Outline · [ Standard ] · Linear+ Sad Day - Totalled My Old Diesel P/U & Camper

[Nobody]

Had a really bad day Saturday! . My brother & I had gone to our deer camp in SW Arkansas to bring home my old '85 Ford Diesel & Sun-Lite pop-up cabover TC. Got everything packed in the camper & headed home. We'd made it almost to Arkadelphia, AR (about halfway home), traveling east on AR SH 26 when a westbound driver began making a left turn directly across my lane of traffic. I was going near the speed limit of 55mph but had begun to slow down as I was approaching a 'built up' area with nice homes along the highway. I couldn't believe what I was seeing but he continued his turn & at that distance & speed there was no way I could avoid a collision. I swerved sharply to my right as hard as I dared considering my speed & the slight 'pitch' of the highway, onto the road toward which he was turning but was unable to completely avoid the collision. The other driver never stopped until my left front impacted his left front, which definitely stopped him . My truck continued on into the ditch, attempted to climb a 4ft embankment, tilted sharply toward the left, hit a good sized pine tree, & ended up back upright but my camper was upside down on the highway. I thought once during the incident that the truck would turn over but I guess when the camper came off it went back upright. I only found one of the four 650# steel turnbuckles that secured the camper to the truck. They're the type with a hook at one end & a loop/eye at other end. None of the attachment points on either the truck or camper were damaged so apparently the twisting/jostling during the collision & afterward was enough to 'spring' them loose & release the camper. Otherwise I'm sure the truck would have turned over. The collision with his vehicle almost completely destroyed my left front wheel, nearly separating the wheel/hub from the twin I-Beam axle, & the right side nearly so when the truck tried to climb the embankment & hit the tree with that side. I ended up nearly upright but at a steep angle (all the contents in the cab with me were piled up against me as I was on the 'low' side. The impacts had pushed both front quarter panels back into the doors & I was unable to open either door. I'd rolled my window down as soon as it was over so I just climbed out that window (wasn't far to the ground at that angle ). My brother of course hurried to see if I was injured, & after learning I probably wasn't he began directing traffic around the other vehicle which was still in the middle of the highway. A passing driver summoned police who responded very quickly. They called out the Arkansas State Police to investigate & write the accident report since the location wasn't in city limits. A couple of good witnesses saw the entire thing & stayed around to give statements to the Trooper, & it was obvious from his vehicle location what had happened. After I climbed out of my truck & determined that I probably wasn't seriously injured I took out my cell phone & began taking pix (as a retired law enforcement officer I'm aware that you can never have too many pictures of an accident scene). Police called a local wrecker service who sent 2 'tilt bed' trucks. They loaded the other vehicle onto one & dragged my camper (still upside down & leaking water copiously from the fresh water tank) onto the other. The wrecker driver dragged my truck out enough so he could extend his 'lift' & raise the front end of my truck & secure it to his rig. He gave me info on the location of their 'impound yard', & the Trooper gave me info on the other driver & said I was free to go. Brother & I came on home & I immediately called my insurance agent who transferred me to the State Farm Claims office. After a 20 minuter phone interview she assigned a Claims # & adjuster to assist me with my claims against the other driver's insurance. Also talked to my youngest brother who is an attorney as well as being a claims adjuster for State Farm (homeowner division) who gave me some good advice/tips on record keeping & negotiating with the other insurance company. He also told me to go to the wrecker impound lot today & recover all personal items/belongings I could from my truck & camper. I intend to do that shortly.

I feel very fortunate that I was able to 'walk away' from that. I'm sure that if I'd been going a little slower, or if the other driver was turning a little faster, the collision would have been nearly head-on. I really hate to lose my old truck (it's been a darn good 29 year run) but am thankful no one was seriously injured in what could have been a 'killer'. I'm also going back to the accident site today to see if I can find the other turnbuckles. The other driver said the sun was in his face & he never saw me coming...

Y'all be careful out there! Here's a few pix

[Bob B]

Glad no one was injured.....could have been a lot worse.

Problem is that not matter how good the settlement is, you won't be able to replace what you lost.

One of those ...stuff happens...moments.

[Spanky]

Yea you're ok and that is what matters, roll that SunLite over and I bet it will be just fine. Also, after looking at the second pic closely, Looks as though you were very lucky and that this is not the first accident there.

[Nobody]

Yea you're ok and that is what matters, roll that SunLite over and I bet it will be just fine. Also, after looking at the second pic closely, Looks as though you were very lucky and that this is not the first accident there.

Yeah Spanky, I feel very fortunate. I'm pretty sure what little I was able to do to lessen the impact was enabled by a much higher power. I'm not local to that area (tho I do travel the highway several times each year to our deer camp) so I don't know the history of that intersection. Seems reasonable to believe that with the direction of travel (east/west) & the location of the intersecting road, the sun might cause some problems for westbound drivers intending to turn left onto that road. The driver who turned in front of me said he never saw my truck/camper combo, & I surely didn't expect his turn & had no time to even honk my horn. Best I could do was veer to the right as sharply as I dared, attempting to avoid the collision. Tho that maneuver wasn't completely successful I feel like I did avoid what almost surely would have been near head on. I'm afraid the Sun-Lite is in worse shape than it looks. When it landed on the top, the roof vent frame (pretty well in middle of the 'box' portion of the camper) held up enough to crush inward causing stress fractures from the vent toward all 4 corners of the roof portion. My fresh water tank was still a little over half full & immediately began leaking (pouring?) water & soaked much of the contents as well as the 'fiberboard?' ceiling. I don't think the water would have hurt the ceiling much (the fiberboard has a 'slick' surface that is near waterproof) until it began soaking in where the stress fractures had cracked the board from roof vent to each corner. Water also apparently got into the power converter causing some damage there. Battery was still connected tho it was resting on the ceiling & lights worked only intermittently. I disconnected the battery before 'rumaging' around much. Lots of small items that might not be too hard or expensive to fix but, I can't help remembering 'how it was before', & just don't have the incentive to attempt the task. I was able to unlock the door while camper is upside down but it appears the door jamb/frame may be 'sprung' also as I couldn't re-lock the dead bolt afterwards.

Minor update - Yesterday my brother I went down to Arkadelphia to get personal items from my truck & recover as much of the camper contents as possible. Camper is still upside down so it was a mess inside. While looking it over carefully I found that the 'eye-bolt' tie down on right front of the camper is missing. Apparently it broke off on impact with either the other vehicle or the tree (The right rear of my truck cab & the portion of the bed directly below are bent up & dented severely). When the tie down gave way it allowed that portion of the camper to raise up, putting severe strain on the rear tie down on that side, almost straightening the hook portion of that turnbuckle. That of course, allowed the camper to tip off the truck when it tilted sharply to the left. We visited the accident scene & found 2 more of the 4 turnbuckles. Of the 3 recovered, all are in perfect condition except the straightened 'hook' of the one I believe was on right rear (deduced from location where it was found).

[Nobody]

Another Update - I think I jumped to an invalid conclusion. I don't think the right front eye bolt tie down broke during the wreck. In looking at the pix I took at the scene right after the accident, they show the tie down clearly present & apparently intact when the camper was upside down in the road (see pic # 6 in my first post above). I didn't watch while the wrecker driver was loading my camper onto the 'tilt bed' truck but I did see before loading that he was using a chain to assist. I can only assume that maybe he tried to use the tie down point as a place to attach the chain either loading or unloading the camper?? Perhaps I was correct in my first assumption that the bouncing/jostling during the accident was enough to 'break' the turnbuckles loose from the tie down points & allow the camper to tip off the truck when it was tilted to the left.

[Spanky]

Sad that you wont be able to save the camper, although, you might be able to keep it at the camp for a place to sleep for when hunting. The reason I made the comment about the second pic is, well, take another look at the pic and see if you can see what I am talking about.

[Nobody]

Yeah, I saw the little 'cross' on the other side of Hwy 26 while looking around after the accident. Never thought a lot about it at the time. Good eye Spanky

That is actually a terrible spot for a road intersection. A couple of hundred yeards west of the intersection, Hwy 26 eastbound tops a small hill, continues straight downhill for a hundred yards or so, then curves slightly left (you can see it by the oncoming vehicles in the 2nd pic) & goes uphill straight for another couple hundred yards befor curving right again. Central Road intersection is approx 50-60 yds east of where hwy 26 curves left & starts up the hill. Central Road intersects Hwy 26 at about 10-15 degree angle to the right & goes downhill for the last hundred yards or so before hwy 26. In the afternoon on a clear day the sun shines almost directly toward a westbound driver, undoubtedly hindering good vision. I'm kind of a 'little old lady' about stuff like that & NEVER make a left turn across traffic without being able to see any oncoming vehicles. I've even held up traffic behind me while waiting for a clear space to cross. Of course in some locations that can be nearly as dangerous as trying to turn in traffic... As I intimated in my second post above, I'd be very surprised if there hasn't been more'n one collision with fatality at that location. This time of year the winter sun is nearly in line with a westbound vehicle, between 3 & 5 pm.

[Nobody]

Only relation this post has to my original post is a continuation & question. Other driver's insurance company made a reasonable settlement for my old Ford & camper (I wouldn't have sold for that amount prior to the collision but considering its age, excellent condition, etc., I guess it was fair). Been lookin' for a replacement but it's hard to find something I can afford that I'd even drive. I've been told by a very reliable source of a truck available. It's a 1999 Dodge Club Cab, 1-ton P/U, dual wheels, w/Cummins turbo diesel & auto trans. Source says nice condition with 85K miles, $6500 firm. I've never been a 'Dodge man' & have no experience with them or the Cummins 6-cyl diesel engine but have heard pretty good things about both. For you with experience, does that sound like a relatively decent buy. Also, how difficult is it to set up camper jacks to clear the dual rear wheels, especially on a pop-up type camper? TIA. I currently have neither a truck or camper but want to either replace my old rig or maybe buy a small Class 'c' type motorhome...

[Spanky]

85000 on a 99 Cummins is nothing if its been taken care of. You can purchase "swing out brackets" for the front jacks and have no problems backing under it. I am not a Dodge man but have a friend with one and cummins and he swears by it, I know they sure sound good.