C10 slides offroad at 50+MPH after near collision...

[weq92f]

.

I'm driving along in my classic at 60 on two lane blacktop just miles from home. A white SUV coming toward me on same road turns across my lane at an intersection fairly far still in front so I let off the gas slightly as it makes a U-turn on the side of the road there as if it's going to follow me after I pass... but too late I realize the thing is not stopping and I have very few options. The SUV came right back into my lane and was impossibly close as I jerked the wheel left to avoid the T-bone of Orange into White that was about to happen. Somehow I missed the SUV but I was sideways on the road headed off road and there was a nasty little dip in the turf that was just going to have to get driven right over. I really thought the truck was going to flip or break or something but no....it just took the hit and I slid sideways to a stop in an empty field.

I missed the road sign and the little sign stuck into the turf by just enough but you can see where the front end of my truck took out a large swath of dirt, mud and sod after it went down into the depression and hit the rising berm on the other side.

We got it on the lift today to assess damage that we didn't already know about. There are no smoking guns, no broken bits or obviously bent suspension parts however the front bumper took a hard enough hit to bend it around the frame horns in two spots. It's obvious from the deposits of earth that the bumper, lower swing arms, engine cradle, sway bar and sway bar frame mounts all made contact with the ground. Note also that both front tires made contact with the top of the inner wheel well (see pic of passenger side) and the bump stops both hit their targets hard (passenger bump stop is damaged from the impact).

Most of the impact force got applied to the passenger front corner as it went down into the ditch first and bottomed out first. I don't know whether the front wheels were turned into the slide at impact or whether they were not but the passenger front wheel had rocks embedded between the wheel and the sealing bead surface of the tire. That tire was not repairable.

What I'm left with is a massive negative camber passenger front now. When I grab the passenger wheel at 12 and 6 O'clock and jerk it in that plane, I find there's a bit of slop in there. That slop is in the bearing rather that the ball joint or a-arm bushing.

Where could this negative camber have come from given all the above. I need to find a way to document what problems were introduced by this little forced off-road adventure. There's going to be insurance agents and repair shops involved I'm sure at least in the initial phases of diagnosis and cost estimates and such.

I've not made contact with anyone yet regarding this as I'm not sure exactly how to approach damage assessment. What are your thoughts?

Options as I see them at this point:

1) drop it at an alignment shop and have them tell me if it is still within tolerable adjustment thresholds to make it right again.

2) find a shop willing to put it on an alignment table or frame table. I've spoken in past with frame folk and none of them were interested in working on anything this old

3) allow an adjuster to look at it

4) ??


Thanks guys/gals,

-Kevin