Need a little help from some friends...

[BroncoGirl64]

I will refrain for now from naming the shop where my '84 CJ7 is currently sitting, until I see what they are going to do to rectify the situation!

We took it in have it looked at since the previous owner was delivering it from out of state and what he thought was a blown Transmission that stopped him down the highway dead in his tracks!

As it turns out, the clutch plate shattered and the flywheel broke. Stating that they need to replace those before being able to check the Transmission via a test drive, we authorized the repairs.

A couple of days later we caught a call from the manager who said he had dreaded all day to make the call to us....apparently the mechanic(s) forgot to put some bolts back so when the manager turned out of the parking lot for the test drive, the drive shaft broke and banged so hard up against the tub that it not only left "cuts" on the underneath side, it caused the tub, in the middle between the two seats, to buckle and form creases and crack away the paint and undercoating type top spray where I now have exposed metal!

As you can all appreciate, this is an antique and I would love to have opinions on what is the best hand to force them/their insurance company to rectify the situation WHILE maintaining the integrity and value it deserves!

 

[Hedgehog]

Wow! That is terrible. First what happened to blow a flywheel! Then the incredible incompetence level to actually leave the drive shaft saddles loose enough to turn the driveshaft loose is unimaginable. I'm sure they want to call it a day, slip you the $500 they believe it's worth, grin, slap you on the back and walk away with a sh.. eating grin on their faces. Unfortunately, unless your CJ is extraordinary they will get away with it. Even if you get salvage after totaling it out they will give you a salvage title to go along with the slap in the face.

It can be fixed, rear floors are available, but at a price.

 

[gert]

Wow that sucks. I cant believe the driveshaft buckled the floor welcome aboard from North East Texas I hope they fix it. You might look into having a lawyer on stand by maybe he can give you good pointers on how to resolve this with out having to go to court

 

[HackFabrication]

First off: :ww: To the Forum and the Jeep CJ ward at the asylum....

Take a couple deep breaths, go to the shop, and find out what they intend to do about the damage.

Must of been one heck of a test drive to launch the driveshaft like that. Usually they just drop down and make a bunch of noise while the driver ...

 

[Hedgehog]

My post was certainly very negative. Frequently we are surprised and the better nature of the shop owner allows him to do the repairs necessary to give you a properly repaired vehicle.

Your experience brings up an issue I've been thinking about lately. How many jeepers go to the point of adding a driveshaft guard (?) to the rear drive shaft that would catch a detached shaft before it falls to the ground or up to the bottom of the tub causing serious damage. It seems like a fairly easy modification, a ring big enough to allow up/down movement of a healthy drive shaft and strong enough to hold a failed one in a relatively safe location.

 

[Torxhead]

Good luck with getting that fixed as it can be done without totaling the vehicle. Anyway the later CJs came with those dreaded straps that hold the driveshaft in, the previous series CJs came with a u-bolt setup instead that seems to be an improvement. Although I have not really heard previously about any problems with the newer style straps providing they are tight.

 

[JR74CJ5]

I had the rear driveshaft come loose on me while doing 65 - 70 mph on the freeway... from the Transfer Case side... Needless to say I was pretty lucky...

It beat the crud out of the bottom of my tub too. I smacked it out, welded and ground it flat, and painted it. from the inside all is well, from the underside you can still tell a bit.

If it were me, I'd go down there and say "hey guys - happens. Lets move forward." Ask they what they think. Can they fix the body in a safe way, and refinish the top to make it nice again? These guys are human too - sometimes you screw the pooch one day thinking about your wife leaving you or your teenage kid just said he hated you because you grounded him for sneaking out the night before etc.

I've found understanding and wilingness to work with someone who's already on the defense beacuse they screwed up gets you much further than demanding and no-budge attitude (not reffering to you OP - just saying in general from my experience ) As others have said, they "can" just turn it into their liability insurance and they will give you very little for a settlement without a long drawn out battle.

You might be able to be cool with the shop from here forward, get a acceptable solution compramise, and possibly get some more work / parts from them for a pretty good discount.

That all being said, only you know the feeling from the shop and the extent of the damage. And only you can decide how you want to handle. I've gotten results from the Good cop and bad cop versions both ways. I just feel better and less stressed these days with the good cop versions

and :ww:

 

[JR74CJ5]

I'd add - I would also take into account other peoples experience with the particular shop. Read reviews from the internet / google etc, and if it's common they screw up - drill em a bit. If it's looking like everyone and their mother has had the best experience with them, and you got the short end of the short day, they're probably respectable and will be willing to bend over backwards to keep their integrety and good name intact.

 

[BroncoGirl64]

Thank you everyone! We have stayed calm (on the outside) throughout this ordeal, hoping that would get us a little farther with results. I did some research and the shop rates really high in satisfied customers and they are a second generation family owned shop - 40 years. Now that they have completed the other work, today they are supposed to let a body shop take a look at it and most likely we will ask for the repair estimate to be applied as credit towards our bill and then paint it ourselves (to protect from rust) and then slap a console on to cover up the dents!

 

[Hedgehog]

In keeping calm you've done well.

It would be too bad if the body shop doesn't repair the damage until the dents are taken care of. I suppose that depends somewhat on the over all condition of your CJ. That is rust bucket or rust free. They really should return it to it's original condition free of charge. Other than being frustrating for a competent body shop repairing a CJ floor should be fairly straight forward.