You just got to look around. Might even find something that matches.

https://imageappky.car-part.com/imag...Stock%23%20968

 

I wouldn't worry about matching colors. Paint is cheap, at least the way I do it with a roller is. Even if you don't paint it, mismatched body panels tend to keep people from cutting you off in traffic. I'm afraid I can't help with titles and such as I'm in Indiana and we do things differently. The last car I had that got totaled was TOTALED. A tri-axle coal truck lost his brakes and smeared my car down two blocks of a hill. The engine looked like someone took it out with a hoist but the rest of the cars was little pieces sitting along the road.

 

Alright, I'm inspired by the junkyard links you guys sent me -- Should be able to identify all the metal frame parts I need and pull them cheap once I start disassembly! Probably won't be able to get to a yard until next week but I assume they will come and go as more wrecks happen. Agreed on the bumper, it's a good find to grab one and I assume the body style didn't change so anywhere from 1999 - 2002 would work for my 2001.

I'll PM you guys about the other parts (headlight, radiator cap and neck) if you don't get to me first. Daves69 - I assume I'll need all those parts for a radiator swap and not just the neck? Real mopar is good, just making sure I do this as cheap as possible considering the worth of the vehicle -- I got it converted to a salvage title today. Ack! So the title is officially surrendered, but now insurance can settle with me. Not to mention, PA didn't charge to swap the title. First time I think the state of Pennsylvania in history didn't charge for a service for something. Anything.

This will be a fun experiment, I'm just trying to invest as little as possible into it -- Realizing I have no choice but to buy new on a radiator and AC unit / fan. Hoping all the body components can be from the yard.

Grouch, sorry for your loss, that sounds like a really rough one, hope no one got hurt in that one.

 

It was just a car and no matter how much I like any particular vehicle, they are just metal, glass and rubber. It was parked on a hill. The truck driver got some bruises but that was about it. It was an old police car I bought out west and the insurance company paid me more than I had in it.

 

98-00 and 01-03 had slightly different bumpers. They might bolt up though.

 

thanks for that. I’ll target an 01 to 03 maybe even find a black one not far away. I’ll pull mine first for practice. That was a solid deer! It’s bent into a V almost in the center.

 

Hey folks,

So got a call from the insurance company today, asking me questions about my salvage title. They wanted to know if I was fixing or parting out the car. I told them fixing, but parting out if things go south or get too costly. They said since the salvage title is still in my name, and I did not surrender the "tags" (license plate) at the DMV, I am required by law to keep the Durango as a vehicle on my insurance policy, active, even while it is sitting dead in my garage.

I am in Pennsylvania, and I realize these laws differ state to state, but did I do something wrong? I did see an option when filling out my salvage certificate request for the DMV to basically declare the vehicle for parts only (PA calls it a "nonrepairable certificate"), which maybe was what I should have chosen, though I was trying to keep the maximum windows open for options. In doing so, I may have shot myself in the foot here by needing to pay insurance around $200 annually to keep the Durango on file (I told them to drop the coverage down to nothing since it's not moving anywhere for a while).

Did I mess this up or is this the best I can hope for without having to declare the car unable to be repaired (and I assume as such closing the door on any hopes of it being back out on the road?)

 

Two of the hardest things to do when rebuilding a salvage vehicle is getting it registered and insured again after repairing it. Sounds like you already have both. $200 isn't bad for a year, and is it really gonna take that long to fix?

 

I didn't want to lead you in that direction but that's the answer I was expecting / hoping for. I assumed that since having the vehicle already insured and keeping its license plates on it were two less steps I would need to take if I fix it, and you have confirmed that -- If I'll save cost and hassle on making this happen if I fix it, I agree, $200 for the year (and I am not keeping it a year no way) is worth it.

As for how long, I'm starting the salvage search next week -- First time ever doing anything like this for a car so expect lots of questions and I'll be googling and watching lots of YouTube especially when I get to the radiator. Will share more photos when I remove the bumper too which should provide a better look at any other parts I may need to get other than the obvious. What amazes me is how accurate the estimate of parts that the insurance company supplied to fix was, the guy looked at my truck maybe a minute and he assessed it perfectly -- Unless there's a formula for a deer hit on that make/model that they just pull up and bam. At least it's a guideline of what parts I will have to locate. Going to a salvage yard will be a cool new experience especially if I have to pull the bumper myself -- Which is why I'll pull it on mine first!

 

I hit a deer with our 01 Durango on a road trip about 4-5 years ago. Replaced the radiator in an Oreillys parking lot right at closing 3 hours from home, was driving from (basically an hour south of) Chicago to Houston TX so that my son could check out a tech school he had been interested in. Got home and found a (same color) fender, a grille a headlite in a junkyard and bought a new condenser, put those in. Never even called the insurance.

I hit my 2nd deer in June of this year on way home from work, in my 99 Dakota that I had owned a whole 10 days.... this one had to sit while I acquired parts, again didn't call ins. co, didn't want claim 10 days after buying this "new" truck. again radiator, condenser, grille, BOTH headlights instead of just 1, fan shroud, and not the bumper but the bumper mount brackets. Took the chance then to replace all the original from the factory 20 yo hoses while I was in there. got the bumper brackets rather cheap at of all places, JCWhitney. found a radiator online with built in aux external trans cooler, already plumbed into stock trans cooler within the radiator, cheaper than the std radiator without the extra cooler would have cost me in town. this one didn't have to replace either fender, deer did not touch them.

need to stay away from white Dodge trucks of this series I guess. but then again all I can find lately are white Dodges to buy...… been looking at newer (within 5 years old,) with a conventional cab with 8' bed, have not seen a single one on the lots that isn't white. nother story.

On the Durango, still have it, has been dormant the last 3 years, still rust free with 258K miles (unlike most others, around northern Illinois) been my garage ornament/ long story, rebuilt the engine which went to He11 on me with less than 4 hours of run time due to computer issue, pig rich injectors (which I had sent in and had flushed and rebuilt) and sticking valves, due to too tight valve clearance on a set of BRAND NEW (NOT reman) heads.... #4 exhaust smacked a piston, bent the valve and pushrod.... tehse are the EQ heads. bought brand new and "fully assembled," in Oct 16.
got PO'd at it and left it in the garage and forgot about it til recently..... found a low mile 360 on CL, re gasketed everything , replaced timing chain and freeze plugs, then had those new heads gone thru at machine shop, and swapped out injectors, back up and going again.
I also rebuilt the transmission, and am acquiring suspension parts and add on gauges/ brand new heavy duty rear leaf springs coming, new rear shocks (fronts not that old) and an Energy Suspension front end urethane bushing set..... it was a $40k truck when new, and though not worth anywhere near that anymore, (mine is the SLT Plus with the 360 {5.9}) its the fanciest thing we have ever had/ as far as bells and whistles, my wife loves the thing (I wanted to dump it, except for that) and I don't have the money something newer and "equivalent" to it would cost..... I am allergic to payments. besides being an auto mechanic for a living, and having my own 2 post lift at home, my own labor costs me $0. I ain't worried about "book value," because I ain't interested in selling..... doing this all so that we can continue to have a dependable Durango for years to come. I don't like the newer engines and I would rather have a full frame (personal preference) so that limits me to 03 and down. basically rebuilding the whole truck
Yours is very fixable from what I see, most certainly less than $1000..... I see whole Durangos with bad engine or trans for $500-700, might be an idea to buy one and rob the parts to fix yours, and then recoup some of that by taking the remnants o the scrap yard along with anything off of yours that is junk and made of metal to the scrap yard. maybe advertise some on the other leftovers and actually make a few bucks on the deal.