my policy. No. It was only stored on their servers. No trace of said coverage. Next. I got Liberty Mutual. A fine fine company. I got sideswiped on the freeway hit n run about a month into my policy. Got a rental. Was asked if I wanted to pay the 15-25$ a day for their coverage. Hell no. That’s for suckers. Next morning I’m picking up a guy to go do a contracting job next thing I know-airbags everywhere. Wtfffff. Totaled a 2021 Chevy something. Completely destroyed. Rear ended some beautiful old man as he was pulling into the gddamn cemetery to bury his wife of 40+ years. FMLLLLLL. Kind soul took it in stride. Not barely a scratch on their German car. I sent him anonymous flowers following the incident. But did Liberty mutual tap out on me? Fuck no they didn’t. They paid that shit like the multi billion dollar company they are. Didn’t barely even raise my rates bless them. If you’re keeping up. That’s 4 claims in 2021-22 thus far. I had a pretty smooth 2022. Then in 2023 I sideswiped a fire hydrant in my brand fucking new tundra. Fucked my door all up. Mf popped up outta no where. Did some research. Come to find out it was an improperly installed fire hydrant. Too close to driveway lip as defined by
Ohio Admin. Code 1301:7-7-05. , so I filed the necessary paperwork against the city and was immediately denied. Either way, Libertys bells rang for me no more. I got dropped. Now. If I haven’t mentioned. My tundra is financed. As we all know a financed vehicle is required to have liability as well as collision coverage. So, I went online applying for anyone that would accept me. Got Founders insurance. My policy went from being $625 for a full year to over $3200. But I paid it in full. Cause I had no other option. A month later I received a check from founders short about $500 notifying me that they refused to insure me. But they definitely robbed me for that month of service. As I understand it when a company drops your coverage plan- notice is automatically sent to the lien holder- at which point third party coverage is supposed to go into effect and my already ridiculously high payment increases in either amount or longevity. Nothing happened. Never heard a word. I already had my insurance IDs that I paid $500 for so fuck it. The next broker I talked to said the only policy she could find said $13,000 for one year coverage. FUUUUUCCCCKK YOOOOUUUUU. After some investigation on my part somewhere along the line that drunk driver accident was attributed to me. Wtf. The broker said that my record says I have 16 points on my license. I wouldn’t be able to even ride bitch in a car w 16 points. My dmv abstract has me at 2. So I ask you all. Wtf exactly is one supposed to do when my entire business, how I pay my bills. How I pay for my 3 children. How I survive in this shit ass system that dictates my worth and status in life by a fucking made up FICO score based on fake money that was lended to me then taxed and ballooned into more fake money. How am I supposed to go on without being able to drive to a clients house and repair their broken shit? Take the bus? With my tools. All of them? Please. Tell me. What do I do. Explain. Please. If you read all of this madness I feel sorry for you. But this is my life‍♂️.

 

Pot, kettle?

Yeah, that claim may have been cancelled, but it was filed. It's always on the record and it was a fraudulent attempt, even if you had second thoughts when confronted about it.

This I feel for you on. It's why I get everything in writing. People will screw you if they can.

And here we have the abdication of personal responsibility to blame (insert boogeyman of choice here).

Now, before labelling me as some uncaring ogre, let me clarify. You've had a rough go and been handed some shit sandwiches, and that sucks. I feel for you there. Especially the hit and run stuff, as I've been on the receiving end of that myself. It suuuuucks. That said, it doesn't alleviate your responsibility for some questionable choices.

1. You let your insurance coverage lapse. Saying "maybe a week prior" doesn't erase the fact that this is 100% on you and a major factor in all the headaches that followed.
2. You attempted to get it covered fraudulently. Trying to take it back after doesn't remove the claim and you are responsible for that decision as well.
3. As for lacking the under/uninsured coverage, it sucks that your agent was a sleaze, but it's also the responsibility of the insured person to make sure their coverage is correct. You have to check those records and save those descriptions of coverage. It's a crappy set up, but them's the rules we all play by.
4. You chose not to have coverage on a rental. That also means you chose to take all responsibility for that rental.
5. Not sure based on the wording, but it sounds like you rear ended somebody? Your insurance paid, as they should, if that's the case.
6. Then you hit a fire hydrant, and have proof that it was improperly installed. That proof if given to Liberty should shift it from being at fault, but they are still going to have to pay in the mean time. Given your recent history and short term customer status, them cutting bait makes sense.
7. Another company also elected to drop you after a month of coverage. Bummer deal, man... and then you opted to operate with no insurance AGAIN.

How is any of this anyone else's fault except for the agent "mispeaking" about your coverage? You made poor decisions that compounded and resulted in a bad situation. That's not the system's fault. That's not society's fault. That's yours. It's harsh and hard to hear, but I'm not saying it with condemnation or anger. I'm saying hoping you'll realize a very important lesson that can help you so so much in life.

We are all where we are because of choices we have made along the way. I'm paraphrasing a quote that I cannot remember the source of but "I hope my problems are of my own making, because then I can solve them. If they are the makings of society or others, I am doomed."

You get a job that doesn't require the truck until you get back on your feet. You swallow your pride admit you've been beaten down and that getting up will require you to sacrifice. You take the shitty job at wal mart or mcdonalds or wherever you thought you were too good to work at before. You get multiple jobs if you have to. You struggle, bust ass, and conquer it! Along with that you ask for help from family, then friends, then your church and community. It takes a mountain of humility to own it all and get back up, but asking for help isn't giving up. It is refusing to give up.



As it stands, congrats on making your repairs. None of that matters if you don't have insurance on it.

 

Damn fine job on the repairs. Not so much on the other stuff….

 

Good work cosmetically, but no way that is structurally safe for you or your 3 kids. Flex Seal? Good to know you're in Ohio and already quoted the ORC, now I can cite specifics. This is likely why you are uninsurable due to poor compounded decisions as others said. Yes, string of bad luck for sure but you had a big part in that. I standby what I originally said, go buy insurance and recommend not driving until you do. If you continue to make these poor decisions, as you stated, "back on the road", you will absolutely continue to spiral.

https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-4509.101
Section 4509.101 | Operating of motor vehicle without proof of financial responsibility.

(A)(1) No person shall operate, or permit the operation of, a motor vehicle in this state, unless proof of financial responsibility is maintained continuously throughout the registration period with respect to that vehicle, or, in the case of a driver who is not the owner, with respect to that driver's operation of that vehicle.

(2) Whoever violates division (A)(1) of this section shall be subject to the following civil penalties:

... gets worse the further you go.