A few weeks back I was on my way up the mountain to work, when ahead on the other side of the highway there was a major incident (was dark and only saw lights of the emergency vehicles ahead) and traffic on our side was flowing smoothly. Suddenly just as I got close to the incident everyone in front of me slammed on their brakes, and I followed suit coming to a stop a few feet behind the truck in front of me. I looked into my rearview and closed my eyes because it was clear the car behind me was clearly not going to be stopping, she plowed into the back of the TJ and forced me into the back of the truck. Her sedan became quite crinched, and the truck had it's bumper mangled. I looked at those first because I didn't want to look at the TJ (and truth be told my first thought was worry that my fishing rod was broken when it came flying up from in back)
When I looked finally at the jeep I was pleased to see only minor visible damage (at first glance), and looked like the ARB bumpers and spare took the brunt of the impacts (yay ARB!) but the spare tire swing pushed in the tailgate a bit. The tow hitch bit a piece off her front end and was embedded in the hitch hole. One of the front fenders was bent.
To make a long story short it went into the body shop on the dime of the car's insurance, my biggest worry was frame damage but it seemingly shrugged it off. I drove to work after the LEO took statements and all, and noticed that the steering was really stiff, almost like I was driving a car without power steering. Once I got off the highway it was even more stiff at low speed, and it took a bit more turn of the wheel to get it to turn as normal.
So the body shop took it to a local mechanic who they told to give it an alignment. They requested a couple hours diagnosis on the steering issue but the body shop told them to only do the alignment as they feared insurance would not cover something unproven to be a result of the accident. Now I am no stranger to working on my front end, having chased the DW dragon for years, replacing most all of the steering linkage, as well as more recently the bearings, ball joints, and brakes. I think that the steering acting like a manual would have been noticed.
So the body shop told me the alignment is done and would I come down to give a test drive. The moment I pulled out I knew that nothing had changed and it was just as stiff as after the accident, and turned the wheel until the tires started to rub on something. I was turning the wheel a far distance beyond what I was previously able to. The guy at the shop then said they were taking it today to the local jeep dealer service department to get their insight (I honestly have to laugh at that) and see if THEY thought it was accident related and what may be causing it.
I am a bit pissed at this point and plan to call my insurance agent to crack the whip. What recourse would I have if the insurance companies shrug and play notmyproblem? I have Allstate so I am not too worried, and hers is American Family, also not bad.
What do you fine folk think of the issue? Power steering horked?
When I looked finally at the jeep I was pleased to see only minor visible damage (at first glance), and looked like the ARB bumpers and spare took the brunt of the impacts (yay ARB!) but the spare tire swing pushed in the tailgate a bit. The tow hitch bit a piece off her front end and was embedded in the hitch hole. One of the front fenders was bent.
To make a long story short it went into the body shop on the dime of the car's insurance, my biggest worry was frame damage but it seemingly shrugged it off. I drove to work after the LEO took statements and all, and noticed that the steering was really stiff, almost like I was driving a car without power steering. Once I got off the highway it was even more stiff at low speed, and it took a bit more turn of the wheel to get it to turn as normal.
So the body shop took it to a local mechanic who they told to give it an alignment. They requested a couple hours diagnosis on the steering issue but the body shop told them to only do the alignment as they feared insurance would not cover something unproven to be a result of the accident. Now I am no stranger to working on my front end, having chased the DW dragon for years, replacing most all of the steering linkage, as well as more recently the bearings, ball joints, and brakes. I think that the steering acting like a manual would have been noticed.
So the body shop told me the alignment is done and would I come down to give a test drive. The moment I pulled out I knew that nothing had changed and it was just as stiff as after the accident, and turned the wheel until the tires started to rub on something. I was turning the wheel a far distance beyond what I was previously able to. The guy at the shop then said they were taking it today to the local jeep dealer service department to get their insight (I honestly have to laugh at that) and see if THEY thought it was accident related and what may be causing it.
I am a bit pissed at this point and plan to call my insurance agent to crack the whip. What recourse would I have if the insurance companies shrug and play notmyproblem? I have Allstate so I am not too worried, and hers is American Family, also not bad.
What do you fine folk think of the issue? Power steering horked?
