See thats the thing is nobody needs to know that, because the damage was never claimed. The driver was drunk and destroyed it. There ARE people down here that will pay that for these trucks. And selling the parts isn't an option anyway as this is an awesome learning experience either way, whether or not he sells it.

No salvage title, clean title. Damage was never claimed because the driver was drunk. Either way, he doesn't think he's gunna sell it. We will see what happens when more money comes in and we can resume the process. This project, short of a drivetrain rebuild, is gunna be done properly all the way through. My buddy won't settle for less when it comes to this kind of thing. The body has absolutely no rust, and the new frame thats going under it is clean, very little surface rust (just enough to blend in haha). you won't be able to tell that there was ever any damage.

All in all, the project is just to learn. Be it he keeps it, or sells it, he will still come out with a profit on it. But I can almost guarantee that he will get what he asks if he decides to sell

 

UPDATE:

We got the second truck! The first day, we picked it up, hauled it home and winched it into the garage with our newly purchased 3000lbs winch for 70 bux! Stripped the frame of its wiring, pulled the motor, trans, transfer case and rear driveshaft (front was already removed) in less that 24hrs. After everything was out, we pulled the body mounts, took 2 floor jacks on each side in the front on top of milk crates, lifted the front of the body, slid 2 8 to 10 foot pieces of 2x4 in between the body and frame, lowered the body back down and did the same to the rear. With the body lifted, we pushed the truck out of the garage, out and into the outside parking spot (This was all done before the 24hr mark of picking the second truck up!). The next day, my buddy put cardboard under the truck, lifted it and took the tires off, dropped it down on the bare rotors, lifted the body off and rolled the frame out from underneath. The body is actually sitting outside on milk crates right now! Once the body was off, he put the tires back on and pushed the frame into the garage. Later that day, we borrowed the trailer we used to pick up the two trucks, loaded up the frame and took it to a wand wash where we washed the frame down. Today, I worked on taking the wheel bearing, rotor, caliper and protection shield thing off the smashed frame and put just the bad wheel bearing back on with the wheel. My buddy worked on painting the frame. We tried to get parts for the motor (Oil pan gasket, rear main seal, tranny output shaft seal, front diff output seal, and tranny filter kit) but only came out with a tranny filter kit. No parts in stock for this truck, nor were the warehouses open. We will get all that done tomorrow, and by this time tomorrow, I wont be surprised if we have the front end re-assembled, the good motor, tranny and transfer case all installed. We will see tho.

Pics will be coming soon! Didn't get any pics of the tear down of the second truck, it all went too fast, but I will be getting pics of the bare frame, and from this point forward!

 

Reading this and the op even remotely considering selling the vehicle and not willing to disclose the damage etc screams fraud to me.

 

please do explain to me how this is fraud? the damage is FIXED, the truck runs and drives STRAIGHT. The vehicle is FULLY safetied. The repair has been reported to the insurance company. The frame has been re-stamped. Now how is that fraud?? all they have to do is run the VIN to find out about the frame swap, which any KNOWLEDGEABLE purchaser would do!

Now, on to the update:

Well, didn't manage to get pics of the bare frame either.. Phone was dead BUT, I do have some bad pics of the body 3 milk crates high in the air in the garage, with the good frame under it!

The view of the front passenger side up in the air!


The view of the front driver side up in the air!


And this is the rear driver side in the air!


These are the only pics I have. As of Midnight the other night, the truck was running. As of 3pm ish yesterday, the truck was out of the garage under its own power. All thats left is to put the hood back on, put the plastic wheel well fender things back in, vacuum and clean the interior, and dispose of the garbage frame and body! Took it for a little drive up the back lane yesterday, taking it for a longer drive today to do the final test. Truck is driving straight!!! A little bit of rub on the tires, but thats because the plastic fender "flares" were loose and hitting the tire. That problem already got fixed too! But after all said and done, I now have a new found respect for milk crates! 4 of them, 1 in each corner, supported the bad body for 2 weeks now in the cold. The milk crates also supported the good body when we had it 3 high in the air! We only broke one milk crate, and that was while dropping the good body back down, my buddy didnt compensate for movement, and didnt have the jack set up right, so there was too much pressure on one corner of the milk crate, it stated to crack, then let go, and took my jack down with it! Scary stuff, but glad its done, and the truck runs! I will take pics of the finished product either today or tomorrow after we wash it!!

 

And more so to ccthomp:

I did not once say we were for sure selling it. Once we got a good way through it, we decided, why sell something we know like the back of our hands? We could fix this, and any Durango, with our eyes shut now!

And also, why would we take pics of everything if we were just going to hide it in the future if we decided to sell it? If we were gunna do something like that for sure, the only pics we woulda taken woulda been in our heads!

 

I'm sure glad it's you and not me working on this Durango......

 

Reread what was said. Actually I'll I will break it down for you.

1) You keep referring that since it was a drunk who crashed no need to report damage. Car in accident resulted in major damage, accident unreported truck fixed by owners sells truck does not tell buyer was in accident sonething fails on saidbtruck due to said accident resulting in major injuries or a fatality. Good case for fraud since seller withheld information about accident.

2) Taking the body off of one truck and putting it on another in most places does constitute a "salvage" title. Regardless if a insurance company signed off on it as being "safe"

3) Don't expect average Joe to run the VIN to check out things especially since a seller has a moral if not legal obligation to disclose information.

I have and would walk from a good deal on any vehicle if the seller withheld any information. At no time did I say you were going to sell said vehicle. I said the fact you had considered selling it and believe that you feel you were not required to tell anyone about the accident smells like fraud. Here in the US its a sure way to find yourself with a civil suit.

 

The damage WAS reported as the truck was found by the cops with the driver still in it. These were the owners BEFORE us. The insurance company CHOSE not to cover it. What the insurance company did with the information of the crash, is beyond us. We merely fixed it, put it through its proper inspections, and got it on the road LEGALLY. It went through body integrity, safety, and a frame re-stamp. It received a "Rebuilt" title after all was said and done. And since it was never officially written off, we were told it is still worth pretty close to it's original value. However we have chosen to keep it. Its an awesome truck. Plus we can take it apart and put it back together in our sleep. And we have a parts truck. The only way its gunna be gone is if it gets written off! Here is a side shot of the finished product:

 

1. Actually you are not qualified to to re-establish the integrity and safety of this vehicle, however you did title it correctly.

2. ccthomp<--- Because he titled it as a "rebuilt" or "Salvaged" title he has done the right thing. It will never be the same a the original as far as value, none-the-less, he licensed it correctly and therefore willfully disclosed all information needed by law.

3. It doesn't matter if it was written off or not, it was rebuilt and was licensed as such. He did the correct thing as far as I can see.

 

Not arguing the rebuild at all was just pointing out something that perked my radar is all. And there was information left out from the original posting. As long as the vehicle is legally registered and titled no worries. And Hydra you're right the salvaged title will affect the value of the vehicle.