Ford Transit USA Forum banner

Extended Body High Roof Damage Finaly Happened

9K views 7 replies 6 participants last post by  Longboard 
#1 ·
I always knew that my camera and rear sensor would not protect me from damaging the upper rear corners when the relatively short wheel base and extended body allowed the rear corner to swing out in a turn, and it finaly happened.
I was parallel parked on a busy street with manicured matching palm trees and fancy shops. While parking I got out and looked several times because of the close proximity of the stout branches and trunk.
Cleared it with ease.
I inspected the situation again before pulling out. Looked easy enough.
A car in front and another behind, plenty of clearance to pull foreword and out with just one maneuver.
Heard the most gruesome sound as I slowly pulled away, sounded to me like I had just torn off the entire rear.
The upper right corner clipped the tree, buckling three panels!
One spot initially looked to me like a through and through cut but it was not.
The only way to repair without replacing three panels involved filler work too. I lived with the crinkles for a month but hated it, and realized it interfered with my desired clean new stealthy look.
When a vehicle is your home as well as transportation a multi day project puts a crimp in your life, but I bit the bullet and dropped it off at a large Ford dealer's independent huge body shop.
Took four nights at a beachfront hotel with a sympathy rate (I just told them the truth, helps that the owner who developed the place in '78 is on the premises daily, he even bought me a beer during Happy Hour!)
Anyways I received my first social security check last week, it covered the repair and the room.... but not the meals.
Looks brand new again now, they even cleaned all the brake dust off the wheels and washed it.
 
See less See more
#8 ·
Yeah that of course was the whole other story.
$1800. No pics. I had planned on pre-op photos but despite reminding my driver for the relocation after the drop off we both forgot.
 
#3 ·
Hopefully it's a lesson learned once... I backed mine into the raingutter on my house a few months ago. It made a small 10" crease in the door and upper body corner. You might not notice it if you weren't looking for it, but it stings nonetheless.

My neighbor is a mobile body repair guy, he fixes trade-ins for dealerships. I'm going to see how many six-packs he wants to take it out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#5 ·
I have the driver assist that warns me if anything comes within 5 feet of backing.... I'm thinking it includes overhanging trees as when I first backed my van into my driveway, it went off but there was nothing on the ground . I had trimmed the trees but obviously not to 5 feet above it! ??

It would be nice to be able to have a sensor for height when moving forward eh?

I'm leery of the local municipalities and their shade trees for beauty on the roads... and the trimming, though obvious to me begun by large trucks clipping the branches, are often square trimmed out by professionals...and sometimes those branches still reach out from the side of the road (tree) and I have to work at avoiding any near hit!
 
#6 ·
My new pet peeve since getting the Transit is parking lots with trees planted all over with low branches intruding into parking spaces and into driving lanes.
Dang landscapers must get a kickback from paint and body shops.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DrJean
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top