Truck crash repair

Maintenance/Repairs
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1

Recently, while the family & I were all sleeping soundly, we were awakened at 2am by the sound of a car crash. Unfortunately someone had driven their car into the rear of my 2008 Tundra parked in front of our home. Fortunately, no one was injured. The collision consisted of the the driver’s side rear of my parked truck being impacted by the front passenger side of the moving vehicle at 35-40 mph. I recently visited the collision repair shop to view the carnage. Initial estimate for all repairs is totaling less than 60% of the vehicle value, so the truck will not be written as a total loss, and repairs made. There is the typical body damage, which I am confident the body shop can successfully repair. However it is the drive train/suspension damage that I am not knowledgeable enough to ask the right questions about, and have peace of mind that repairs will be lasting and reliable. A description of the impact and visible damage follows, along with repairs the shop has listed so far, and some questions on each. I would be grateful for comments on additional items I should ask the shop to effect.

  1. Moving vehicle was low profile, so it drove under truck bumper, impacting drivers side real wheel, and pushing it forward, breaking axle free from springs. Tundra was not driveable after this.
  2. Left & right rear springs & left shock will have to be replaced.
  3. Drive shaft to be sent for balance check.
  4. Upon visual inspection, shop says rear axle is straight, but has to be remounted to frame.
  5. Frame has no visible creases. Shop says it is only minimally out of alignment (couple mm) and can be tweaked back into place.
  6. Replace carrier bearing (what is this?)
    So sorry for the lengthy post - any insight into these types of repairs and what to request shop to check in addition would be most appreciated. For instance what about the transmission?
2

Engine and transmission mounts have to be checked. I once was rearended and the force drove the engine foward and the fan into the radiator. That car had fairly flexible engine mounts.

All, suspension mounts should also be checked. Good repair shops know how to do that.

3

The only thing I would question is the rear axle. I would think it would be bent. It may not show till its back in the truck. I would not worry about the trans as it sounds like it on more of angle than a strait hit. The should be fine after the work is done. A few mm out in truck frame is no big deal. As for the axle, I had a Chevy truck hit like this and after it done we found a bent axle. The flange was bent ( thats were the rim bolts to) .It show up in the test drive. Housing was ok.

4

I would be a bit antsy over this. An impact like that can easily damage the driveshaft, driveshaft U-joints, the carrier bearing (supports the driveshaft), the transmission, and even the differential itself. Some potential problems may not be known until after the repairs are completed and some may not show up for months or even years.