At the moment I am finishing my semester at college so exams are top priority. When I finish this week I'll be on break. I'm going to buy a cover for it as well as pull it apart hopefully this weekend.

 

what bothers me is that the strike is in the right front, but the cab is tweaked to the left rear. I don't think the frame could make that much of a move without being obvious to the naked eye. Keep in mind I smacked the back of an 18 wheeler at 30 MPH and my air bags didn't blow and my frame is straight [never got touched, impact was right above right frame rail]. But both of the body mounts for the core support were snapped.

I'm looking at the second to last picture, and it looks like the butt end of the frame rail pierced the bumper. But there should be some mounting bars that would pierce first, so it's hard to say what folded how.

I'd like to say that somehow, all 4 body mounts, or at least 3 of the 4, got snapped. But That's definitely not certain.

 

Tomorrow i will try to get underneath the truck and see what's up. I will take more pictures. If the frame is bent, then i will part the truck out. No sense in wasting money.

Here's how the accident went down:
My mother was the driver. She went on her way home from work. The roads were icy and snow plows have not even came out for the season yet. Was the first snow/ice storm of the year. She went up the bridge and the truck lost control in the rear slid around and hit the concrete median of the bridge wall.

When we initially received the truck from the tow, we could not get it to move. The bumper was pinching the tire. The tow truck guy had to pull on the bumper to get the truck off. Also, i think a factor in what caused the crash was new tires in the front only.

 

So it took a sideways smack to the right front then. Gotcha. You *might* be able to see if the frame is bent, but I'm going to guess that it will have some sort of damage to that right front node. I can vouch that our frame rails can be robust at times and weak at others depending on the hit angle. I believe the rails should be dead straight from the front of the cab forward. I've never measured, but I don't think our frames narrow at the front like some do.

Also, PM sent. (top right corner of the page)

 

First things first, get the frame diagnosed at a reputable body shop. It's okay to preserve the truck, but I wouldn't start buying parts or fixing 'til you know the frame is straight--unless it's badly twisted, it can probably be straightened.

I think I kinda agree with JKeaton, tho, getting the truck fixed is gonna bump right up to or pass the total value of the truck.

 

So it was around 15 degrees here in Indiana and i spent all day trying to pull stuff apart but no luck, couldn't find tools and compressor wouldn't work fully etc. So i did what i could.

Although i'm frozen I feel more at ease

NOW IT RUNS!

Inner fender




This is what i can see of the frame, looks ok?




Whenever I can i will try to look at those cab mounts. I was too busy trying to get the truck off the ground so the tires wouldn't develop flat spots and draining any water from the reservoir.

also, throttle issue

 

Front portion of the frame is definitely bent(where the front mount is) Look around in the paper or on craigslist for a torpedo heater. A must if you are gonna be working out in the cold temps. I have one and it comes in handy I just put it pointed under the truck and I get a nice warm breeze. I know how much it sucks to work on something outside when your hands are freezing cold.

 

I totally see it now. Man, i need new contacts. I was so much in a rush to get things done i haven't really looked at the pictures i took until now. Was busy lifting the truck off the ground and everything else i didn't bother to actually look. Also, i am getting a garage to work in soon.

 

Gerser, if you don't have a copy of the '01 factory service manual you can get it from here:

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...-download.html

It has all the measurements for the frame, so you can get a rough idea of how bad it is.

 

Thanks, I'll have to download it on my other computer, this Chromebook doesn't do well with downloading.