Deer vs Ford

[Tiggie]

The Ageless Battle: Deer vs Ford

The Ford: 1988 LTD Crown Vic Wagon (see signature)
The Deer: An 8-Pt Buck
Speed: ~50mph

Somehow this decent sized deer made it through Hunting Season so far. He's no match for my wagon, though. Hit him last night about 10:40. See the carnage below. Sorry - no deer pics. I went back today to get what remained of my grille and headlights but they already came and got the deer.

Damage appears cosmetic. The header panel is trashed. The A/C condenser has some battle wounds from that 8-point status (radiator is ok, glad I left the condensor in place after A/C removal). The deer totally ripped out my headlights on the drivers side and parking lights for that matter. Wiped out the grille too. Pushed the bumper back a good measure. Getting an estimate tomorrow.

Somehow, the passenger side lights came out perfect. The hood is fine and the fenders appear fine. The bumper may be bent - not sure yet. I think the car won.

[johnunit]

If the deer is dead and you aren't hurt, and the hood is still good, Ford wins.

[Tiggie]

Ahh yes forgot my question. The bumper shocks/mounts that the bumper mounts to - how do you restore them to their original position? Any tricks or just beat on it with a sledge hammer?

I've got $0 Deductible Comprehensive so it's fully covered, but I'll most likely take the check and fix it myself (it's probably totaled to the insurance company anyway).

And yes, hood seems good and Bambi died at the scene.

[Pirate]

I think the Deer won. The deer doesn't have to fix the car afterward, and it's up in Bambi heaven right now, mocking you.

[hemihotrod402]

it most likely be totaled out by the insurance company. And the ford won.
Ford:
Fucks-up
Overly
Retarded
Deer

[LTDMan83]

Damn, sucks that happened. At least its easily fixable. I've had to swerve to miss deer more times than I can remember around here, to avoid the destruction of my header panel. Been lucky so far...

The bumper shock should have pushed back out to its original position automatically. If it didn't, a Slide Hammer can pull it back into place, or just get a BFH and pound on the mounting plate from behind, pushing it back outward.

[CheeseSteakJim]

Fuck yeah! Nice job dude.


Also, technically if the bumper shock doesn't return to its original position the correct thing to do is replace it. You can pull it back into place (a slide hammer would do it pretty well I'd say) but technically you're not supposed to as far as I know. I believe you can still get them new from various collision parts suppliers. Last time I looked they were around $80 a pop if I remember correctly. Not overly difficult to R&R though.

[gabegt90]

glad your allright ben car looks ok not to hard of a fix

[GoodSamaritan]

I've been known to chain those bumper shock to a suitably heavy object, and just back up...

Make sure you use a good strong chain, and don't overdo it. Start gentle and work your way up stopping frequently to make sure you don't pull it out too far.

Otherwise go pick one up at a yard for a few bucks, and you are all set.

[yucatecd]

Dear Panthers,
The cruiser's been totaled three times by the insurance company. Each time I swapped my rentacar coverage for keeping the title.

Donald McCaig

[1987cp]

<---- always happy to hear of any Ford owner who's not stupid enough to let their insurance company have the car if it's repairable.


Tiggie and Yucatecd:


My wagon in '04 came in as somewhat over $1500 total reward minus $500 deductible and $100 scrap value (for keeping the title), so I ended up with nearly a grand toward repair parts. Header panel, bumper, and fender were all $50 each, and I also bought two doors that weren't rusted out for an additional $50 each. Suppose it's quite possible Tiggie may end up with over a grand, maybe more, and he needs fewer parts than I did. Neato!!!!

[1990LTD]

good to hear you're alright dude.



Small car vs Deer? No thanks. I've seen that enough times to know it doesn't usually end well.
Panther vs Deer? Living to post about it on teh internet the next day.

[P72Ford]

Bad day for the Ford, and a worse day for the deer.

[Tiggie]

Thanks for the comments and suggestions. So the bumper shock should come back out if it's okay? And if not, I can either beat it out, or replace it. How hard are they to pull off a car (if I get one at the junkyard)?

I tried to have it estimated today. Tried. The body shop said they wouldn't even look at it since I'm with Allstate and given the year. He glanced at it and said it's almost certainly totaled, so it would be a waste of his and my time to look at. He also said given it's age, it would take a long time to round up parts for it. So the waiting game continues as I wait for Allstate to come look at it, hopefully on Thursday so they tell me.

After Allstate looks at it, the teardown begins. I'll keep you all posted with pictures. And I'm on dial up, so that means it's a real treat for you!

[86GmLsCoupe]

I love what they consider totaled these days. People seem to be really snotty about these cars at bodyshops, but then again they just want quick money jobs from insurance companies. Aside from that, it really looks pretty simple to repair.