On my way home from my parents house tonight, somewhere in Maryland (and 200 miles from home) I found that someone had set up a "deer slalom" in the middle of the interstate. I made it through, but I wound up +1 for my efforts. I almost missed it, I'm pretty sure it stayed in the box......

The light still works....for now.

I often wonder the percentage of people in the midwest that hit a deer in their lifetimes. Hopefully the bill doesn't add up too fast.

I'm glad you got away unhurt and the car doesn't look too bad. I am all too familar with deer and what they can do.

Ouch! Glad you and Mrs. trackbird is OK.

Bummer. I swerve around deer here in NJ on a regular basis. You should see the damage my next door neighbor has to his F-350 SD.....

I bet you fee like this:

Glad you and the miss are OK.

It looks like a racecar to me now, time to gut it throw some racers tape on it and go racing :leaving:

At least now you have an excuse to gut the interior, pull all of the lights, install a cage to sure up any frame damage, and turn it into a dedicated race car. This is the same car that like to drive on the grass too, right?

Did you have to shoot the deer to put it out of it's missery?

I was equipped for such an action, but I think it cleared the guard rail and went over the hill. By the time I found a place to stop, it was 1/2 mile away and I never saw the deer.

I laid into the brakes, but the roads had so much salt on them, I really couldn't stop like I'm used to (I looked in the mirror and saw a three lane wide cloud of salt dust I'd kicked up). And, I didn't want to swerve too hard while braking since I'm running snow tires and the car is a bit scary in the handling department (I'd have missed it on street tires).

The fender is pushed back "hard" into the door, it takes a good push to get it open and it opens with a loud bang. I was hoping a fender and a light would do it, but it appears that the mounts are bent (even with braking, I probably hit it at 50+ mph). The worst part is, I just don't like leaving a car like this in the care of a shop. Too many storys of body shop guys "test driving" cars and destroying them. Since it's obvious that it's not stock, I would rather fix it myself (I'm sure it's going to some shop, maybe I'll have my friend meet me there and set the rev limit for 1,500 rpm or something with HP Tuners).


Full coverage, 0 deductible. Not a problem......

I called my dad and told him:

"I was thinking that tonight looked like a good night to hit a deer" (low traffic, dark eveing, etc).

He said:

"Instead, why didn't you think that tonight was a good night to win the lottery"?

The fact that the hood isn't bent tells me that I really did almost miss the damn thing. Actually, I was surprised when I heard the thump, I thought I was going to squeak by it (I think it started to take a step and then slowed down).

Oh well, a little zaino and it will be good as new.....

if the fender is shoved back it's most likely the front bracket that holds the fender and front fascia is bent, it's thin sheet metal and could be easily bent back if that's the case.

fenders go for $100-$150.

I wondered how these attached (I've never needed to have one off) and I was hoping it wasn't anything more than that. I'm guessing it was a 130+ lb deer (it was a big doe, and may have been over 130, but it was probably at least 130).

I'm going to let my insurance company take care of it, that's why I pay them (though I am a "do it yourself" kind of guy and would consider it if I could find a painted fender that's in good shape).

Man! Glad you're allright buddy! Someone in my family in Montana is always totalling out a vehicle due to deer!

sorry about the damage from the large land rat

after i hit one (amazing I only hit one since there was a herd crossing the road) with my 85 crown vic station wagon at about 20 mph all the land rats run away from me in all of my cars. btw crown vic: 1 land rats: 0. Wasn't even a scratch on my boat (the crown vic)

You must have been in Western MD or you were driving through one of those counties that freeks out at the site of an inch of snow.

Deer are everywhere around here. I almost smashed one driving to work 2 weeks ago. Something like a 10 point buck standing in the median strip by a tree. Because of the tree I never saw him till he was basically breathing on the door. Unfortunatly the guy behind me wiped him out.

Yup, I was on 68....about 2-3 miles from the WV line (headed into Morgantown). After hitting the deer, I looked up and saw the "Thanks, we enjoyed your visit" sign (that's right before the state line).

So, yup, western MD.

On the way out there, I hit 2-3" of snow/slush from 40 miles east of frostburg to hancock Md. Took me 7.5-8 hrs to get home instead of my usual 5-ish.

You were very lucky you didn't get stuck, because you were in the middle of nowhere. I'm not exactly sure what's around the line, but I68 in general is one of those roads that you don't let the gas tank get to far below 1/4 because the next open gas station might be 50 miles away.

Kevin,

Glad you are OK ... in Texas, we have deer as well. But the armadillos can do some strange things to a front fascia as well. Difference is, we don't layer the roadway with dust to "enhance" traction and we can run 315 Rs year round!

You probably already know this ...

The front nose and font fender "sandwich" together along with a "Z" shaped bracket that attaches to the frame rail. I imagine that bracket is bent, but like said above, it can easily be straightened with a little trial and error.

The rear of the fender has an "L" shaped bracket accessible with the door open. Again, it's probably just bent a tad. Maybe even in the proper form, just the fender is tab is snapped off.

You can probably loosen the 6 or so bolts uder the hood and pull the fender off the door.

Take the inner fender liner out and about 10 13mm bolts top, bottom and sides and the fender should pop right off.

You can hunt for used, but there is great aftermarket support for late model F-Car body panels. Locally, there is a place called Crash-mart. They are a chain, I believe. New non-OEM fenders (lighter than OEM ) can be had for $75 picked up.

A fond childhood memory was riding in the back of a pea green '78 Olds between San Antonio and San Angelo when we hit an armadillo; it was like hitting a large rock. How we didn't destory that animal with that beast of a car I'll never know.

That miracle dust did wonders for my braking distances. It's not like I don't have serious brakes on the car....

I lucked out that I managed to almost miss the deer. We just kept going the last 200 miles home (after I hopped out and did a quick inspection). I run through there all the time between my parents and my place. I know the area well....too well. If I'd have really hit it hard, I might have had a bad night. It was a bit before midnight (which didn't help) and we might have been there a while. I had plenty of warm clothes and "protection" if things went badly (I was going shooting with friends when I was home).

I just called my insurance agent. Full coverage, 0 deductible. It won't cost me anything but frustration, so I'll let them handle it. I had a good shop recommended to me that won't drive the car and will lock it up, etc (good friends of a friend). So, I'll give these guys a shot.

So far, total cost 0. (though I have to pay 20% of any rental car fees).

Sorry to hear that Kevin.

After 16 years of luck (and many close calls) I hit a deer this year, and did with style. Actually he hit me (jumped out in front of the truck), and got not one, not two, but THREE licensed vehicles. My truck (not hurting the steel bumper, but caving in the RR door), my trailer (making a pretzel out of my tire rack), and the MR2 Turbo that was on the trailer (only some light fender damage, thank god for the tire rack).

Yes, I managed to hit a deer with 3 things at once. Pretty good for one driver ain't it?

Bummer but glad you have good insurance. Here's hoping they do the body work well.

But did you DNF or keep it to a 6 second penalty, Sam?

....gut it.....gut IT......GUT IT.......


Seriously.....glad you are OK!

It happens I guess.

I'm not so mad about the car (that really didn't bother me too much, my wife was more mad than I was... it's not like it's a show winner or anything like that...), I'm mad that I didn't manage to avoid that deer like all the others. I saw it, I hit the brakes (which didn't do much on salt) and I gently swerved, but not much (snow tires are scary and even worse on salt) and just clipped it. If I'd done a bit more (if I could have) of either one, I'd have missed it. I didn't want to spin the car and risk a worse accident to save Bambi though, so the deer got it.

3 for one, that's pretty ugly..... I guess I don't feel so bad now Sam.

Body shop says it's getting a new bumper cover, new fender and a new light assembly (and I did miss the hood). They'll fix the marks on the door from the fender being pushed into it and re-clear what's needed. He'll call with an estimate (just because I'm curious).

There's a lot of deer on the roads here in Northern Utah also. I have ran the "deer slalom" many times, and made a clean run every time. (saying that probably jinxed me ) The last time was in the wife's Trans Am at 80 mph. There were three on the road at 1:00AM, and I managed to swerve hard enough to go between them. I'm more afraid of hitting horses than deer, though.

This was right about midnight (EST) on Saturday night (Sunday morning?).

what was your pax-ed time after the 2second deer penalty ?
how's the deer ? bbq-ed yet ?

don't deer in your area cross the road @ deer crossing signs only ?

Sorry to hear about the damage, here is my deer story with a happy ending.

I was driving on a rual missouri road though the south half of an army base, back when such things were possible. Fort Lost in the woods, here in missouri.

I saw a full grown deer near the tree line ahead and to my right.

I honked my horn to make sure the deer ran into the woods, wrong move.

The deer bolted away from the trees and ran into the road in front of me.

I stood on the brakes and the deer looked around and promptly fell on its ass in the road.

I am still standing on the brakes and moving into the left lane, the deer gets up and begins running straight down the road.

So now I am in the left lane with a deer running next to my passenger fender, just joined the herd.

I am still slowing down and the deer gets in front of my car and sees its chance and then cuts to the left in front of my car and runs into the woods on the left side of the road.

My car and the deer never touched.

I will never honk at a deer again.

Z28

Estimate is in......

$2410

(with GM parts)

Holy $hit!

Good thing I almost missed it......

Take the $$$ and put a cage in it And buy a little S10 for everyday driving

I found a 1 ton Chevy (not diesel though) extra cab, long bed, 2WD for $13,000 on the local used lot. It's a bit large to park downtown for work, but I've been thinking about it.....

Come on buddy......JUMP

You know you want to make it a AI or AV8SS car :drive:

I'm ready to jump, but my wallet has other plans for the time being. I just have too many expensive hobbies.....

When I saw the 2400, I actually said "holy $hit" then I read it, funny stuff.


Who would've thought that would have cost so much.

Ya know, I originally bought the Camaro (my second 4th gen) because that's what I wanted to drive every day. Even with the Camaro seats the only car (under $35K) I know of that was more comfortable was a TA, so now I've got the TA seats Even in it's current form, the main drawbacks as a DD are the lack of ground clearance, increasing investment/decreasing value, and my aversion to salt.

I keep daydreaming about getting a stock Firebird as a "beater", putting good shocks, a 1LE front bar, and 16" all-season tires on it and calling it done (I already have a set of winter tires). The "smart" choice would be the 3.8 V6, but I'd probably have to hold out for an LS1 Formula.

I did buy a high mileage (cheap) Dodge Ram a few years ago, and drive it when the weather sucks, but it's too expensive to drive all the time and not nearly as comfortable.

My father has a 2002 S10 with a 4 cylinder, auto, 4.10 gears, and my old stock T2. I just drove it recently, and it's surprisingly peppy, but boy do the stock shocks suck!

Actually, the smartest thing would have been to leave my loaded Z28 stock as a DD and get a bare Formula to build. C'est la vie.

BTW, ignoring the competition aspect completely, the UETA is great for daily driving, especially when conditions are slick. Panic braking is significantly improved. I even managed to stop short of the deer while pulling a loaded tire trailer, and the tongue weight is lighter than it should be

I picked up the car on Thursday at 4pm. It looks great (I'll take some pics soon). I had them leave the front grill off of it and ordered a license plate bracket from SLP (bolts under the nose so you don't have to drill holes in your bumper cover). They even detailed the interior.....wiped out my carefully assembled collection of 3 year old dash dust. I was really mad....then I realized that the car looks really good, inside and out, and that I can start a new dash dust collection all over again. At that point, life was good and all was right with the world.

Bastards. Oh well, weight reduction.

Some people Just when I had you on the edge of gutting it, they pull you back into "it's a nice daliy driver" mode

Sucks, doesn't it?

The worst part (and I almost hate to admit this here) is that my CD changer has finally angered me enough that I want to replace it. But, I won't buy another GM unit (mine wasn't really any good when new), so I am considering an aftermarket radio, but I'd need a small 5 channel amp, new speakers and a small sub (mounted where the changer goes) to do it right. If I were to get stupid and do such a thing, I think I could do it for under 100 lbs of total weight (it's a full weight pig of a car anyway and I do still drive it).

I really hate the thought of adding weight, but I miss having a decent stereo (I used to do competitions many years ago).

I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet.......

Slipping from one dark side to another, its a damn shame.

I'm thinking that I'll just rebuild my home theater instead. I can spend a large fortune doing that and maybe it will keep me from messing with the car.