Oh the carnage.........

[Diesel Dan]

Hey Guys,



Had a bad day last Friday and thought i would share the story.



Went out to story for some hot dogs for the boys and saw a moving sale sign. Drove about 50yards up a gravel driveway to this house. Parked the truck, letting it idle and put on the parking brake. Got out and went over to the stuff and started to look around. looked back at my truck for a second no problem. Looked back again (Don't know why) and it was gone. It was now rolling backward over the side of this man's hill. *****!!! It went about 50 yards and blew thru a power pole!!!! It was the loudest snap of wood that i have ever heard. It came to rest at the bottom of a ditch with the pole leaning on it. It was still idling. Had to make my down to it to shut it off as it wasn't going anywhere any time soon. I will be adjusting the parking brake as soon as it get's out of the shop. The estimate came in at $7616. 00 This is great as my buddy owns a repair shop and this will cover a new Fabfours rear bumper and i am having the whole truck painted. I love the new Electric blue color so my truck gets a make over. This is my first insurance claim in 30 years of driving so i am pretty lucky. A few pics for the record



DD

 

[BZieg]

Ouch, that sucks. So from the last pic, the back bumper broke the pole?

 

[JohnHaggerty]

How did the 4x4 work getting back up?

 

[JJPage]

Hey Dan,



Sorry to see that happen. I do not believe I could be as calm as you appear to be. That really sucks!



Hope you get your truck back soon, also maybe we will see you at Diesel Thunder this year?



Jess

 

[Diesel Dan]

Bzeig

Yes the bumper broke the pole. It hit axactly where the bumper meets the frame. a little bit left or right and the damage would be much more extensive.



John,

The power company guy said he would move his truck(It was on a shelf about 20 feet up from the truck) I said i was going to try to back out and he looked at me like i was on crack. So i pulled forward a bit and took the trailer hitch off dropped the tire preassure(it was soft ground) and told the power guy to stop traffic on the street. She backed out of there no problem. The power guy was amazed to say the least.



Jess



I think i was in shock and must have appeared to be calm but i was just dumbfounded. It was kinda like watching a Utube video but your truck was the show. the worst part was feeling completly helpless. Unfortuneatly it will take 3-4 weeks to repair but it will be a new color and have a trick new back bumper. I might add a pair of sliver center stripes kinda like a Viper has while i am at it. I hope to do Diesel thunder. What is the date of it this year?



Take care



DD

 

[JJPage]

Bzeig

Yes the bumper broke the pole. It hit axactly where the bumper meets the frame. a little bit left or right and the damage would be much more extensive.



John,

The power company guy said he would move his truck(It was on a shelf about 20 feet up from the truck) I said i was going to try to back out and he looked at me like i was on crack. So i pulled forward a bit and took the trailer hitch off dropped the tire preassure(it was soft ground) and told the power guy to stop traffic on the street. She backed out of there no problem. The power guy was amazed to say the least.



Jess



I think i was in shock and must have appeared to be calm but i was just dumbfounded. Unfortuneatly it will take 3-4 weeks to repair but it will be a new color and have a trick new back bumper. I might add a pair of sliver center stripes kinda like a Viper has while i am at it. I hope to do Diesel thunder. What is the date of it this year?



Take care



DD

I'm not sure of the Date, I know it,s in August, I usually call Josh@Dishman Dodge to find out the time.

 

[Paddy McMahon]

So glad to hear no one was injured or killed in all of this. My last truck did the same thing with a 12k trailer hooked up and me standing behind it-everything ended up in the marsh next to my buddies house, but no damage!

 

[Tomeygun]

It was kinda like watching a Utube video but your truck was the show. the worst part was feeling completly helpless.

Always a crappy feeling watching something happen right in front of you and knowing that you are powerless to stop it - just let it run its course and go find it when it stops.



Glad to see it dod not make it onto that road behind there, could have been really messed up.



Re: the bumper, thats a heck of a pole, I expected more damage



congrats on working in the new fancy bumper, at least you can look back and have some positive

 

[bighammer]

Maybe with no pole or less ditch, it could've ended up in the road and getting T-boned. It sucks, but it could've been much worse. I'm not very trusting of the parking brake anymore.

 

[jelag]

Diesel Dan... . we witnessed almost the same thing here in Spokane by some guy... while the power company (Avista) was pulling the pole away from the truck the guy in with the power company asked for the insurance companies name... as they see this as damage by and insured vehicle... we asked what the bill would be, he said he had no clue... . but often its 3500 - 5000..... keep us in the loop if you have to pay for the pole??

 

[Diesel Dan]

Jelag,

They immediatly upon arrival wanted my insurance info. I will be interested to know the bill for this one. To their credit they had the new pole up and power restored in less than 4 hours.



Bighammer,

It could have been soo much worse. I am definatly counting my blessings. Some child could have been infront of their car parked behind me... .....



Tomeygun,

total thickness of the bumper is less than 1/2 on an inch at the impact spot. A sight to see thats for sure. Doesn't look like any frame damage and the truck drives perfect, thankfully.



Can't wait for the repairs to be done.



I should have the only 03 in Electric blue over silver truck in the world.



DD

 

[ToddK]

Good to know no one was injured. Could have been ugly. I usually have wheel chocks in the bed for times such as this. I have friends that are always giving me grief for it. However, with a std trans and just stopping for a short time and not shutting the engine off, it is a good safety feature. I bet you'll throw a pair in now too!!!

 

[Regcabguy]

ARE shell?

Diesel Dan, glad nobody was hurt. Off the subject,but how's the shell(canopy up your way) working out for you? Has it held up well to offroading? Thanks. Is it an ARE? Especially the rear hatch/lid?

 

[Diesel Dan]

BajaBob,

Yes it is an ARE MX series w/ walk thru door. It is a good quality unit and handled this "incident" quite well. I have been pleased with it function and it handles off roading just fine. The color match from the factory was perfect. The only downside was the price($2350) 4 years ago. My body shop man says it can be repaired so thats a good thing.



DD

 

[corprimo]

My truck just took a short ride itself too. Pulled into Walmart, shut 'er down, put the 6 speed in 1st gear, said "stay" to the dog, and went shopping. Came out a few minutes later and truck is in the middle of a traffic lane kissing up to the back of some Michigan tourists' Dodge Caravan. No one injured, not a scratch on my truck bumper, but oh, the back of that van... Guess I should have said "stay" to the truck!



OK, so the cop who showed up says he's seen this before, engine turns over just enough to slip the transmission out of gear and then away she goes. Anyone heard of this happening before?



I know, I know, use the parking brake, and stomp 'er down firmly.



Don't think I'm going to tell my wife...



Dan in AK

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Wow Dan I just saw this post Glad to hear nobody got hurt and it didn't end up being worse than it was. Good thinking on having a little custom work done while having it repaired, should look great. Would like to take a look at it especially if Diesel Thunder ever materializes this year

Vaughn

 

[Diesel Dan]

Hey Vaughn,

You are correct. Could have been way worse. The truck is going to look trick after i get thru w/ it. Decided against Electric blue and am going w/Surf Blue. This is a PT cruiser color. It is lighter and better looking. I am also doing two Silver stripes down the middle of the truck. Kinda like "Viper" Stripes. Also some custom matching interior work as well. I am dropping of the truck this morning. It will be tough w/o a truck for 3+ weeks. Can i borrow one of yours?????????? JK



I will post pics when it is done.



Take care



DD

 

[MrBee]

A friend of mine had a 3 series BMW rolling backwards down the slope of a steep grocery store parking lot, gaining speed, missed all of the other cars in the parking lot, hopped the curb and diagonally it entered a major intersection, cars swerving and hitting each other but not her BMW, and once through the intersection the car wedged itself firmly between TWO brand new Ferraris.

Nobody hurt, amazing, but serious work to the BMW and the red cars.

 

[icman95]

I don't trust the parking brake for exactly this reason. I have the 6 speed and I truly believe that parking it in gear is what really holds it from moving. My p brake hasn't worked right since the day it was new despite having it adjusted/fixed several times. Even the dealer once told me that "It's a really heavy truck and a really small parking brake. There's not much more we can do. " GREAT! Wheel chock rides in the bed with me everywhere I go and gets used on any hill including my own driveway.



Glad to see it worked out for the best for you and there were no injuries.

 

[GCroyle]

This is the second posting in the last week or two about free rolling down hill trucks, it happened to Anthony Cook at his home also.



Good luck Dan, glad it's just sheet metal, good thing it didn't roll into the road.