4 months old and rear-ended - Built Ford Tough!

[Data Kruncher]

Well, after only four short months on the road I was rear-ended while stopped in a long lineup for a three-way stop intersection on the way in to work yesterday. I think you'll all think that my truck faired pretty well, considering. It goes into the body shop next week, so I won't know just how bad it really is until then. Physically, I'm fine. Glad this happened in my ST and not my last car, a ' 91 Celica GTS.



He hit me on the driver's side, not full-on. He tried to avoid me, but couldn't quite do it. So the tailgate is not only dented but cracked, the bumper is bent, and the entire bed surged forward and impacted the cab slightly. Now there's about a two finger gap between the bed and the drivers side of the cab - about a four finger gap on the passenger side.



Please excuse the qualtiy of the pictures (cell phone cam - all I had). I drove away - he had to be towed away on a flat-deck. After looking at both my truck and his, he and his passenger both said that their next trucks would be FORDS!



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Built Ford Tough!



Kruncher

 

[Fred]

Looks like your ST held up really well. Glad no one was hurt. That chevy sure got crunched!

 

[EddieS'04]

Glad you are OK..that is amazing, his damage vs. yours.....

maybe you should get rid of the Kruncher name....:huh:

 

[Ray McIntireJr]

I think that if the bumpers had hit instead of the grill and your bumper, it might have been a little different story. Don't go off on me, but even tho i own and drive daily my trac. I am still GM at heart.

 

[John Salov]

is that even "phsyic"ally possible? wow thank god nothing tragic happened.

 

[Shane Dinsmore]

I agree with raym2, my previous truck was a Z-71 and that think held like a tank. It took on a cavalier, a taurus, and the side of an 18 wheeler (long story) and came out ahead, the track however barely survided a box truck clipping the taillight turning into a gas station.

 

[Dre L]

Nah, I rearended one of those big GMC suburbans and bent his bumper down.



Not a scratch on my front end, well, a bit of paint flaked off my tow hook, and there's a brown smudge on the lower cladding under and behind the tow hook from his hitch I think.



I hit him hard enough to be thinking I screwed the front end royally.

 

[Greg Cheek]

It appears to me that the Sportrac wasn't hit in the bumper, but more the tailgate area. From the 2 points of contact, I would think the damage would pretty much be equal. Its obvious that the Ford received the least damage and I think that is a reflection of the build quality of Ford versus Chevrolet. If the vehicles were reversed I think you would see less damage to the front of the sport trac as well as much more to the rear of the Chevy.

 

[FlipTrac_511]

I remember seeing videos from Ford; "The Truth About Trucks(?)". In it they compared the F150 to its competition and showed how much more substantial the 150's internal structure was. It criticizes how the Silverado virtually had no structural support behind the fender panels and front end. At the time I thought this was irrelevent unless you were planning on crashing into someone, but I guess that's why they call 'em "accidents". The top picture illustrates this issue very well I think.



Sorry you got "krunched", but your Adrenalin is bad-a$$. Hope she's back on the road sooner than later.

 

[Todd Z]

Mu bronco II suffered it's death by a head on at 60MPH... My truck still drove home... The mini van, puked oil, anti-Freze p/s fluid, gas, what ever it had, all over the road... If i scan the pic i will post it later... That thing saved my life....



To Chevy defense, My g/f's nova took a concrete divider at 50 , put the distributer into the dash board.... Not a single piece of glass broke and the dam doors still opened... Go figure..

Todd Z

 

[Data Kruncher]

Thanks for all your kind comments, folks.



@ Fast Eddie. I think I'm living up to my moniker now. Hit my truck and get "Krunched". :angry::angry: I'll stick with it.



By the way, I had a few, somewhat fragile, items in the bed between the extender and the tailgate. They weren't damaged in any way.



Kruncher

 

[scott r]

I had an S10 when I was younger. I had owned it for 2 weeks (I hadn't even gotten my license plates yet). Some lady was going too fast and rear-ended me at about 30 miles per hour. It completely trashed her escort and it bent my bumper completely up UNDER the truck. However, it didn't put a dent or ding anywhere else in the entire truck. The bed wasn't even offline. In these kinds of accidents, it really depends on where you get hit. I have seen tremendous amounts of damage from cars that hit trucks, and trucks that hit other trucks in the rear end. Oddly enough, even though a bed looks like it has nothing to hold it solid, they are extraordinarily solid if the impact is off to one side, or at bumper height because nearly all of the force is transferred to the frame, which ends up being dissipated via the shocks/tires and finally the road. If the crash is at high speed (50mph +) then frame bending may occur, but it's not often that the bed is damaged TOO badly. This experience comes from being a cop for 3 years. I've seen many kinds of cars get crunched. I can't say that Ford holds up any better than Chevy because I have seen both get crunched up and both stay relatively crunch-free during other accidents.

In your case Kruncher. It looks like most of the force was transferred directly to your frame. I don't know if the guy was going fast enough to bend the frame, but you might want to have it checked out now before you convince yourself that your truck is still "perfect". I'll admit, that tailgate did hold up pretty well, and his truck didn't hold up very well at all, but when you take a look at the particular impact points, you shouldn't be TOO surprised at the results.

I'm glad nobody got hurt too, I've seen some very serious injuries from people who either rear-ended someone or got rear-ended. Lots of neck/head injuries mostly. You've probably got a bit of a headache today I bet. hehe

 

[Gerald Pierce]

It was jealous and seeking retribution since we were picking on gary s. for buying a new colorado. The GM line all wants revenge



Glad you are ok and that the ST is not to bad off. It really sucks that the ST was that new.



DW got rearended many years ago in our new Subaru by a F-250, it was UGLY. We hadn't even made a payment yet.....

 

[Gavin Allan]

I'm just amazed that a guy would have the courage to go on a public forum and brag about "being rear-ended"!

 

[scott r]

lol, that's wrong on so many levels Gavin.

 

[Data Kruncher]

You know, Gavin, I thought about that as I was typing it. Sounded like a Champ episode (click the link), but I let it go.



Kruncher

 

[Mike Wilson]

It's called "crumple zones" in the front end of any newer vehicle, to protect the

occupants from a severe front end crash. The Chevy served its purpose,

and the Ford held up well, All were O.K., and that is what counts!!!

I will play the mediator and be honests in these things to help us all out!

 

[M C]

Not sure if I have ever posted these, but this was my accident 2 weeks after buying my '01 Trac (bought it used with 12,900 miles on it)



I was stopped, this guy hit me going over 50mph according to witnesses...

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This poor truck was in front of me...



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And here is my Trac! I drove it home (but it spent a month in the shop, and almost $12,000 in damage, still driving it)



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