Matt Saunoras Posted December 14, 2013 Share Posted December 14, 2013 So as I may have mentioned I was in Buffalo for 3 days for my advanced electronics classroom. For anyone who is not familar with Buffalo in what I would consider "might as well be winter" I don't recommend it. Being from Pittsburgh I am quite accustomed to snow but perhaps not as much as someone who lives on the shore downwind from a massive body of water. Not only have I been volunteered to attend a class 200+ miles away from home but I am to do so at the worst possible time (our other guy went up in May). For those of you who have watched the weather channel I am sure you have heard the term lake effect snow. I had heard of it, snow is snow, right? Aside from the worst drive I have ever experienced in my life I made it from Pittsburgh to Buffalo in 4 hours. As soon as I hit the lake it was a wall of snow that didn't stop for most of 3 days. Putted around town til today and never pulled it out of 4wd the whole time. Everything was fine, Buffalo is flat as can be, not like the treacherous hills of PGH. I could even see pavement today when I was leaving so I assumed conditions were improving to near normal levels. Turned my manual hubs out and proceeded down I-90 west. Big mistake on my part. I wasn't on the interstate for a half hour before it got really fucking shitty... for a lack of better terms. So in the end I wiped the truck out, lost the back end going about 40-45mph down a very slight down grade. Fish tailed 2 or 3 times before I was 90° on the highway headed for a ditch. Went down in, back out and into a tree. Jumped out of the truck because once I hit the snow I couldn't see anything. No one else lost it luckily as I was in quite a bit of traffic. I managed to back down into the ditch and turn myself back in the right direction but I wasn't going anywhere, the highway was at my roof line. I wasn't there for 2 minutes and a guy showed up in an Escape with a beacon light flashing on the top, he said a tow truck was on its way(he also said "I know you think you can get out but that's not happening"), They literally drive up and down I-90 winching people out. A minute after he left a state cop showed up and took down the accident info. Once he determined I was okay he had to attend to several other accidents a few miles west. The tow truck winched me onto the highway and the guy had me follow him to the next accident where he processed both at the same time. I drove the truck 3 more hours home and it seems like nothing more than cosmetic damage. I guess I'm lucky to have made it out in the shape I did although I can't help but feel like this could have been avoided. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Posted December 14, 2013 Share Posted December 14, 2013 Do it yourself, I betcha insurance will try and write it off. Glad you didn't get hurt. Trucks can be fixed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Saunoras Posted December 14, 2013 Author Share Posted December 14, 2013 I think I could do it myself, it's really just the bumper, grille and it severed my block heater wiring. It wasn't leaking any fluids or I wouldn't have drove it home so the damage isn't that deep. I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet, I will still report it to the insurance company tomorrow and they'll most likely have me get an estimate. Somehow I couldn't have been going very fast when I hit that tree because it was a head on hit and I really didn't feel anything. I think the deep snow in the ditch had a lot to do with slowing me down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Browning Posted December 14, 2013 Share Posted December 14, 2013 Wow dude that sucks! Glad you are okay and your truck does not look too bad. Could have been worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Saunoras Posted December 15, 2013 Author Share Posted December 15, 2013 I believe I'm going to have to hand it over to the body shop next week. It's a little bit worse than I first noticed. The front plate for the bumper support bracket is bent in a little bit on the right side. This being welded to the frame leaves me wondering how a piece like this is repaired. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 They'll cut it off and re weld it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Warman Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 The bumper mounting flange is a serviced item as far as I can remember. I replaced one a few years back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mchan68 Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 The front plate for the bumper support bracket is bent in a little bit on the right side. This being welded to the frame leaves me wondering how a piece like this is repaired. Frame replacement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Saunoras Posted December 16, 2013 Author Share Posted December 16, 2013 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Browning Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 There there Matt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Clayton Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 The front frame section is serviceable and is riveted together behind the spring perches. This was always one of Chevrolets competing ads, they would say there frame is complete from front to back and thus stronger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Warman Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 This is out of 2006 parts manual. Left side bracket is 17C886. If it's just the flange that's bent, this is the way to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Saunoras Posted December 17, 2013 Author Share Posted December 17, 2013 Jim, that's definitely it. The right side is probably the same just flipped over Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Saunoras Posted January 19, 2014 Author Share Posted January 19, 2014 Well here is the end of this story. And the new story of how I got a lariat chrome package grille. For some reason the body guy we use at the shop does not order parts off of us. He can get a better deal at a competing dealer (go figure ). So my truck was in the shop for 3 days and the guy stops down to tell me the dealer ordered the wrong grille but it was the parts guys fuck up and they'll give him the lariat grille for the price of the regular one. I said go ahead and put it on and I'll see if I like it or not. So far I think it's a keeper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Hell yeah!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselD Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 That is my favorite grill, I aquired one a while back that I was going to install on my truck if I ever did the 05 update conversion, I ended up keeping the truck as it was Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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