Ughh. This hurts me inside.

I drove 2.5 hours today to Santa Rosa to pick up my new (to me) ARB Bull Bar, and on the way back we thought we'd stop by my friend's vineyard in Napa to say hey.... Well, I get to Napa...and almost off the freeway, when it suddenly hit me (no pun intended) that I can't be going 70mph and then slow to 0 for a yield in a very short distance. I mash the brakes with both feet, and as usual, the 4Runner lumbers to a stop..but not quite. Murphey's Law had to kick in and I had to smash into a 2000 Nissan Sentra first. Greeeeaaattt, this is exactly what I need.

We all get out, everybody including their 18 month old child is perfectly fine. The ambulance comes just in case, nobody has pains, everybody's cool (I hope, at least). The ambulance leaves empty.


No air bags deploy. I put a nice hole into the Sentra's bumper cover, and smashed their trunk lid skin. Their trunk still works, it's amazing! Well, for my truck...I'll let the pictures do the talking.

My radiator and crossmember were bent into my fan, and the shroud was all twisted up. The coolant bottle was smashed up against the battery. The hood wouldn't latch. Frik. Soooo, I call AAA and arrange a tow home since the fan won't spin freely. The driver finally comes and we get the idea to use his winch to pull out my crossmember, and various other pieces in an attempt to free the fan. After much effort, we were able to disconnect the upper radiator hose and pull out the shroud.

On the drive home, the engine was as cool as a cucumber, even with the A/C on. The radiator is bent, but still works perfectly.

The scene:




The aftermath:









Looks like I need a new grill, headlight bucket, and a load of frame straightening. :cry:

The moral of the story....Slow down, increase following distance, and remember that you can't stop quickly in a lifted SUV on 33's.

 

not good dude.. but good to hear everyone is ok.

 

well, least you don't need to worry about the cost of the bumper... i kid.. but it's good to hear that everyone (especially the infant) is ok.

 

Bummer. Sorry to hear of your misfortune.

Things can be replaced, people can't.

 

I'm glad it wasn't too serious, would be a shame to total that gorgeous rig.

Could have been alot worse.

 

Yah, I think I'm going the no-insurance route on this one. The damage isn't THAT bad, and I have a hookup at a body shop for the straightening. We'll see how it all unfolds tomorrow when I get an estimate for the frame, and getting the hood to latch properly.

I was SO worried about that baby. She didn't even cry, and the mother was very appreciative that everything went smoothly.

 

Glad everyone was ok! I am thinking that if you had the ARB on there, the Sentra would have been more mashed up!

 

Sorry to hear man. Glad everyone is alright though. Let us know how the reconstruction goes. If you need new headlights, mine will be for sale soon.

 

It looks like I only need a driver's side headlight bucket, the lens is ok; but thanks for letting me know.

 

Where is the frame damage?

 

Thats sucks dude, you got one of my favorite runners on the board. Good thing the damage was minimal and nobody was hurt. Good luck gettin it fixed.

 

Sorry to hear. Glad everyone is OK
"It's only metal and rubber..."

 

See, It's coming back together already!




I'll tell you..the regular ARB is MUCH easier to install than the Sahara Bar. I still need to do the "frame rail mod" and have it raised to match the 2" body lift...but I have much bigger fish to fry before that.

 

It's good that everyone is ok and the damage was minimal. Might be time for a brake upgrade eh?

Looks good even with one eye.

 

OH NO!!!

Im sorry dude, that is horrible

It happens, and you'll get it fixed, and everything will be okay.

I ran into a pole at the airport a few months ago, and screwed up my fender and bumper....It was a horrible feeling to see my baby all hurt

Man, that bumper looks SWEET!! How did you hook that thing up!!

 

Just curious, why switch to a Bull Bar?

 

The Sahara bar stuck out 10.5" from my grill, the thing was too bulky, and it really killed my approach angle. Sold it for $800, picked this one up for $300, and called it a day..almost.

 

i thought you sold your rig.......oh well.

Good thing nobody was hurt, like everybody else said. And 300 for the bull bar........so cheap!!!

 

You might consider trying the rear disk brake setup.
.....I am dying to do it myself this summer when I have amassed all the parts.

I might even try the Tundra rotors and calipers if I can find a cheap set.

 

damn dude. glad youre OK and glad the baby is OK.

just think of it this way... your runner now has a toothless grin