Recently got into a accident and wanted to access damage. Steering box smacked into PS pump and cracked bracket. My main concern is the steering box isn't straight anymore. What should I be looking out for?

2001 dodge ram van 1500 conversion van 5.2

 

Did you get hit from the side on the drivers side of the van? If so, may have bent the frame in towards the center of van. You need a closer inspection of the damaged area.

 

You should be replacing the broken parts.

 

Need to replace the broken stuff, then put it on an alignment rack, and see how badly things got bent. Given the steering box broke that bracket, I would expect that the frame is indeed bent, and the van is likely totalled.

 

Accident was front end mostly on driver corner. Bumper looks worse then it is. Firemen pinched it so it wasn't on tire.

The frame damage it what I am worried about don't want to start to fix then find that out. Guess I'll be taking apart this weekend and checking.

should I pick up a Haynes or are the vans pretty straight forward

 

there are better resources than Haynes. the Haynes manuals might have 1 decent purpose.... tear the pages out, crumple them, put in a metal garbage can and throw a match at the can. might warm you a bit while working on your van,
one thing I notice kills most of those vans around here//// RUST look at bumper brackets (the angled ones at body end) and look at subframe GOOD along inside surface along and behind the steering box for rust perforation, same place on other side (of course no steering box on passenger side, duh) all the way to back of doghouse area...... what you find after looking at this will go a long way towards deciding whether worth fixing. I had a couple of these vans in the 90s (80s models) and loved them. I miss mine. A "mini"van does not compare, I will not own one of those.

 

Old couple before me took good care of it. Only rust is in the rain wells on roof or whatever they are called

 

Strip the bent parts off the front end and you will see where it's bent. I could fix that myself, even pull the frame back out in my back yard for a close enough. Junk yard parts and you're back in business. It doesn't look that bad.

 

I am sorry for you guys. I got myself into a car accident too, so I understand your struggle. Does the insurance company cover this? By the way I want to ask you something. Did anyone use a lawyer that specifies in car accidents? I heard about this from a friend of mine, and the idea seems interesting. I even found an article about these services, but I wanted to hear your opinion about this. In case someone knows anything about this, I would be grateful, if you will help me with some information.