2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission HIT AND RUN! Man this sucks. Images too.

[Chris N5CWM]

HIT AND RUN! *update-on the road again!

This happened Thursday night / Friday morning. Woke up at 5AM to put the

dogs out in the side yard and noticed my truck was sitting a bit sideways

and back a few feet from where I parked it. Figured I left the parking

brake off but trans in gear and maybe it moved back a bit (manual trans).

It was 5AM and still dark out. Got in truck, and park brake was set.

Got out and closed door which was sticking (never did that before).

Sick feeling started in my gut so I got the flashlight and found this. No

evidence of who or what hit the truck. No witnesses. We never heard a

thing so it must have happened in the early AM hours. There are NO

skidmarks that show that this IDIOT even tried to jam on their brakes.

There are some skids that appear to have been made from the suspect

vehicles rear tires as they tried to back out and get away. My truck was

pushed back FIVE feet due to the impact.

State Farm has been very good so far and my Uninsured coverage is going

to take care of this. Rental car and all for the whole time it's in the shop.



Pretty sickening. :{



I can't wait to get my baby back! I hope the bodyshop does as good a

job as their reputation is. I went by their shop, Tommy's Auto Body in

Conroe, and looked at some of their work. I couldn't even tell what

parts were original and what parts were repaired on any of the vehicles

they had in the shop being finished up.



Here is the link to all the pics I have.



http://n5cwm.dynip.com/images/hitandrun/ram_damage.html

 

[VicR]

bummer - take a walk around the neighborhood and (discretely) check the neighbor's vehicles for accidents. Don't forget to do the police report, just in case you ever find the culprit.



Good luck with the repair.



-Vic

 

[DKarvwnaris]

Doesn't it always seem to happen to be the individual with something worth loosing that gets the luck of stuff like this? This kind of thing infuriates me everytime I hear about it. We have issues like this in our small town all the time as well. I gave up trying to keep a newer rig in the driveway because of it. I spent some money on an alarm system with motion activated cameras at our house last year, it has at least helped us to know who is coming and going near our property. I wish they had one for mobile applications such as in a car, love to see the look on some uninsured low life who gets to see his car bang into another on a vcr at a police station, cops use them, why not us? I bet it isn't too far off with the cowardice of people running more and more these days.

Hope your insurance stands behind you without running your rates up soon after and the truck is left in the same "pre hit" condition after all is said and done. I've yet to be so lucky, (Allstate and AAA both left me with bad results on no faults/ thefts).

 

[Dartman]

Same thing happened to mine in a parking lot while eating lunch. Right rear quater was clipped like someone backed out and hit it with their bumper. just missed my exhaust tip. No note or anything. Couldn't believe it. I couldn't do that with a clear consious (sp). Not near as bad as yours, though. I feel for you. Hope you get the *******. Tony

 

[scotmartin]

Time to upgrade the front bumper.



Scot

 

[Chris N5CWM]

Time to upgrade the front bumper.

My truck was hauled to the bodyshop via rollback truck yesterday. Hopefully it'll be back home in two weeks or less, and all of the door, hood and fender seams all align with no crazy gaps or mismatches. It was tweaked enough that my drivers' door was even misaligned. One of my pet peeves is overspray and I let the manager know that. And not to leave my windows down in a dusty shop for days on end.

The hood and grille didn't get damaged cosmetically but the whole front clip was shifted towards the left/driver's side about one inch. And the right portion of the front clip is shoved back 1/2 inch. The rubber hose connecting the turbocharger to the intercooler is compressed such that they are actually making contact. The whole radiator support is part of the whole clip (fenders, radiator support, etc) that have shifted. The fan is not contacting the radiator but it is hitting the shroud at the bottom portion of the shroud so the front clip is also raised maybe 1/2 inch (the truck received an 'uppercut' type hit since the other vehicle was a bit lower than mine and went under the bumper. )

The rental I have for the duration is a new Dodge Durango. Pretty decent overall but too bad it doesn't have the Hemi in it! :-laf

 

[AKAMAC]

When my Jeep was rear-ended by a hit and run I did a slow drive through the neighborhood looking for damaged vehicles. Found the A-hole that did the deed 3 blocks away.



If you live in a busy area you may be out of luck but it never hurts to look.



Mike

 

[dalton4]

Chris, I can understand your feelings at this time. Anyway, I bet the perp's vehicle now looks like it went to a gun fight carrying a small pocket knife.

 

[Chris N5CWM]

No evidence

Unfortunately there are no paint scuffs from the other vehicle that were left on my bumper. And no broken parts either from that vehicle. What they did leave at the scene were about eight double-headed nails, all shiny and new.

So it most likely was a pickup owned by someone in the construction business. And an empty 16-oz Budweiser can in my driveway. Holding onto the can as evidence in the unlikely event we find a suspect vehicle and need fingerprints.

 

[nfox]

Hit and Run

Hopefully you find who did it and make them pay big time. The third week i had my truck it was parked at home and the next morning i went out to take off and my drivers boxside has a big dent and scratches down the side of box, never did find who did my trucks going in the body shop to get fixed in a couple of weeks. #@$%!

 

[duaneparks]

Seems like it is hard to keep nice things... especially in this area. I have a family member who had her truck hit by some low-life scum who didn't leave a note or anything. Nicest vehicle she's ever owned and someone did that to it.



I realize trucks are only "things" and no one was physically hurt (yet) in your ordeal. However, it gets you where it hurts when people take things from you (like a pristine truck). Good luck getting it fixed.



Custom bumpers are nice, but in a collision such as yours, there may have been more frame damage than you sustained. I have a custom bumper and tweaked my frame a couple years back when a lady impaled her BMW on it. Simply giving you more information to play with.



Duane

 

[Horsepuller]

Well the good news is you are covered with State Farm. They are the best and you should have no problem. Your rates shouldn't go up either since you were not driving and it wasn't your fault. The other bit of good news is that it doesn't look like anything major was damaged or tweaked. So hopefully, everything will get put back together just like before. I was rear ended in my Acura on the freeway, did $14k in damage, all to the rear. But they fixed it up, if I didn't know I was rear-ended I wouldn't have been able to tell. It looks the same and drives just as good. In fact, I had them repair areas where I had major dings and scracthes, so it is better in my opinion. State Farm didn't mess around either and paid out the money pronto.



It is unfortunate to say the least, but it could've been worse. What sucks is that people do this and run like cowards. That is what ticks me off.

 

[JoshPeters]

I have a massive front bumper... I park nose down my driveway. The road I live on has a bit of a curve... and if someone should fall asleep... yup. . they are in my driveway. I have found marks going through my yard (as this may have happened) when I was gone one night. My truck has been hit by a New Vehicle transport 3 times now. First time $4000 in damage to my truck. Next two... . hehe... $1800 in damage to the transport... the other just nudged mine. To bad you didn't have that bumper on your truck. You would have had a "rescue" situation on your hands... . the Perp's vehicle would be stuck!



Sorry to hear about your truck!



Josh

 

[Chris N5CWM]

State Farm

Yes, thankfully it's State Farm. I have been with them since 1982. This is the first major claim that I have had to file in years.

A few months ago I refinanced the house, and they tried really hard to get me to switch to another company. It wasn't even a big-name company! It was some local outfit. Well I knew I smelled a rat then and now I'm glad that I didn't switch. It may be cheaper paying premiums but when it comes time for them to pay up, Joe Blo Insurance would probably not answer my calls.

State Farm has been excellent, and the local manager even gave us his cell phone in case we need to talk to him after hours!



An aftermarket bumper is one thing I've wanted to install for quite some time. The stocker is quite wimpy. But in this situation it was a good thing I didn't have a strong frame mounted bumper. I'm sure the impact would have damaged the frame considerably. My truck was moved 5 feet from the impact! Most of the energy was dissipated from the truck moving and the OEM bumper and supports caving in.

 

[Udaloy]

Chris,



I would make sure you have the transmission checked out. Being in gear and moved five feet isn't good for it. I would also jump at the opportunity you now have for a nice big front bumper. It probably costs the same as the tin bumper DC puts on there as well...

 

[AMink]

I was parked in a Sam's Club lot one VERY:--) windy day. About 50 constant, gusts of 60+. I was out in the far corner of the lot. When I came out, there was a bigggg dent in my passenger side between the rear wheel and cab. Lo and behold, a shopping cart (one of those huge ones) had rolled down the lot pushed by the wind. Had to get a new entire panel! I went into the store and asked them what they would be willing to do about it. Nothing. I know about the "can't be responsible for loose carts", but this was an extreme situation. Even their cart corral had blown over! I wrote a letter and never heard back. Nuts on Sam's Club. I'll go to Costco and spend my many $$. They could have at least covered my deductible with a gift card. $100 to me probably costs them $50. They lost a customer and I tell everyone I know. Good luck finding the bum who crunched your ride.

 

[JZellers]

It's too bad things like that happen and people aren't big enough to fess up, but I am glad so many of you are happy with your State Farm (My employer) coverage...



Keep your premium $$$ rolling in

 

[GAmes]

And an empty 16-oz Budweiser can in my driveway. Holding onto the can as evidence in the unlikely event we find a suspect vehicle and need fingerprints.

Fingerprints do not last forever. I believe you should try to lift them now. Who knows, the guy may have a record and prints on file.

 

[tabell]

Same thing happen to me about 2 years ago. It really sucks. Anyways I was leaving Jack Quinns about two weeks ago, and saw a Jetta push an Explorer into a Metro, then take off. I got the license plate and put my info on there windows. I got a call from there insurance company about two weeks later for may statement. The ins rep told me that the Fxxker was pulled over a couple blocks down the road for a DUI.



Somethings do come around.

 

[DKarvwnaris]

Same thing happen to me about 2 years ago. The ins rep told me that the Fxxker was pulled over a couple blocks down the road for a DUI.



Somethings do come around.

I bet his car was impounded and he was merely charged a "drunk tax" to get it back the folowing week. I have yet to see a court or law that does anything to stop these maggots from screwing up others lives and property that's effective and lasts. No wonder our uninsured motorist rates are so high!!

Sure would be nice if we get DWI/DUI offenders to surrender the vehicle they are driving and auction it off at a victims fund raiser?(even if it is not their own, that would stop friends from lending out their cars to drunks). The proceeds could go to cover the claims of victims and property they destroy. Most states at this point take the cars and fund either a police or state agencies budget, doesn't seem right to me. If they wrecked a squad car or injured an officer, then use the victim's fund for this, but not to buy the mayor a new desk.

I have a real hatred for drunks, but only because I see the damage they cause and then cry they weren't responsible for it.