Well, i took good care enough of my 87 22r five speed to give it to my teeneage son to drive for his get to college car. He got a little cocky going around a curve and over-corrected on the fishtail....sigh. he's a chip off the old blockhead.

405,000 on that engine, and it's still going strong. the battery came loose, snapped the negative terminal, and bent the intake to the radiator. otherwise the engine looked good. still have to get it up on a rack and see if the frame is too bent. some minor front end damage...

does this rear end look fixable? I'm a grateful mamma for those steel bumpers. The young man doesn't remember what he hit, other than the side of the mountain.....sigh....i loved that car...,, woiuld you fix it?

 

First off glad your son is ok. Hope he learned from this.

Easiest fix is to do a bed swap, that is if still drives straight. The battery and radiator stuff should be easy.
Hard part will be finding a bed depending on what part of the country you are in.
Best of luck

 

Time for a flatbed !!

Glad your Son is ok !!

When were young and dumb we all do stupid things lets us Hope he learns.

I guess it would depend on how much your Son likes walking or riding his bicycle .

How much he can afford to get this back on the road.

Depends how much work can be done and how much needs to be paid for.

 

One way to look at this is: If I took it to a cheap body shop, would the repair cost more than the (repaired) truck is worth on Craigslist? Sadly, probably yes.

But hardly anybody on this site thinks like that (thank goodness!) Do you want to teach yourself body work? Can you lay your hand on a cheap, good condition, replacement bed? Do you mind driving a truck done up in bondo and primer? Or do you just want the cheapest possible DD?

By the way, I'm not liking the angle (camber) of that front wheel. It may just be the picture, or a bad ball joint. But if the front suspension is bent you've got a real job on your hands.

 

Good advice so far. The frames on these vehicles are pretty strong. My daughter had a '96 4runner that had two front end accidents that did major sheet metal and bumper damage, but neither one even knocked the front wheels out of alignment. My son is still driving it minus the front bumper and grill.

If the frame is bent, then you're pretty much done, I think. As long as it's just sheet metal, Craig's list and salvage yards will probably get you the parts you need. Scope103 is correct, if you take it to a body shop it will cost far more than the truck is worth. If you can do the work yourself as a labor of love, that's different.

Keep in mind that, at least around here, plenty of those trucks, with lower mileage than yours, show up on Craig's list for $3-5K, so although it has sentimental value for you, it's definitely replaceable from a practical standpoint.

 

didn't notice that front wheel. I'm working out of town so i haven't even seen the truck in person....hope it's not that....there's lots of dead trucks around so I can probably find a bed. don't really care what it looks like, i just care that it's serviceable....

 

thanks all. appreciate the input. we'll see what the mechanic says. btw, would it be bad to drive if the frame was bent? seems to me when i rolled a vw, i drove it on a bent front axle for a good long while....

 

Great opportunity to show the boy he's never too old for a paddling! Lol