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In January, only a couple of months after having paid her off, I was involved in the second accident I’ve had in 20 years of driving with the vehicle I probably love the most.
After picking up the parts to do a complete brake overhaul on my sister’s Edge, the heavy and unsecured load, rock-hard Toyos, and making a left turn going too fast and not letting off resulted in this:
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No pics from the day of the accident because as luck would have it, my phone was dead. Slid into a curb, destroying the left rear wheel and axle and bending the frame. Came to rest against a concrete and stone restaurant sign, which destroyed the rear bumper, bed, hitch, and bent the frame more.
With basically the entire back half of the truck gone, figured surely it would be written off. After about three weeks, Allstate comes back and tells me they’re not going to declare it Salvage and will be cutting a check to fix it. I’m guessing the going rate for similar mileage and condition Lightnings in California being ridiculous and nothing from the back of the cab-forward being damaged played into this decision, which worked out perfectly because I was dreading having to start the search for another one of these trucks. After researching a bit, the affected major parts (bed, axle, wheel, and frame) were relatively cheap and hopefully not impossible to find.
Luckily, I found a salvage yard not too far from me that had a couple of Lightnings. But the owner knowing what they are, I paid accordingly for the frame, axle, springs, bed, and tailgate. Here are the frame and bed the day I got them home:
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Really lucked out with the bed; there was a Bedrug used in it so it was pristine and also the same color as my truck so I could get away with not having to completely repaint and lose the areas of exposed primer from the factory. Only downside was that one of the bedsides was white, but a non-issue since those were always going to be repainted anyway.
Picked up an Eastwood bodycart to move this thing around, with the intention of using it later to move the cab if I had to. As it turns out, it didn’t really work for the cab since its design wouldn’t really allow it to fit underneath, but it was perfect for moving the bed around.
After a bit of measuring, it looked like the frame was straight, but I’d later find out that it looked like the truck the frame came from took a hit to the hitch. The part of the frame rails the hitch bolts to had a little step in them, which a couple of vises clamping 1/2” steel flat stock took care of.
A lot of Simple Green, lacquer thinner, and a couple sessions with the power washer got it clean enough to apply the Valugard frame coating, which Ford and GM spec for frame repair. Debated powdercoating it, but my goal here was to get her as close to factory as possible, warts and all. Hit the bare metal areas with Eastwood satin chassis primer and it took about 14 cans to get the undercoating thick enough to duplicate the thickest areas of coating still left on the old frame.
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The new rear axle seemed to be in good shape; fluid had no water in it, no rust inside, had 3.73’s, bearings looked good. Only unknown was the condition of the t-lok and I didn’t want to pull the center section out, so I’ve filled it with the cheapest gear oil O’Reilly’s had so I can drive it around for a bit to make sure everything’s in order and there are no leaks before I fill it with the five qts. of Motorcraft synthetic and friction modifier that will ultimately go in it. Rear also got a coat of Eastwood Chassis Black primer and semi-gloss black paint, the al. diff. cover from the wrecked axle, new Motorcraft pads and rotors, Bilsteins, and lugnuts for the driver’s side. Amazingly, I was also able to salvage the Hellwig rear bar from the wreck.
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After picking up the parts to do a complete brake overhaul on my sister’s Edge, the heavy and unsecured load, rock-hard Toyos, and making a left turn going too fast and not letting off resulted in this:
No pics from the day of the accident because as luck would have it, my phone was dead. Slid into a curb, destroying the left rear wheel and axle and bending the frame. Came to rest against a concrete and stone restaurant sign, which destroyed the rear bumper, bed, hitch, and bent the frame more.
With basically the entire back half of the truck gone, figured surely it would be written off. After about three weeks, Allstate comes back and tells me they’re not going to declare it Salvage and will be cutting a check to fix it. I’m guessing the going rate for similar mileage and condition Lightnings in California being ridiculous and nothing from the back of the cab-forward being damaged played into this decision, which worked out perfectly because I was dreading having to start the search for another one of these trucks. After researching a bit, the affected major parts (bed, axle, wheel, and frame) were relatively cheap and hopefully not impossible to find.
Luckily, I found a salvage yard not too far from me that had a couple of Lightnings. But the owner knowing what they are, I paid accordingly for the frame, axle, springs, bed, and tailgate. Here are the frame and bed the day I got them home:
Really lucked out with the bed; there was a Bedrug used in it so it was pristine and also the same color as my truck so I could get away with not having to completely repaint and lose the areas of exposed primer from the factory. Only downside was that one of the bedsides was white, but a non-issue since those were always going to be repainted anyway.
Picked up an Eastwood bodycart to move this thing around, with the intention of using it later to move the cab if I had to. As it turns out, it didn’t really work for the cab since its design wouldn’t really allow it to fit underneath, but it was perfect for moving the bed around.
After a bit of measuring, it looked like the frame was straight, but I’d later find out that it looked like the truck the frame came from took a hit to the hitch. The part of the frame rails the hitch bolts to had a little step in them, which a couple of vises clamping 1/2” steel flat stock took care of.
A lot of Simple Green, lacquer thinner, and a couple sessions with the power washer got it clean enough to apply the Valugard frame coating, which Ford and GM spec for frame repair. Debated powdercoating it, but my goal here was to get her as close to factory as possible, warts and all. Hit the bare metal areas with Eastwood satin chassis primer and it took about 14 cans to get the undercoating thick enough to duplicate the thickest areas of coating still left on the old frame.
The new rear axle seemed to be in good shape; fluid had no water in it, no rust inside, had 3.73’s, bearings looked good. Only unknown was the condition of the t-lok and I didn’t want to pull the center section out, so I’ve filled it with the cheapest gear oil O’Reilly’s had so I can drive it around for a bit to make sure everything’s in order and there are no leaks before I fill it with the five qts. of Motorcraft synthetic and friction modifier that will ultimately go in it. Rear also got a coat of Eastwood Chassis Black primer and semi-gloss black paint, the al. diff. cover from the wrecked axle, new Motorcraft pads and rotors, Bilsteins, and lugnuts for the driver’s side. Amazingly, I was also able to salvage the Hellwig rear bar from the wreck.
Can't wait to get her into paint!
