Hit a deer... pics included.

[CplDaugherty]

Well I was actually going to wait until I got the car back to post up some before and after pics... but I just got a call from the shop that had me a bit concerned and I wanted to bounce my thoughts off everyone. But first the story...

So on a last min decision I decided to go home for thanksgiving. Boss told me to take a couple of days off because we had be working like dogs (always seems to pick up in the winter around here) so I hopped in the car and started towards Indiana at about 1:30 pm on thanksgiving day. My family was doing thanksgiving on friday, so I wasn't going to miss anything.
Well about 8:00 pm that night, 30 miles east of Columbus, OH, I was driving in the right lane doing about 70mph with a car and a semi in the same lane a little ways back, and 2 cars coming up hard on my left. All of the sudden, I see a deer come running out from the side. I hit my brakes hard and swerve a little to the left... I couldn't go all the way over, because I would hit the other two cars... so I see the deer jump (4 or 6 point buck if I recall... it was all a flash) and I decide to bite the bullet and just hit the damn thing instead of cause a 5 car pile-up.
BAM! I hit the deer, he goes flying god knows where and I let off the brakes so I don't get rear ended. I pull off to the side of the road and every idiot light comes on and the car dies. Well F***! I get out of the car, call the highway patrol and walk back to the nearest mile marker so I can give them my location.
I walk jump back in the car and try to start it up. Fires right up and runs like a dream. But my ESP/ABS/ and whatever that 3rd light is are all on. I get out to assess the damage and I see this:

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m229/cpldaugherty/thanksgivingclearing262.jpg

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m229/cpldaugherty/thanksgivingclearing263.jpg





http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m229/cpldaugherty/thanksgivingclearing261.jpg

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m229/cpldaugherty/thanksgivingclearing258.jpg

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m229/cpldaugherty/thanksgivingclearing254.jpg

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m229/cpldaugherty/thanksgivingclearing255.jpg

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m229/cpldaugherty/thanksgivingclearing256.jpg

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m229/cpldaugherty/thanksgivingclearing257.jpg

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m229/cpldaugherty/thanksgivingclearing247.jpg

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m229/cpldaugherty/thanksgivingclearing248.jpg

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m229/cpldaugherty/thanksgivingclearing249.jpg

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m229/cpldaugherty/thanksgivingclearing250.jpg

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m229/cpldaugherty/thanksgivingclearing251.jpg

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m229/cpldaugherty/thanksgivingclearing252.jpg

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m229/cpldaugherty/thanksgivingclearing253.jpg


By the way, this is stealth auto's hid kit... never had a problem with flicker, and apparently it can take a drop kick from a deer at 70mph and still work!

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m229/cpldaugherty/thanksgivingclearing264.jpg


So I wait for the Highway Patrol to show up and they make a report just in case I need it for insurance. So I then get out and have to rip parts of the bumper off so that it won't rub on the tire while I'm driving. I knock out all the loose parts of the headlight (everything behind it looked good). And limp towards Indiana starting at 35mph and working my way up to 60. On the west side of Columbus the belly pans came loose so I had to get out and rip them off and throw them in the trunk. Oh and while I 'm driving out of no where I hit a blizzard. So I went from making record time to it taking about 2 hours more than usual.
So to get it home I decided it was time to make some redneck repairs to the car to get her the 550 miles home in one piece. So here's what me and Dad came up with:

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m229/cpldaugherty/thanksgivingclearing265.jpg

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m229/cpldaugherty/thanksgivingclearing266.jpg

Thats right, I'm sending those pics into nascar along with a job application, lol. So that got me home.

I found out insurance is going to cover it, after I pay my deductible. Welllllllllll... when I lived down in NC and was married... the only way my ex-wife and I could afford insurance on Military wages was to jack the deductible up to $500. So that's gotta come outta pocket.

But... as many of you remember I got my hands on a SRT bumper. So I went to a shop that BMFSRT works at and talked to them. They said that I would be reimbursed for the bumper if I supplied it. So we didn't talk numbers yet, but I'm hoping that will take a bite out of the $500 deductible. I also asked them to take the chrome caps off my C bumper (neither was damaged amazingly) and put them on the SRT, or at least give them to me so I could do it myself. So that's the little ray of sunshine in this whole story, I'm basically getting my SRT front end swap done for free (I hope).

Now they just called me and the lady told me they had to replace the "controller module" and some "wiring" because "evidentally chrysler has upgraded this part". I saved the tire sensor off the bumper before I modified it for the drive and gave it to them, so I don't think it was that. But she kept saying "bumper sensor". Now I've had that thing off about 20 times (thanks to some headlight mods ) and those are the only sensors I know of... Maybe she ment the ecm because of the warning lights??? Oh yeah, ever since I hit the deer my ABS, ESP and cruise control haven't worked... which made the blizzard in Ohio fun, lol.

Well the car should be ready tomorrow... I'm hoping that everything comes out ok. I'll have some pics up and a full report. I'm damn sure gonna go over that car with a fine tooth comb before I accept it from them.

[Motor]

at least you're okay and the car will be kicking ass soon:)

[miplank]

I think you should leave the hair in the tire! :)

[bklynmag]

Glad to hear no one was hurt.

[STAGE 3 R/T]

ouch man sorry to hear.

where is the deer at? i would be eating that mofo...

[BrilliantBlackHemi]

Wow, the car actually held up pretty well if you ask me. Hope to see it back on the road soon.

[jmckenzie]

glad you weren't hurt & I admire your skill with duct tape:beerchug:

[Hemi31]

That sucks......I hit a dear with my Hurst/Olds and just about totaled the front.

[CplDaugherty]

Thanks guys... Yeah I got lucky and hit it on the hop and not square on. Could've been ALOT worse.

I'll try to get some pics up tomorrow if I get her back in time.

[USCG Charger]

Sorry about ur car... happy that no one got hurt..... that tape job looks as good as I've seen in any nascar pit stop though.....

[hemiwagn]

Handled like a MARINE:
Well about 8:00 pm that night, 30 miles east of Columbus, OH, I was driving in the right lane doing about 70mph with a car and a semi in the same lane a little ways back, and 2 cars coming up hard on my left. All of the sudden, I see a deer come running out from the side. I hit my brakes hard and swerve a little to the left... I couldn't go all the way over, because I would hit the other two cars... so I see the deer jump (4 or 6 point buck if I recall... it was all a flash) and I decide to bite the bullet and just hit the damn thing instead of cause a 5 car pile-up.
BAM! I hit the deer, he goes flying god knows where and I let off the brakes so I don't get rear ended. I pull off to the side of the road and every idiot light comes on and the car dies. Well F***! I get out of the car, call the highway patrol and walk back to the nearest mile marker so I can give them my location.

Well done Chris, I love the red neck repairs! Glad you are okay and that the car will be too.

Time for this little vid again...
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e287/hemiwagn/Miscellaneous/th_deersoundtrackvid.jpg (http://s41.photobucket.com/albums/e287/hemiwagn/Miscellaneous/?action=view&current=deersoundtrackvid.flv)

[RocketJock]

Any Army or Marine grunt worth his salt knows how to work magic with "90 mile an hour tape" so the repair job thoroughness comes as no surprise to me. Improvise, adapt and overcome.

I know its tough to imagine, but from other deer damage I've seen, you should consider yourself lucky.

[CplDaugherty]

Handled like a MARINE:


Well done Chris, I love the red neck repairs! Glad you are okay and that the car will be too.

Time for this little vid again...
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e287/hemiwagn/Miscellaneous/th_deersoundtrackvid.jpg (http://s41.photobucket.com/albums/e287/hemiwagn/Miscellaneous/?action=view&current=deersoundtrackvid.flv)

Thaks buddy! Great video btw! I'm just glad it wasn't too serious.

[CplDaugherty]

Any Army or Marine grunt worth his salt knows how to work magic with "90 mile an hour tape" so the repair job thoroughness comes as no surprise to me. Improvise, adapt and overcome.

I know its tough to imagine, but from other deer damage I've seen, you should consider yourself lucky.

Well said.

I consider myself very lucky. Didn't really hinder my trip home (got to show my old man what the car can do with the sidewinder in it now lol) and she's been in the shop for less than 3 weeks. Most of all, no one was hurt... well except for that stupid deer . :mrgreen:

[guest01]

Might as well advertise on that corner with a sharpy - LXFORUMS.COM :thumbs_u:

[stitchmonkey]

Glad you're alright, Great tapre job! Was it Deer season so you could at least get a few steaks, Did you get the antlers?

I love that MF'n Joe MF'n Dirt MF'n Video!
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e287/hemiwagn/Miscellaneous/th_deersoundtrackvid.jpg (http://s41.photobucket.com/albums/e287/hemiwagn/Miscellaneous/?action=view&current=deersoundtrackvid.flv)

[danaM]

Wow, sorry to hear about the accident. At least you wee not hurt. Nice job on the rigging. Where did this happen? On I70 going east bound?

D a n a

[IES99]

The hairs around the tire bead/wheel junction make the most interesting picture. Plus the body work with the duct tape: GREAT!

[GoofyTimL]

Sorry to read about your chance meeting of the deer, but glad you were driving a pretty tough vehicle! Keep us informed as to the repair progress and show us the pix later!

[CplDaugherty]

I hit it about 30 miles east of Columbus westbound on I 70.

[05magmn]

Sorry to hear about the car, I know how ya feel. At least you were not hurt.

[CV3ohoh]

paint that duct tape black lol, then buff it

and i dont think the chrome caps from the C fit the SRT bumper, double check on that. and if you are keeping the SRT lip as well, it wont bolt on perfetly without a new bellypan and wheel fender wells

[blackmagnum06]

damn that sucks!

[pigpen]

Sucks, but it will come back looking better!!

[lou1355]

No pics of the bambi? Is the sausage ready yet? How about the jerky?

[Ella C SRT]

I never got the point of hunting deer until I went off to IL. Shoot those F-ers down before they do damage is a good plan to me now.
Hope the damage works in your favor.

[VIP300cINC]

http://pearly3000.tripod.com/homer/homer_doh1.jpg

[sugar-tj]

glad your o k ...
but, they make a mess don't they?....

[thewagon]

Wow! Glad you're ok. It looks like the deer was trying to write something as it kissed the car's fender. Almost like those three lines...hey, the middle one is longer than the other two...could that be it giving you the "bird"? :Na_Na_Na_Na: You can see its nose bouncing up/down on the fender also. wow!

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m229/cpldaugherty/thanksgivingclearing257.jpg

[cm2005300]

man i was just thinking about the times i have hit dear in all my cars except the 300 and how i was driving throught the country where deer run out all the time nothing happened but atleast now i know, at your expense VERY UNFOURTUNETLY, that these rides can hold up you must have ****ed that deer up man hahaha well atleast you didnt put him in the backseat and it didint bite your neck hahah hope everything turns out ok

[SilvaSurfer]

I am glad you are okay and at least no other cars were involved. Great job and the tape work or temporary patch job for getting home. I bet you had fun with no ESP but might have been just a tad bit scary at times. Can't wait to see pics of the new front end.

[Husker]

Consider yourself lucky, I had to clean out chunks of deer from under my hood, wheel wells and under the car. It was nasty roasting on the cats!! It was a smell I will never forget. I got hit for not quite $1700 for my front facisa and belly pans. Got the car back last Monday.

There were pieces of deer everywhere when I popped my hood....it is nasty I tell ya!!

[CplDaugherty]

paint that duct tape black lol, then buff it

and i dont think the chrome caps from the C fit the SRT bumper, double check on that. and if you are keeping the SRT lip as well, it wont bolt on perfetly without a new bellypan and wheel fender wells

I told them if they could get the caps to fit, then do it, if not, leave 'em off and just give them to me, I'd do it myself.

I also told them that it would require SRT belly pans... if it was too much of a hassle to just leave them off and I'd do it myself.

[X E Ryder]

Crazy story, but great patch job - glad everyone is ok. :)

[PaCharger]

Wow...glad you're okay. Cool that the shop is working with you. Good luck getting it all back up to snuff...the way you want it!

[CplDaugherty]

Thanks! I'm just waiting for the call... I'm sick of this crappy accord!

[TPBNANA-1606]

Glad your OK,Nice tape job BTW...LOL

[CplDaugherty]

Ok gents, just got her back. So far, seems ok. I gave it a good look over but the manager who was really cool btw, told me that he knows I'm a car guy, and if I get home and don't like anything about it to bring it back and the fix was on them. So far I noticed:
They did use the SRT bumper I provided
They did put the C chrome caps on for me
I noticed some glue around the joint of the chin spoiler
Some very fine scratches on the bumper under the license plate (might be able to be buffed out after letting the paint cure for 90 days)
They replaced both of my stealth bulbs with regular ones (no big deal, they were both damaged)
Used my exsisting HID kit
Fit and finish look good (will be inspected more this weekend)
Paint looks good (will be inspected more this weekend)
No belly pans (but I told them not to worry about those, I'll put them on myself)
Replaced the bumper foam that I had destroyed for my TZ deep dish (which is no longer on my car)
Car now makes a whining noise under heavy acceleration (will inspect more today, didn't notice until I was 3/4 the way to work).
They washed the car and it was clean inside.
As a bonus, they left me a bottle of touchup paint from the mix they used on the panels that were replaced. Very nice touch in my book.All and all I'm pretty happy with the results, pending finding out what this noise is.

Total including rental car: $4000. I had to pay a $500 deductible, but they are going to cut me a check for $360 to cover the SRT bumper I provided them, so all in all about $140 out of pocket, plus maybe $40-$60 more for the belly pan (or less).

I love the look the SRT chin spoiler gives the car, gonna look even meaner when she's lowered. I'll try to get up some pics tonight.

[Ella C SRT]

I noticed some glue around the joint of the chin spoiler

Mine is 3M taped on... do you mean the adhesive from that or did they really glue it??

[SilvaSurfer]

Ok gents, just got her back. So far, seems ok. I gave it a good look over but the manager who was really cool btw, told me that he knows I'm a car guy, and if I get home and don't like anything about it to bring it back and the fix was on them. So far I noticed:

They did use the SRT bumper I provided
They did put the C chrome caps on for me
I noticed some glue around the joint of the chin spoiler
Some very fine scratches on the bumper under the license plate (might be able to be buffed out after letting the paint cure for 90 days)
They replaced both of my stealth bulbs with regular ones (no big deal, they were both damaged)
Used my exsisting HID kit
Fit and finish look good (will be inspected more this weekend)
Paint looks good (will be inspected more this weekend)
No belly pans (but I told them not to worry about those, I'll put them on myself)
Replaced the bumper foam that I had destroyed for my TZ deep dish (which is no longer on my car)
Car now makes a whining noise under heavy acceleration (will inspect more today, didn't notice until I was 3/4 the way to work).
They washed the car and it was clean inside.
As a bonus, they left me a bottle of touchup paint from the mix they used on the panels that were replaced. Very nice touch in my book.All and all I'm pretty happy with the results, pending finding out what this noise is.

Total including rental car: $4000. I had to pay a $500 deductible, but they are going to cut me a check for $360 to cover the SRT bumper I provided them, so all in all about $140 out of pocket, plus maybe $40-$60 more for the belly pan (or less).

I love the look the SRT chin spoiler gives the car, gonna look even meaner when she's lowered. I'll try to get up some pics tonight.


Glad you got her back. The noise might be your power steering pump. It could have been damaged on the impact. Just a guess but sure sounds like that. Congrats on getting her back and the way they treated you. Very nice :thumbs_u:

[cbloveday]

too bad the deer got away. good eatin. may have been easier to stomach than the deductible.

[momsrockinride]

Happy ending to a not so happy occasion. Glad to hear that you're no worse for the wear and now your car has a very affordable new mod.

The duct tape patch up was a nice touch - NASCAR could use you. LOL

[CplDaugherty]

Mine is 3M taped on... do you mean the adhesive from that or did they really glue it??

It's 3M tape a little too close to the seam. I'll pull it apart this weekend and fix it.

Here's the pics:

Ok, just did an oil change. Went to test out my AAC halos while I was out there, one of the inverters was dead. ugh...

Anyways, here's the pics. I gotta call them and get some new belly pans, mine are too jacked up, I thought I could save 'em.

Bah... Just noticed almost all the pics came out terrible. oh well, I'll get better ones after I get her cleaned up.

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m229/cpldaugherty/afterdeer008.jpg

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m229/cpldaugherty/afterdeer012.jpg

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m229/cpldaugherty/afterdeer013.jpg

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m229/cpldaugherty/afterdeer007.jpg

Here's where you can see some glue strips they used to try to keep it on... I'm gonna have to pull it off and take these out, they look like ****. I'll just put some new ones on myself, not so close to the seam.

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m229/cpldaugherty/afterdeer006.jpg

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m229/cpldaugherty/afterdeer005.jpg

Chrome caps are on, they did a good job on them

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m229/cpldaugherty/afterdeer004.jpg

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m229/cpldaugherty/afterdeer003.jpg

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m229/cpldaugherty/afterdeer001.jpg


All and all I'm pretty happy. I'm gonna try to get AAC to fix my halos then pull the front off and fix everything.

There are a couple of slight paint blemishes... I'm going to wait till I clean her up and see if I can live with 'em or not.

[SilvaSurfer]

Even though the pics are not the greatest, she still looks beautiful with all she has been thru. She looks awesome, congrats again to have her home.

[CplDaugherty]

Yeah my camera was being wonky that day... I dunno what was up with that. I'll get some better ones once she gets a good washing.