2016 LML direct impact on wheel and axle (damage?)

[NC-smokinlmm]

I was t boned yesterday by a red light runner in a 19 crv, she directly hit my passenger rear tire at 50+ mph. My truck is in surprisingly good shape for the accident but it will not drive straight. The wheel has to be over about 20% to the right to keep it straight now and the front end wasn't touched in the accident. I'm thinking the frame is bent bc my bed gaps are diffrent now. Do y'all think a crv could bend my frame? It was a big impact bc nothing on my truck gave way and I ended up 4 or 5 feet in the air and ran over the entire front portion of the crv. The crv' entire airbag system was activated and it is deffintely totaled. I am hoping for a bent up spring pack but something tells me my perfect 16 LML is totaled...

 

[660catman]

Without pictures and your description, I think the truck is totalled. And yes, a 3500 lb vehicle will bend that frame.


2013 Sierra SLE 2500HD Crew Cab

 

[Chevy1925]

could be a bent frame but id say its more likely you have a bent axle housing and most likely bent hub/spindle back there. very well could have sheared the leaf spring alignment pin and shifted the axle along the leaf spring (causing the pull) and the bed could have shifted on the frame. leaf springs could be bent too.

need to get it to a shop who will be diligent and will check the ass end over with a fine tooth comb.

my neighbor got hit in the same fasion on his 16 1500 but not nearly as hard. 6 months later he asked me about a noise he kept hearing from the rear end, a clicking noise. I didnt know about the accident at the time. lifted it up, checked ujoints, lug torque, and leaf spring u-bolts/hanger torque. all was good. then he told me about the accident and im like "fuck dude, you shoulda said something earlier". popped the wheel and rotor off and checked the axle flange for out of round. it had .030 of deflection, found the issue. put a new shaft in and good to go. hes pissed the body shop never checked that.

 

[2004LB7]

I'm with James on checking out the axle hanger and alignment pins to see if the axle has moved. you can also measure the distance from each front tire to rear tire and maybe some other reference points

 

[NC-smokinlmm]

The bed wasn't touched, it's nuts, she hit my wheel and it went right up her hood and over the passenger side quarter panel and sheared it off as I fell off her hood. It has a small bend in the bottom quarter and a dent in the exhaust, that's it. That's why I'm so concerned about the bed offset, I measured the rear height from several locations today and the passenger side is 1.5" higher than drivers now. It gets dropped off tomorrow and my buddy will let me know what's up with it. All the suspension looks intact and straight, it just drives crooked now.

 

[036.6turbo]

Sorry to hear about your accident and the damage to your truck,

I rebuild vehicles from wrecks. Yes a 50mph hit will do that amount of damage.

It is not surprising it no longer drives straight. It could be something as simple as the axle alignment pins sheared, in the leaf pac. Spring hangers could be bent, or yeah, worst case the frame could be bent.

GM (all of the OEMs do) does have approve frame repair procedures, and they do offer "frame sections" designed to be installed as per those procedures. But as James pointed out, it takes a good frame shop to trace down the problem and accurately see if these apply to your situation.

If no bags blew, no finished metal was hurt (or minimal) and with the used truck market what it is, the insurance may repair it, but you're at their mercy for the most part.


Example of front frame sectioning;

 

[660catman]

Is there any signs that the box hit the cab? If so it’ll tell you how much the frame got tweaked. Only way to know how much is hang a set of guages on it.


2013 Sierra SLE 2500HD Crew Cab

 

[NC-smokinlmm]

No sign of box hitting cab. I'm still thinking it's the spring pack being jacked up. The sheet metal is 99% untouched. The overload is out of place and it looks like the shear pin is bent.

I got upset last night and bought a new truck though, I got an 2022 lm2 Denali ultimate/reserve in black/black. Should be here in a few weeks. I'm excited about it. I'll fix the 16 and let it ride with someone else...

 

[660catman]

Well that’s a quick fix lol! Even with the frame tweaked it should be a good fix. Good luck with the new truck.


2013 Sierra SLE 2500HD Crew Cab

 

[LBZ]

Your frame is bent or all the box mounts got shifted to the point where they won’t come back as they aren’t meant to. A bent spring hanger will make it drive off but it won’t throw off your body lines on a fully boxed frame.

Ford sells full individual rails. I wonder if gm does also?

 

[TheBac]

Id like to see pictures of all this damage.

 

[2004LB7]

Id like to see pictures of all this damage.

exactly. this is one of the ones where we can say "pics or it didn't happen" right?

 

[sneaky98gt]

Without seeing pictures, I actually lean the other way. If the car didn't actually impact the frame, and the axle took 100% of the force, then the only way the frame could bend is if the leaf springs / hangers / shocks were able to transmit enough force to the frame to do so. I don't think that would be likely. I think they'd deform significantly first.

 

[Dozerboy]

Getting hit by a VW bug at 35-40 mph bent the frame of my buddies F250. Maybe you're lucky in the springs exorbed all the energy, but I would be surprised.

 

[LBZ]

Without seeing pictures, I actually lean the other way. If the car didn't actually impact the frame, and the axle took 100% of the force, then the only way the frame could bend is if the leaf springs / hangers / shocks were able to transmit enough force to the frame to do so. I don't think that would be likely. I think they'd deform significantly first.

So how do you explain the body lines being off then? Bent suspension parts on a boxed frame don’t cause this.

 

[sneaky98gt]

So how do you explain the body lines being off then? Bent suspension parts on a boxed frame don’t cause this.

To be honest, my eyes only caught the "bed wasn't touched" comment when I skimmed through, and completely missed the "bed gaps are different" comment. If the body lines are off, then yea, frame is probably tweaked.

That said, he said "bed gaps are different" in one post (which I assume to mean between the cab and bed), which would almost definitely indicate the frame being bent. But in the second post, he said he "measured the rear height from several locations" and found the passenger side to be higher. I assuming that means height from the ground, which could be caused just by suspension damage instead of a bent frame. Just depends exactly how the truck looks.

 

[LBZ]

Possibly. Be an awful lot of torque on that suspension to lift the frame though on one side only and it would ride like a stone boat.

 

[NC-smokinlmm]

I had I checked out yesterday. Bent up spring packs and some other various parts and she should be good again. The bed gaps are not off by any real measurable amount, I was tweaking about it so I was overly sensitive I guess. I'll see how it turns out once back together and figure out if I want to keep her. I love this truck and don't want to see it go...

I am still excited about the LM2, the fuel mileage alone will allow me keep it as the out of town ride for the wife and I if so desired. Need to get my hands on it first and see what the new interior is all about, it looks incredible in the pictures.

 

[CarolinaHD]

Pics of either truck or none of this happened