The K3500 was delivered back to me today, and though it was dark and I was working with a flashlight, I now have a better idea what damage it suffered.
The main leaf in the left rear spring is broken at the front mount. Snapped right off. perhaps it was weak and that break means the axle and related parts were not damaged as badly as I feared.
I was able to open the hood, the estimator had not been able to. I suspected the radiator was damaged because I saw antifreeze leaking just after the accident. It clearly came back into the fan, but not much. Aside from the shroud and associated stuff, I did not find any other real damage under the hood.
Most distrubing is the damage to the front of the frame horns. They are both bent, but I can't tell how far back. My worry is that the frame might be distorted by that damage, and that perhaps the front wheel drive has been pushed out of whack.
Ignoring the frame horns, it looks like a new rear spring, wheel and tire, and new radiator, hood, grill, lights and bumper, and piles of little stuff, and the truck could be back on the road.
I'm going to do some research on the cost of these parts, and I really need to verify the damage is limited to what I see, but I can now imagine fixing this truck instead of parting it out. If the frame is okay, but the body damage too expensive, I'm more encouraged that I could rebody this truck and be back in business. I can buy a complete but not running truck for less than $2,000 so that should be my max cost to collect most the parts.
The insurance settlement has not occured yet. If I have cash this weekend I might go truck shopping. If not I'll spend some time getting serious about checking the damage particularly to the frame.
