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I Got Some Bad Trail Wounds

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jonahgetz

jonahgetz

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To avoid a claim, DIY mostly.
1. find a used top locally. Keep the rear glass, struts, wiper assembly and wiring harness from the old one.
2. Remove, Buff and Rhino coat the rockers or find some used ones. I’ve been trying to give a set away for a couple years.
3. Order a door and the lower rear hinge set. Have them painted by whoever you have repair the post and rocker area. You will eventually have to learn to take the door apart if it’s going to be a lifer.
4. convert to a metal stubby front bumper. There are decent low cost new ones. You can probably find a used one that someone just didn’t care for.
5. Consider getting the turn lamp buff polished. It’ll last longer than if you bought a new one. Murphy lives on the trail.
6. The fender...new unpainted aren’t terribly expensive, but Murphy is persistent and can spot a new replacement 3 days before you get there. Me, I would sand the area lightly with progressively finer paper to reblend, then lightly heat the area with a heat gun and re-stipple using 50 grit paper to press into the warm plastic. Finish it up with Mothers Back to Black. I’d practice this on the front bumper you removed before trying it out on the fender.

If it’s a hobby vehicle, handle it like a hobby. It’ll build confidence for future damage that will eventually happen.

Good luck.
Thank you for this. I like your approach. I've always been a DIY kind of person on all my vehicles. This one is going to be very custom. The good news, is most of the parts I planned on deleting or changing , including front bumper and fenders.
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jonahgetz

jonahgetz

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If you'd ever thought about getting a soft top, now's the time.
I bought the factory hardtop for the wiring install, but I always had my eye on the tan soft top. This might be the way to go.
 
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jonahgetz

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Once again, thank you all for the kind words and advice. I read all of you comments, you all give great advice. I already know she's going to be around for a while and this is just the beginning, it's encouragement to keep building the rig up to meet the learned limitations.

I have many different directions to go and consider. At this point I'm leaning towards replace parts over time. I just turned 27 and my insurance premiums finally dropped, I'd hate to see them go up again, and I'm worried to find out how much of an increase I'd see.

On a side note, here are a few images from before the damage. I wish I would of had somebody outside the vehicle recording or taking pictures while I was driving, but we were all so focused on getting out of there. Next time I'll setup my tripod.

Jeep Wrangler JL I Got Some Bad Trail Wounds GETZ4957
Jeep Wrangler JL I Got Some Bad Trail Wounds GETZ4954
Jeep Wrangler JL I Got Some Bad Trail Wounds GETZ4959
Jeep Wrangler JL I Got Some Bad Trail Wounds GETZ4961
Jeep Wrangler JL I Got Some Bad Trail Wounds GETZ4970
Jeep Wrangler JL I Got Some Bad Trail Wounds GETZ4971
 

The Last Cowboy

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Got to a body shop and talk to them a out the door and that you want to fix it without insurance. You’ll be surprised at the price difference. Especially if you do some of the labor. The offer on the Hardtop a few posts back is very fair. Plus you would now have 2 sets of Freedom panels.
 

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Did it both way couple times, very fun trail.
By the amount of your damage, specially door, hinge, rocker panel. door, insurance is the way to go.
Jeep Wrangler JL I Got Some Bad Trail Wounds 2511621206656_.pic
 

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jonahgetz

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i got this on the window for now. I have to return to work tuesday and drive from California to Washington on Friday. 1500 miles.

Once im up in Washington ill reassess. And i also have that hard top offer on my mind.

The question at this point is to go hardtop or softtop. Before this accident i was already considering swapping to a tan soft top. This might make my decision easier.

Jeep Wrangler JL I Got Some Bad Trail Wounds B22C201D-4243-4F5B-BDD7-BAAC01E2AF10
 
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jonahgetz

jonahgetz

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Did it both way couple times, very fun trail.
By the amount of your damage, specially door, hinge, rocker panel. door, insurance is the way to go.
Jeep Wrangler JL I Got Some Bad Trail Wounds B22C201D-4243-4F5B-BDD7-BAAC01E2AF10
Looks awesome! I went down and back up as well, just without your gracefulness. 😂
 

OldGuyNewJeep

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i got this on the window for now. I have to return to work tuesday and drive from California to Washington on Friday. 1500 miles.

Once im up in Washington ill reassess. And i also have that hard top offer on my mind.

The question at this point is to go hardtop or softtop. Before this accident i was already considering swapping to a tan soft top. This might make my decision easier.

Jeep Wrangler JL I Got Some Bad Trail Wounds B22C201D-4243-4F5B-BDD7-BAAC01E2AF10
Premium soft top is awesome. Quiet, warm, durable, and versatile. IMO, it’s worth the extra $$. The standard top is no slouch, but if you search this forum for soft top wear/hole/rip/tear, you’ll find they are almost exclusively with the standard top.
 
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jonahgetz

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im about to give this a try. Im going to start with the door and see if i do well, then move to the rocker if im confident in my ability. Worst case i mess up the door, its already messed up anyway. 🤷🏼‍♂️

if anyone has pointers please chime in.

i figured its a good investment to keep some of these materials around for future trail damage. My goal is to get it sealed for now so the metal wont rust.

Jeep Wrangler JL I Got Some Bad Trail Wounds D822F205-552E-4304-A1CB-F58FC4276E16
 

entropy

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im about to give this a try. Im going to start with the door and see if i do well, then move to the rocker if im confident in my ability. Worst case i mess up the door, its already messed up anyway. 🤷🏼‍♂️

if anyone has pointers please chime in.

i figured its a good investment to keep some of these materials around for future trail damage. My goal is to get it sealed for now so the metal wont rust.

Jeep Wrangler JL I Got Some Bad Trail Wounds D822F205-552E-4304-A1CB-F58FC4276E16
I got trail damage on a door on and old XJ 8 years ago. I waited a year to fix it, a shop gave me an $800 quote but I was in college and that was too much money. It was similar yo your door damage. I bought the paint from chrysler and used a dremmel to remove the rust. I had to sand down a bit until there was no rust. That bondo stuff works well. I got it pretty level and rust never came back. This was in Vermont too, rust there appears in a matter of days. The only issue was the paint. No matter how much I polished that spot it looked dull. It is really hard to get the mirror shine, no matter how hard you try. It does look better over time but never like new.

Good luck.
 

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jonahgetz

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I got trail damage on a door on and old XJ 8 years ago. I waited a year to fix it, a shop gave me an $800 quote but I was in college and that was too much money. It was similar yo your door damage. I bought the paint from chrysler and used a dremmel to remove the rust. I had to sand down a bit until there was no rust. That bondo stuff works well. I got it pretty level and rust never came back. This was in Vermont too, rust there appears in a matter of days. The only issue was the paint. No matter how much I polished that spot it looked dull. It is really hard to get the mirror shine, no matter how hard you try. It does look better over time but never like new.

Good luck.
Very good to know. I understand it will never look factory, but just a way to get it sealed and protected. Just a trail scar patch.
 

JimmyR75

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Depending on the policy, once you go DIY there may be no backing out. I.e. the trail damage was an accident, and if covered they’ll fix it. But DIY repairs are intentional, and they may say it’s your problem after that if you screw it up (May even be worth just asking them about this, if it’s still covered if you mess up the diy repair).

I’d use the insurance. You pay for it, so use it. It’s what it’s for. If it were older, then maybe make a project out of it. But not a new one, use the insurance and get her back to A1. Save the projects for the fun stuff. (The only thing I personally would consider as a downside to this is premium increase, but a lot of variables there).

P.S. I definitely wouldn’t try to BS them. That’s a lot of damage. And they’re gonna ask what you hit. Hard to avoid saying it’s trail damage in a believable way if damage is on both sides.
 
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jonahgetz

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So, i know some were saying to go the insurance route. Being raised a hand on do it yourself mentality, i started diving into the repairs. My deductible for insurance is $1000 and for that price im halfway to a premium tan soft top or i could get a steel stubby front and fender delete. I really dont want anything on this vehicles record. Id rather have some scars than some repairs in the vehicle history.
Thank you all for the input and ill keep you posted with repairs
Jeep Wrangler JL I Got Some Bad Trail Wounds 61D67AF7-2D36-4E64-8379-7BC270107F49
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jonahgetz

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No one is better than I when it comes to driving ANY trail off road! Feel free to message me for advice. Here is a pic of me compounding out a scratch from the clear coat.
Jeep Wrangler JL I Got Some Bad Trail Wounds checking scratches
Its just a scratch, nbd. 😉
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