dp96zj's Maintenance Thread

[jfowlzj95]

Looks like you poured some canned Shiner in to it too.

[jfowlzj95]

Well, I *did* have a muffler on there. The muffler and that nasty tail-pipe were just to get it inspected. It's all off now though

It's that time of year again, this time with a few modifications.

[Jeep Whore]

Nice curb feeler!

[ZJ4.Slow]

How much HP did you get out of that mod? hahaha

[dp96zj]

.
drunk drivers.

[biggoofy]

Care to elaborate?

[MoonWorks]

Damn man...hate to see it. You ok I assume?

[redneckrollercoaster]

Damn it, man! The judge should make that ASSHAT read and memorize your whole thread to fully understand just how much work he just destroyed. That sucks man, hope you're ok though!

[IndyZJ]

It appears that he was T-boned by a drunk driver edit - intended for biggoofy

Glad you're alive to tell us about it. Assuming he/ she had insurance, be sure to buy it back and get your parts off of it. Buyback is 10% of what insurance offers (in my state, anyway), which will probably be less than $300. Tear off anything usable - it looks like you have quite a bit that will come off pretty easily - and scrap the rest for ~$300.

[rodd88]

Fudge packing headquarters!!!!! Man! Im so sorry bro!

[jfowlzj95]

I'm sure David will give more details later, but I'll kinda fill you guys in. From what he's told me he got hit by a drunk a few nights ago. He's ok, just has a sore shoulder I think. I haven't seen the Jeep in person but it's pretty much totaled. He said both driver side doors are pretty much fooked, the front will not close obviously, same with the don-a-vee and I think the hatch. He also said the hit cracked the center console and the track bar mount sheared off the frame shifting everything to the passenger side. But from what he can tell he thinks the suspension/drivetrain is still ok and the driver front tire/wheel took no damage. So all that will still be salvageable.

Glad you're alive to tell us about it. Assuming he/she had insurance, be sure to buy it back and get your parts off of it. Buyback is 10% of what insurance offers (in my state, anyway), which will probably be less than $300. Tear off anything usable - it looks like you have quite a bit that will come off pretty easily - and scrap the rest for ~$300.

I think that's what he's planning. Depending on insurance, he's gonna remove everything that's still good and then scrap the rest.

But anyway, again glad you're ok David and sorry to see this happen. Now lets tow this thing back to Houston and build you another Jeep haha.

[dp96zj]

Yeah, I was T-boned by a drunk driver on Sunday morning around 2am. The guy who hit me was 24, drunk, speeding, and going the wrong way on a one-way street. He was doing over 40 in a 25mph zone and hit the drivers' side of my Jeep as I was trying to cross the street. The impact partially tore a ligament in my left shoulder, which sucks because I (almost) just finished recovering from a torn thumb ligament that I got from working on the Jeep in December.

The kid was arrested for DWI, going the wrong way on a one-way street, and driving with expired insurance. Yeah, his insurance was expired, so who knows if I'll get any money out of it. As of now, jfowlzj95 just finished helping me tow it to my folks' house, where it'll sit until the insurance (hopefully) writes me a check. The initial plan was to completely strip the Jeep and scrap the body. But I'll probably end up taking the tires/wheels off and whatever else is easy to pull off, and scrap the rest.

The impact bent both the LCA mounts on the front-driver LCA, so I'm guessing that LCA is screwed, which will make disassembly a pain in the ass and the short-arms significantly less valuable. The caliper bolts sheared, engine is seized, frame is tweaked, trackbar bracket sheared, tie-rods/ball joints are done, body damage everywhere, etc. The Jeep's definitely totaled, and I don't really have the resources/patience to haul away a non-rolling vehicle. So if I can find some cheap wheels/tires and just save my 33's and steelies (and whatever else is easily removable), that might be the path that I take. I just need to wait a few days and think about it with a clear head, because right now I'm just too pissed off about it. Who knows what I'll do at this point, it's a shitty situation overall and the kid who hit me/my GF will probably get just off with a fine, and daddy will buy him another Mercedes

[IndyZJ]

Shit man. It pisses me off to no end when people can be so reckless and irresponsible. The good news you guys survived without anything life-threatening by the sound of things. I don't think the same could be said if you had been putting around in an econobox.

Be sure to make your insurance go after the guy and his insurance company for damages. That is what you pay them for. Do not count on someone else's insurance company to come through for you in any case - been there done that.

[dp96zj]

The good news you guys survived without anything life-threatening by the sound of things. I don't think the same could be said if you had been putting around in an econobox.

Thanks Indy, that's exactly how I feel. If we were in my GF's car or a non-lifted ZJ, it would've been MUCH worse.

Be sure to make your insurance go after the guy and his insurance company for damages. That is what you pay them for. Do not count on someone else's insurance company to come through for you in any case - been there done that.

Since I only have liability coverage on the Jeep, my insurance company has been less than helpful. I'm already in the hole about $500 in Jeep-related costs (towing/storage at towing facility/U-haul/gas) and from my talks with my insurance company so far, I doubt they'll cover anything other than medical expenses. I highly doubt they'll go after him, since his insurance was expired; basically he was driving around without insurance.

My insurance company sent a lady out today to take pictures of the Jeep, her opinion was similar. She said that, since I only have liability (and the other guy doesn't have insurance), her best guess is that I won't be getting a cent from the wreck, and that my most profitable option will be to part out the ZJ, which I will probably begin doing shortly.

[dp96zj]

I've started pulling stuff off. Tires and wheels have been removed, I threw on some rollers in the mean time. Plan is to part it out, most likely. I'll be stepping into WJ territory with the next vehicle, and will be starting all over again...

[rodd88]

Man, I'm so sorry dude

[Brad S]

Wow, that is no good... Sorry to hear all this!

[ELLLLLIOTTTTT]

RIP my front driveshaft.

[fpkites]

Sucks to hear bro - glad you're okay though...kinda

If you're looking for a home for the coils, let me know...

[dp96zj]

Thanks guys. As an update, I gave the Jeep to a guy from a local forum who's going to take it apart further. It sucked seeing it in the driveway, lots of memories and money down the drain. It's kind of nice to have it gone, to be honest. Loading it up to put it out to pasture:






Anyway, I've moved on to a new(er) Jeep. About a month ago I bought this:



It's an '02 WJ Limited 4.7HO 4x4 with 73,000 miles. It's in pretty damn good shape, and will be a good base for the next project. Not to mention it's 100,000 miles less than the ZJ had.

It all works out I guess, because I just graduated and am commuting long distances to work, which would've sucked in the lifted ZJ.

RIP my front driveshaft.

....Actually, I've still got it. I rebuilt it about 4 months before the Jeep wrecked and never installed it, so now I'm looking to pass it on to a third owner

Sucks to hear bro - glad you're okay though...kinda

If you're looking for a home for the coils, let me know...

I'll keep you in mind. Like I mentioned, I gave the Jeep to a guy who's going to store it until we can take it apart further, then the coils/trackbars/arms/etc will be up for grabs.

[jfowlzj95]

Again, it sucks to see this project end. Guess I can now retire the custom exhaust pipe we made to pass inspection.

BTW, how much trouble was it loading it onto a trailer again? Or did he come better prepared haha.

[ajmorell]

Sucks man, but the WJ looks pretty nice.

[ZJ24]

Just read your whole build thread and then found that. That really sucks but at least your okay. Can't wait to see the WJ build

[dp96zj]

It was much easier loading the trailer up this time, it had a lower (angled) deck and he had a come-along. Not to mention, I had stock-width tires that were fully inflated, so it was on the trailer in 1/2 hour

Hopefully I'll begin lifting the WJ this fall. I'm not going to the extreme with it... if I want a wheeler I'll start with a better base vehicle.