Roof repair advice needed on rolled Durango

[cjohnson]

Hello everyone.
I bought a nice little Dodge Durango on ebay that needed a trans last week. I was going to replace the trans and let my daugther drive it. Unfortunatly while trailering it home I had an accident and the trailer and Durango rolled. I feel sick about it but I guess stuff happens. I'm OK and my tow vehicle is OK so I'm greatful for that. The Durango rolled onto the right side causing the front of the roof near the windshield to shift towards the left about an inch. The other damage is mainly cosmetic. My question is can a bodyshop pull the roof back to it's proper place? Any guesstamates on what it would cost? I guess my other option is to use it for parts but I would kind of like to fix it since I wrecked it. Thanks.

[Phil V]

We really need a couple pictures to get an idea of the extent of the damage.

[cjohnson]

I'll post some pictures tonight. You might want to shield your eyes. It's a horrible sight

[cjohnson]

http://www.nmia.com/~cjohnson/Durango1.JPG
http://www.nmia.com/~cjohnson/Durango2.JPG
http://www.nmia.com/~cjohnson/Durango3.JPG
http://www.nmia.com/~cjohnson/Durango4.JPG
http://www.nmia.com/~cjohnson/Durango5.JPG

The main areas I'm concerned about is the roof above the front passeger door and above the quarter window. The roof has shifted to the left causing the driver side doors to not close properly. They both hit the weather stripping at the very top of the window frame about an inch before the rest of the door. Is it possible to pull the roof back in place? Anyone care to take make a WAG at how much it would cost? Thanks.

[Phil V]

Monetarily it looks like a parts truck. There is no reasonable way to repair the existing roof, it should be cut off and a suitable replacement top from a donor vehicle should be grafted on = $3,000 - $5,000 parts and labor. That would include only the top, not the doors, fender, quarter panel, rear hatch.

[88GT]

I agree. Looks like a total. Ther is alot more to it than simply pulling the roof over. Hate to see this though. Terrible loss. I hope you got it for a steal.

[AutobodyCAD]

My dad had a trailer full of logs roll while going down the highway a month or two back. It started squirming on him while going downhill, and as he corrected it, it jacknifed and then became uncontrollable. It totaled the trailer, but amazingly, the logs staid strapped to the trailer as it flipped a couple times. The truck's LH bed panel got tore up, but that's about all it sustained.

Nobody hurt, just stuff. My dad got a ticket - for improper lane usage.

[cjohnson]

Thanks. I was afraid the roof was going to be a problem. I do a lot of body work so the doors, fender and quarter panel I knew I could fix myself. Before I attempted the "redneck frame machine" on the roof I thought I would ask the experts. For those of you unfamiliar with that piece of equipment it is an old pickup, a strong chain, and a running start Occasionally it does more harm than good but it doesn't sound like I have much to lose. Actually I'll most likely sell it for parts like most of you mentioned. I have too many cars to fix as it is.

[jhowell]

I have a few questions. Does that trailer have brakes? Does your hitch have weight distribution bars? What's the weight rating on that trailer? That looks like a current generation F-150 so I'm not going to question its abilities. The reason I'm asking the other questions is because I know that's a "load-trail" brand trailer and I'm wondering how you got into your accident.

In many cases, whenever you're towing, the objects being towed are covered under the tow vehicle's insurance policy. It may be worth it to talk to them and see what the chances are of getting some money out of this.

[Len]

While your roof is damaged more severly and the repair will be more complicated, the replacement can be pretty much the same as the one I did on the rusted Ford truck roof below. Notice we cut the posts then sleeved them so that they have a backing strip and can be adjusted to a perfect fit.

Rusted too bad to repair.


Replacement


Repair and paint replacement roof.


Cut to proper length, punch holes and insert sleeve.

[Len]

Roof is ready to install.



New roof is looking good and is lifted into place.


Posts are welded then ground and ready for filler and painting.

[cjohnson]

Len
Thanks for the pictures of the re-roof. I may attempt it if I get some of my other projects done.

jhowell
The trailer does have brakes on the rear axle. I noticed this when I repaired a flat before my trip. I noticed there wasn't any wiring for them from the axle backing plates to the trailer tongue. I thought for a moment about quickly wiring them up. I sure wish I had. I don’t have an equalizer hitch either.

My truck is an F350 powerstroke crewcab 4x4. I thought it out weighed the trailer/Durango enough but it seems it may have been marginal.

The accident happened Sat near Clinton OK. I had been pulling the Durango for about 3 hours at about 70 MPH with no problems. The wind was really bad and occasionally there were some pretty bad gusts. I came over a hill and while descending the other side a huge gust caught me. It started everything into an oscillation. This is where the trailer brakes would have come in handy. There is a school of thought that if you gradually accelerate you will pull out of it. This is what I tried and it just kept getting worse. I think this was a mistake. The other school of thought is to gentle slow down which I started doing and it made the oscillations much much worse but at least I was going slower. At this point I’m doing about 50 and fishtailing across both lanes of the freeway. I think I almost have it under control when the last oscillation whips me all the way around into the median and I’m facing the opposite direction I was traveling. As I was skidding across the freeway I feel a large bump. One lane of the road had recently been paved leaving it about 4” taller than the other side. I think catching this edge is what caused the trailer and Durango to roll. The tow truck driver said his boss has been getting rich of that section of road. After I get the trailer and Durango flipped back over and a new coupler welded on the trailer I continued on. In the next 2 hours I see 5 semi’s blown into the median. After I get home I see on the news the wind was gusting to 100MPH in that area.

I had thought about filing a claim but I decided against it. The reason I got the Durango is because my daughter’s car had been stolen about a month before and we filed a claim. I worried that Geico would jack my rates if I made another claim so soon. Probably the deciding factor was I made several mistakes along the way that caused the accident. Number one is I think I was going too fast. Number two was speeding up to get out of the oscillation. Number three was not having hooked up the trailer brakes. Granted the wind and the paved lane pushed me over the edge but if I was going slower I wouldn’t have been so close to the edge to begin with. I think I’ll only be out about a $1000 bucks when it’s all said and done anyway so I think I got off cheap.

I all most forgot one other decision I made that would have changed the outcome. When I fixed the flat on the trailer I had thought about buying a new set of 6 or 8 ply trailer tires because the trailer had passenger car tires on it. I calculated the weight of the trailer and Durango and felt OK even though I was a little over. I didn't consider the difference in side wall flex until after the accident. The trailer tires may have kept the traler from swaying so much.

[Bob K]

I feel sorry for you for having to go through all of that. Thank you very much for the detailed explanation of the accident. It will surly help me in my future towing. I am always temped to run at 70 with my trailer since the speed limit is 75 in South Dakota. My old truck is only a six and getting that fast is hard to do. My new one has a 5.3L and it will have the power to go at that speed. Based on what you have said I am sure I will keep to my previous self imposed limit of 55 MPH when I am pulling a car. I also resolve to get my breaks working better. There is air in the rear axel cylinders and the bleeder valves are rusted so I can’t get them open. I am going to remove those two cylinders and replace them based on your experience. Again thank you for sharing. We seldom get to hear such an honest explanation of events. You could have said you were trying to avoid hitting a deer. I’ve herd that one a lot, but it wouldn’t help the rest of us. Thanks again and I hope things turn better for you.

Bob K

[Serge]

I see myself very well getting into the same decisions and into the same situation...I guess I am lucky that my car trailer is newer and still has it's tires and electric brakes in good shape...but frankly, I hardly check the tire pressure, I just pin it and haul without giving it much of a second thought...

We get very confident with those things sometimes without realizing the phisics of what we are pulling...

[Tom S]

All that body damage and a bad trans? I would part it out or donate it to the local High Scool Vo Tech for the tax deduction.

Tom