[eprovenzano]

First let me state yes my son had an accident, He's fine, in-fact he didn't have a scratch on him. Yes he was wearing his seatbelt.

He was on his way back to college after being at a friends house. He fell asleep at the wheel less than 5 miles form campus. He was heading south bound on a two lane road, when he fell asleep crossed the road and hit the guardrail with the left front wheel at about a 45 degree angle. The impact caused the rear of the jeep to launch into the air and the jeep did a 180, bounced and ended up on its side with the jeep heading north.

The front axle took the majority of the impact. One control arm sheared off, another is bent like a pretzel. The coil was lying on the road. The left front fender sustained some damage, and the right corner of the tub had some deep scratched from when the wrecker lifted it back onto its wheels.

At this point I'm not sure if there is any damage to the frame, tranny, transfer case, etc. I do expect the rear track bar relocation bracket to be broken, but until I find time to get it onto blocks, I just don't know. I'll be calling the wrecking company today to have it moved to a local garage where I can work on it.

My son was pretty upset, but its only metal that can be fixed. He was not hurt, other than being sore the next few days. From the time he was 16, he has always worn his seatbelt. It defiantly made a difference in this situation allowing him to walk away without a scratch.

Now I just need time, money and a lot of luck so I can put the jeep back together.

[rubidriver]

sorry to hear about this, are you asking for some help with the jeep?

[BlueTorch]

Very good to open a thread like this and hear that no one was hurt. You said it... the Jeep is only metal. With time and a little money it can be repaired.

Dan

[eprovenzano]

double post

[newRUBI]

good to hear he wasnt hurt man

[eprovenzano]

I finally had the jeep sent to a local garage. The lower control arm on the driver side sheared off the axle, the upper is bent like a pretzel. The upper and lower on the passenger the connecting points on the axle are bent. The transfer case is definably a causality, as the front driveshaft took it out. The rear track bar relocation bracket is bent, as are the control arm mounts on the rear axle.

The tub has a few minor scratches on the passenger rear, the top is torn, and the fender flares are all broken. The driver side fender has a little damage, but it many be able to be straightened.

I hope to get some time this weekend to really get under it, and give it a good inspection.

I thought it was on life support, but I think I found a pulse. I'm still not sure if the patient (the jeep) will live, but its more promising then I thought.

[carpekd]

good to hear he's ok

[Grt_Ape]

Glad to hear your son wasn't hurt.

The guy I bought my LJ from had something similar happen with his son. Kid was ~17-19 when it happened. He was driving home from Glamis and fell asleep at the wheel. Woke up, panicked, overcorrected, and wrecked the Jeep. Jeep was a total loss; and the kid messed up his right hand pretty good too. This was several years back, and the kid had had several surgeries and is still going through physical therapy for his hand.

The officers on the scene credited the RockHard cage for saving the kids life. They felt that the cage isolated and protected the passenger compartment in what was such a severely damaged vehicle.

[JFranko]

Wow, glad to hear your son is ok, Jeeps can be replaced (and upgraded! ), almost had that happen to me, its pretty scary when you doze of behind the wheel of car, jeeps especially because of their tendencies to drift

[BlackBellamy]

please post some pictures when you have a chance

[Finulanu]

Was the Jeep stock?
If not I would just be curious to see what it looks like and possibly the damage done to it if you you don't mind.
Totally up to you though, of course.

[tj99]

Glad to hear your son is OK, makes you wonder how another vehicle would have held up. When I put my son in a Jeep at 16 everyone thought I was crazy. I'd much rather have him in something with a frame and rollcage than anything else.

Your son sounds like mine in that he puts his seatbelt on whenever he gets in, its such a habit he does it just to move a car. Thats a good habit, I still have to think to put mine on.

[leapfrog505]

X2 My son rolled his LJ a year ago and walked away without a scratch. I drove it home that evening amazed at how little damage was done.

[larry76010]

Really glad to hear your son is alright. A jeep can always be repaired or replaced!!!!

[MacK]

Wow, crazy. It's never good to drive tired!

I once drove home after being at a theme park from 10AM to 10PM and could barely see and I drove 200 miles home :X I regret it, because I was so tired I could of fell asleep so easily.