A tree came down in the yard last night right on my 05 ram. The Tailgate needs to be replaced, quarter panel has a huge dent near tailgate, rear cab is dented in above rear window, some scrapes on paint, actual bed is dented inside from what I can tell as of now and my sports master frame for the cover is all messed up which I doubt they will cover since its custom part. I don't wanna get screwed by the adjuster so I was wondering if anything else could be wrong with the truck? the tree crashed right down on the rear part of the truck just denting the cab slightly. I know these trucks can handle a big pay load but should I be worried about any internal damage like suspension, etc? Thanks

Nick


DSC01974 by NEC Photography, on Flickr


DSC01965 by NEC Photography, on Flickr

 

doh!! sorry man

 

where are you located? we had a terrible storm last night near elk river, mn
sorry to hear about your ram. just make sure you double check all your suspension components.

 

Sorry to hear that.

How much weight landed on you truck. I'm thinking springs, axle, that kind of thing if it's really heavy.

 

SUCKS....I would be getting a quotes from trust worthy auto-body shops. Mention that you are concerned about hidden damage....they will check it out for you and have no reason to lie that there isn't...but get more than one quote! Keeps the honest, honest!

 

damn. That does suck. Sorry to hear about the damage.

 

The bed is bashed in really bad where you can see the support beam outline through the metal in the bed. I wonder how this will fix that?

 

A new bed would be nice. Maybe you could try to get a nice used one covered somehow.

 

Yeah, im sure the adjuster will try and work around that ):

 

I would be worried about twist within the frame. That's a solid hardwood tree and even if there was only 1,000lbs that is standing on the truck, you need to multiply that by atleast 10 due to the falling motion of it as well as the snap because it's right at the end that does the most damage. Sure you could pick up an 80lb bag of cement mix, now catch it when someone drops it off a roof. I can see there are other branches that sorta look like they cushioned the fall a bit??? Hard to see with just the pics you gave.
If the side of your bed is damaged at all, chances are they will replace the whole thing depending on how much damage.

I would ask the adjuster how they figure out if the wheelbearings or axles and leafsprings/shocks have endured enough stress to be replaced because they cannot possibly tell by looking at the truck the way it sits.

Also, you don't have to accept the amount the adjuster gives. You could get his figure and match it with a few diff. body shops of your choice. Last thing I would want is bondo all down the side of my bed with that sorta damage. i would rather spend a little more money out of pocket and get a good used bed.