We spoke with the repair shop on Monday and drove up there today. The truck’s one-piece ‘cage’ was damaged along the driver’s side bottom, so they’re going to shave a portion of the entire driver’s side off (an inch, two, three? I have no idea) and weld a new edge back on. Apparently that is a thing. Who knew.
They’ll pull the truck bed off and set it aside while the cutting and welding is being done. After they ensure the new driver’s side doors, front quarter panel, and bumper fit correctly, they’ll put the truck bed back on and send it over to the paint room.
They have to replace the front tire since it has gouges in it, possibly replace the rim, and balance & realign the front end as well. We asked that they swap out the other three tires as well (at our expense), since we were planning to replace all four in the spring anyways. This way all four will have the same amount of wear going forward.
We’re settled in at the local campground and can stay here until New Year’s Eve, if need be. The repair shop estimates that truck will be finished around the 22nd. Luckily we can keep the car rental until the end of the month, if things do take a touch longer. We really really hope that they don’t.
On a ‘It’s a small world’ note, we found out yesterday that our campground neighbors are from the small town where Jeff’s dad spent the bulk of his career. He was their kids’ elementary school principal!
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