Topic: noise after being rear ended

[audioguy1]

So a few weeks ago my girlfriend was rear ended on her way to work. About a week ago the rear end (dana 35) started making some noise and having some play in it. Trying to get the responsible insurance co. to cover this and they are saying it's not likely, but I have heard it is fairly common in Wranglers. Anyone have any expierience with this at all. Thanks for any help here.

[Jeffy]

Tough to know what the sound it from but it's not normal.  Have any pictures of the damage?  Unless it was directly hit, there shouldn't be any damage.

[audioguy1]

the damage was not very bad, bent rear frame rail under rear door and dented up my gas tank skid a little. Mainly curious if anyone has seen or heard of this first hand

[Jeffy]

So this is the XJ.  Well, if it was hit behind the rear door then that's where the tire is so it would be plausible for the axle to have some damage.

[audioguy1]

Oh I'm sorry, this is in the YJ. Should have said that huh 

It was hit dead on in the rear

[sharpxmen]

the damage was not very bad, bent rear frame rail under rear door and dented up my gas tank skid a little. Mainly curious if anyone has seen or heard of this first hand

if it hit you in the tire one of the tubes could've bent, the axle could've bent or the bearing or race surface could have been damaged. same if the gas tank skid was driven into the diff. stick to your guns and don't let them get away with it, they will always say it's not from the accident but you need to tell them that you had no issues and now this happens, too big of a coincidence. take it to a shop that is not the one from the insurance company, they can give you an diagnosis and estimation, you can ask them for an opinion if it's due to the accident, if they say yes and they want to fix it ask for it in writing, the insurance will have to cover it (or you have to take them to small claims court). i had somewhat of a similar issue and they paid once the vehicle was in a different shop (didn't even had to argue, just went somewhere else and they faxed the estimate to the insurance and they paid for the repair directly)

[Jeffy]

Oh I'm sorry, this is in the YJ. Should have said that huh 

It was hit dead on in the rear

So it was hit from directly behind and the frame bent?  That's a big impact.

[audioguy1]

Thanks, I'll get it back to the shop early next week as I needed to come get it as a last resort due to more snow falling today and tonight. The adjuster is actually being pretty cool about it and said that if he could he would relate it somehow, but the claims rep. is being an . but I guess we will see, thanks again

Not really the frame, but the rail that is directly under the tailgate that the bumperettes were bolted to, not even bent that bad. For the most part the lady that hit her drove right under neath it thanks to the lift.

[Jeffy]

That's a rear cross member.  Those always get tweaked when you run a bumper that hangs down.  I've had mine replaced after getting rear ended, which is what I don't run a rear bumper anymore.    Actually, I'll eventually add something to it but I haven't decided on what to do just yet.