I crashed my friends jeep into a tree the other day and I'm in need of some advice. My friend loves his jeep dearly and he just got it running after a trany swap about a month ago... I feel pretty ****ty about putting it into a tree and want to know what you guys think I should do. So the bumper, radiator, hood, face plate, etc. all got smashed pretty good. We took all this off today but there seems to be a piece that connects the frame in the front together and that's also smashed.. It looks like it might unbolt but would be really difficult and might not even be possible. Is this a piece of the frame? I hit the tree only going about 15 mph... I wanna get the jeep running as soon as possible. And he has a old parts jeep that he water ceased last year. So we have parts and a replacement radiator. Any advice on this front end repair would be very appreciated! .. Also any tips or tricks about putting the radiator back in would

be helpful we are amateur off roaders just starting to build up our rigs. Also the plate that got smashed that we can't get off is what the radiator sat on if that helps you guys understand a little better.


Thanks for the advice!

 

Amateur off roader? You don't say.
It's nuts and bolts, start removing the damaged body parts and replace with the parts jeep stuff. I would suspect frame (unit body) damage, don't be surprised.

 

Check your door gaps.

 

Pony up and buy him another, it's just one of the risks of using other peoples property.

 

I'll bet that tree just jumped out in front of you, didn't it? LMAO! Things like that happen to the best of us, but when it's your friends rig, it hurts.

After you remove that bent piece on the front, check the distance between the frame horns and compare it with the parts jeep. If it's more than 1/2" shorter, it could cause problems with the structure of the unit body. At 1/2", it can be jacked apart and shouldn't be a problem. Any more than that and you may have popped the welds at other places that will come back to bite you later. After you get it straightened, check the fit of the replacement hood. If that fits good, I wouldn't worry too much about it.

These are just my opinions. Other people may have other ideas, but that's the way I would handle it. And try to go around the trees!

 

I saw that happen once......Drunk tree staggered in front of him.