Schump

hey kidz,
my dad was hit by a dumbass who swerved into his lane a few weeks ago leaving a RH turn light...of course there were 2 turn lanes and the guy on the inside's 1st quote was "You HIT ME!"
dad said, "uh, no you idiot, i stayed in my lane, and you came into my lane and hit me!!!"
so he's pisssed cause he has to deal w/ the insurance and it bent the RF corner of his F bumper.
to me, born w/ a wrench in my hand....my 1st car was dad's 1976 celica GT liftback...i got it w/ 180k miles on it...original clutch no less!...and put a new downpipe on it and replaced the the blown factory choke w/ a cable choke..in fact the first car part i manufactured was the choke shaft in the carb as the dealer wanted $31 for it and i could just make it in my high school shop... well, the clutch and the carb died on the way home from school, i sold one seat w/ the sheepskin cover to my friend for $20, made the other one into an office chair, and got $20 from the wrecking yard for the rest of the car, so it worked out ok. now i drive a '92 xtra cab V6 4WD w/ ONLY 153k out of 500k on it....
anyhow......
i was wondering who makes aftermarket bumpers for the tundra, what brand, how much loot, and who sells them. there's a 4WD shop in chantilly/sterling, VA who i've been to before, but these meat whistles told me "you''ll NEVER be able to figure out what's wrong w/ your truck...you need a scanner to figure that out!!!!" this is the day after i nearly hydro locked it driving over a bridge that was of course paved on a road and the creek had overflowed and the ass clown who was on the other side told me "oh yeah....you GOTTA go fast! you need momentum to get through that..."
i, an inexperienced 4 wheeler thought...well, my truck is on pavement, i have a V6, and i have 4WD Low...WHY do i need momentum????. but...this is the 1st time i ever put my truck in 4WD, save for teh time we 4 wheeled in teh guy's front yard i bought it from in MD...and this guy has been 4 wheelin...he MUST know what to do....
oops.
so i got home on a flatbed about 6am and took the plugs out, pumped the water out, read the wiring diagram and descriptions in my haynes manual, and realized i'd fried the main relay in the passenger kick panel by the ECU. looks as though when the PO installed a good stereo he'd drillled a hole in the relay cover.
so it cost me all of $64 for a new relay from the dealer.....it could have been $10 at the auto parts store but my dad demanded that i buy the OEM one cause "that's what i should do" and it plugs right in.... so i drove to the dealership w/ the relay jumped w/ a hard wire and got a new one.
anyways...yada yada yada
if anyone has installed an aftermarket big front bumper on their tundra, please let me know what brand, and where they got it, and how much it costs cause i figure i can get dad to take the insurance cheque and upgrade his truck do to the ass clown who hit him's negligance and basically no $$$ out of pocket.
i just hope that no one as of yet makes an aftermarket OEM bumper as when i hit a deer on teh way home in blacksburg, VA the insurance CO only gave me $250 for the same deal, aftermarket oem when i had a $1000 Aussie aluminum bull guard on it, which of course saved my LF corner from another $1000 in damage! those kaniving insurance bastards!
hey, at least it payed my gas bill from VA to frisco, CO on my journey back to teach skiing in mammoth, CA!
thanks a lot,
Dave
'73 914 2.0
'82 $1 house w/ a big block RV (ford 460 duallie w/a 25' total box length..still in mammoth somewherez...and yes, i only paid $1 for it, and the $50 my friend had to pay to park it winter of '04)
'83 suzuki GS550E
'88 Jetta II gli 16v...just bought last friday from old race team teammate...delivered from the poconos on our way through VA to Gilmer, TX for the AMA enduro last weekend, and shoot, glenn even won his class, hoo aah!
'88 honda hawk barely street legal racebike
'90 ZX7 w/ 2005 ZX636 front end, fox twin clicker out back, etc
'92 xtra cab 4WD V6 truk aka Sluggo Thu Mule
'98 Ducat 900ss F.E. #187/250 (what i restored and resold and the profits paid for most of my hawk)