Wrecked my D-90...

[Trigger]

Ok, I didn't wreck it, someone else wrecked it for me. Driving home from work this evening a guy to my right in a van towing a trailer decided to make a left hand turn from the middle lane. The lane I was in is a left turn or go straight lane. His lane was straight only. I hit him just behind the drivers door and he took my brush bar down the entire side of his van then proceeded to drive his trailer up the side of my Defender. Everything would have been fine had he not attempted to flee the scene. When he did that he hooked me good and wasn't going anywhere with nearly 5,000 lbs of Defender with it's brakes locked attached to him. My son was in the passenger seat and got to watch the trailer climb the side of my truck from inches away. Needless to say he was rather freaked out by it. My wife was following me home and got to witness the accident. She was also rather freaked out. The damage was limited to a scratch on the brush bar until the trailer climbed into my side.

The other driver was ticketed for illegal left turn. His insurance looked sketchy but the cops didn't make much of it. I guess that's why I keep uninsured motorist insurance.

List of damage I've noted so far:

Rear quarter smooshed
Right wing destroyed
Brush Bar and bumper bent 45 degrees
heater and wiper pump dead
front and rear eyebrows ripped off
Roll cage seems tweaked to the drivers side
3 tires hosed (right rear cut, fronts torn to shreds driving home on front misalignment)
all lights on that side broken
misc others


I've included a pic for your wincing pleasure. Remember: always carry a digital camera.

More pics of the scene and damage can be found at: this page (http://www.nnin.net/gallery/d90wreck)

Tony

[javelinadave]

Ouch!

[rover4x4]

I am sorry to see that. I hope that you can get everything worked out. keep the BB posted on your outcome.

[TwisteD90]

That sucks! glad to hear you guys got out of it unharmed.

[wicks]

Nasty. Grrrr. Good on the insurance.

[DJ Menasco]

It's good to hear you and your family are ok, but damn, what an S.O.B. for trying to leave the scene!

DJ

[Davis]

I am glad you are all O.K. Some people see destruction, I see opportunity. First, find yourself a roverphile shop. Second, have them update all your parts. Lets take a look at the situation--you need a new roll cage--well, a custom one would be less expensive and stronger than stock. You really can't replace just a couple tires--you have to replace them all, of course with one size bigger MT/KM's (or whatever). Your springs got mushed, as did your shocks. Trust me, they did. I am not saying take advantage of the system--just that for the same price as factory parts, you can upgrade...

[Eric Siepmann]

I agree. There has got to be some block damage in there. Cracked block that should be replaced with a shiney new 300tdi. Match that new suspension

Glad to hear you all made it out safe and sound.

[Trigger]

I just want to get it fixed right. I've looked under the hood and things are out of whack. Everything attached to the passenger wing is pushed in. Power steering res, wiper fluid res, radiator overflow res, heater box, etc. The heater has a neat little hole where the corner of the trailer nailed it square. I very rarely used it here in Texas but a working one is a good thing. I've got wires with connectors dangling that go God-knows-where, maybe to some old lights the previous owner had. I've looked more closely at the rear and the spare mount looks bent and the light protector did its job to its own demise. You can see the shiny spot on the bumper where the trailer wheels drug around the back.

I'm gonna stop looking at it. I keep finding more things that are broken. Actually, the more things I find the better I guess. I know what it's supposed to look like when not messed up and can point out all the problems.

Tony

[dmarchand]

Tony, first off, I'm sorry to see that too.

But I agree with Chris. I see a terrific chance to make the truck "new" in many ways. That is if it's something your interested in. Locate a shop that can strip down your truck after the insurance has assessed it. Hell, I would use this as an opportunity to do a frame over.... :cool: then re-power, etc.
But that's just me. :crazy

Make that thing reborn after such a terrible demise.

Seriously though. There are a few shops around the country that could do it. If you have nothing local to you, PM me and I can make a few suggestions.

Or turn it into a do-it-yourself if your inclined.

Screw the 300tdi. It sucks monkey ass.

[TDI Guy]

Screw the 300tdi. It sucks monkey ass.


Your Just Jelous:stick :rifle

[Mike Hippert]

Bummer man, nice looking 90. I hate it when bad things happen to good Defenders. Been allot of accidents lately on the board. I think I'll make sure the insurance is all payed up.

[Trigger]

Welp, seems no one in town wants to touch it. I've called around to a few places. Land Rover dealer pointed me at one shop but I'm dubious. I'll be taking it there this afternoon. Anyone know anybody anywhere in Texas that knows what they're doing? I'm willing to take it as far as Dallas or Houston if I need to. I'm in Austin.

[PT94D90]

I'm with Chris and Marchand, send it to ECR and have them go to town on it.

[Trigger]

Finally got a hold of his insurance company. His policy was less than 24 hours old. This is going to be fun. So new that his insurance company couldn't pull his policy up to start a claim. *sigh* My insurance company seemed to not like that news either. :mad

I'm headed over to a friend's house tonite to plasma torch off the parts of the brush bar and bumper that stick out dangerously.

I'd love to send it to ECR but I don't think the insurance company will pony up that kind of cash and I sure don't have it to make up the difference.

If it does come to needing a full paint job to get colors to match does anyone have the paint code for G4 orange? I really love that color.

[dmarchand]

I'm with Chris and Marchand, send it to ECR and have them go to town on it.


No, www.BWOverland.com ....

:grin

[Mike Hippert]

Shameless plug.:grin You guys should do a D-90 source special.

[loykd]

What about North Texas Rovers in Dallas? I'm sure some of the guys here could give you an opinion on his work. Does a lot of LR work.

[Trigger]

Originally posted by loykd
What about North Texas Rovers in Dallas? I'm sure some of the guys here could give you an opinion on his work. Does a lot of LR work.

Their page has said 'Coming Soon' for months...

Found a shop in town that'll work on it. They are the shop that the local dealer seems to use. Took it by for an estimate after work.

$7,200 :eek:

That's just for the damage he could see. He said they were sure to find more once they get the side off and look around. He said that could add as much as 10-20% to the estimate. That includes painting the entire right side, hood, and tail so everything matches. Hell, they're gonna be doing 3/4s of the truck might as well finish the job all the way round in G4 orange. I'll even help by stripping out the seats and interior to make it easier. to do the whole thing inside and out.

I'm glad I don't have to pay for it. Well, most of it.

Tony

[loykd]

Tony,
I was in their shop and they have a good amount of work going on. You're right; it's a lame website.
Maybe some of the Dallas guys can comment on their work. (I thought that Mickey used them.) The owner's name is Allen, and came from another shop in Dallas.

[Trigger]

Talked to Allen @ North Texas Rover today. Was a really nice guy. I talked with him for about 15 minutes. It was nice talking to a 'Rover Guy' and someone that knew what a Defender is instead of having repair shops refer to it as a J**p. He had some suggestions about what we could do to make the ol' D-90 into a better truck. He also talked me out of painting it a different color. Seemed to know his stuff and was making suggestions before I could even say them. It's a bit of a drive(3 hours) to Dallas but it might just be worth it. I can throw the D-90 on a trailer and haul it on up there. Now all I need to do is get the other guy's insurance off their ass and fork over some cash.

Tony

[loykd]

Tony, That's good to hear. When I stopped by his shop, he had a bunch of Discos, RRs, and a few Defenders there, plus a couple of cool projects. Nice guys, even though Justin drives a Wrangler. haha. They look like they do lots of custom work. If I remember correctly, they're associated with Chris Hinkle and if you check his bio, you'll see his trucks. Doesn't sound like you're looking to make a rock crawling king, but at the least it shows that they know Defenders.

You'll have to keep us updated.

[Trigger]

Ok, you've seen the damage to my Defender. I now have in my hot little hands a big fat check for just shy of $8000. Assuming I do most of the work myself. What should I do repair and upgrade wise. I already plan on replacing the passenger wing, if I can find one for a decent price. For the rear corner a friend who has a machine shop has offered to help weld in a new piece and then we'll cover it with diamond plate corner protectors. We'll also bend and reweld the stock brush bar, strip the vinyl and powdercoat it. Replacing the bumper is a must, though we should be able to fab one of those too. We'll also replace the eyebrows. All the above should be doable for around $1500 we figure.

What to do with the leftover $$$? The Defender is almost totally stock. I do need to save some money for paint. Other than that I'm wide open to suggestions. What would you do with close to $5000 to spend for toys for your Defender?

I figure if I don't spend it quick I'll need to put a new roof on the house or something and it'll never get done, as always seems to happen.

[Buckon37s]

Well this is an easy question! The first thing to do is forget fixing the rear quarter panel, cut it off! That will allow you to stretch the wheel base out to about 99 inches or so. Next throw away those toothpic rover axles and swap in a pair of 60s or similar. Local junk yeard should help you stay on budget. You should be able to fix the fronts problems on budget too. Then just throw on a custom winch plate and you are all set. If you watch the money really closely you could get most done for 5k. Then you can go have a REALLY good time.

Oh, I forgot, 37in - 40in tires too.

[JimC]

Call George at RDS and ask what he has laying around. You can probably get a 110 chassis and a crewcab body for your 8 grand. Swap over the drivetrain, bulkhead, and other misc stuff, and you are running around in a sweet truck. Thats what I'd do...

[Mike Hippert]

Tony, what do you want to do with your 90? Dave's idea is good for going extreme, Jim's idea is good for a start from scratch, but how much work do you want to put in and what kind of driving will the 90 see the most of?

[Trigger]

Originally posted by Mike Hippert
Tony, what do you want to do with your 90? Dave's idea is good for going extreme, Jim's idea is good for a start from scratch, but how much work do you want to put in and what kind of driving will the 90 see the most of?

Well, it is a daily driver but it's also used for work every weekend selling ranchland here in the Texas Hill Country. What I guess I need is something that isn't too extreme but I do need decent offroad ability. I'm pretty sure I'll be getting a winch and a full self-recovery setup because I can be pretty far from the road and out of cell phone/radio range so help can be a few mile hike away. More underbody protection as I've already bent a track rod out in the field.

My list so far:

underbody protection
upgraded brakes
OME suspension
new tires about same size as stock, maybe a bit bigger
surrey top
rock sliders?
tuffy boxes?


I do like the 110 conversion idea and wish I could make it work but I can't afford not having it around for months while I do the conversion. Maybe in a few years. What I'm most upset about right now is missing the rally up at Barnwell next week. I guess I could throw new tires on and go 'as-is' but I think I'll pass. I was going to do Moab in September but other things have come up killing that trip too.

[Mike Hippert]

Tony, looks like you have your priorities straight. After fixing the damage I would definitely consider the upgrades you have listed. Rock sliders are a must around me, I would consider them under-body protection.

Get a Tuffy center console but get a couple of Troy's boxes for the back, they hold allot and look good to.

The tires and suspension is totally your preference, if you do allot of on road I think it would be best that you stick to 33s or less. If you put a winch up front and start adding boxes and gear out back then you may want to add HD springs to help compensate.

It's nice if you can pay for everything at once, but its also nice to take things one step at a time so you can get things the way you want without rushing.