I damaged my Lightning! 😬 but then I fixed it! (bent door)

[ctuan13]

So this actually happened a couple weeks ago, but I wanted to have the video completed for you guys to watch before I shared about it:

Long story short, it had been a long night, but I definitely goofed and absent-mindedly backed into my garage with my driver's door ajar, and although it was at less than 1 mph, my open driver's door impacted the frame of the garage door. This damaged the paint on the edge of the door as well as bent the body where the hinges, specifically the lower hinge mounts, such that the door no longer closed (striker misalignment) and the front bottom of the door rubbed against the fender.

Well after sitting down for a good 30 minutes and being absolutely furious with myself, I remembered it wasn't going to fix itself and so I set to work fixing it. I now wish I'd taken more pictures and videos of the damage immediately after the accident, but unfortunately, I was too pissed to consider it. Below are my results. It took a lot of time, effort and trial and error, but I got the alignment done and the touch up paint as close to perfect as touch up will probably ever be. You can watch the video I made documenting the whole process and also see some quick reference pictures.

Everything can't always be fixed, but let this be proof that with time and some concerted effort, you can do more than you think

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[dmd3home]

Very cool....we'll done....well, except for the initial error. But I don't get how it even happened. Everytime I open the door when the truck is moving it goes into park. It's very frustrating when you're opening the door to see where you're going. Did you change something to keep it from automatically going into park?
I guess that's why this "feature" was added....to avoid mishaps like yours.

 

[RickLightning]

Wow, what a poor excuse for an accident!

The RIGHT WAY to do this is to put your minivan up on ramps, then decide to roll it back off without starting, with the door open. Hit the brakes, which don't grab in time, so that you hit the door and snap the frame on the garage door, squishing the driver's door, shattering the glass, ...

I am not impressed by you, sir!

 

[ctuan13]

Very cool....we'll done....well, except for the initial error. But I don't get how it even happened. Everytime I open the door when the truck is moving it goes into park. It's very frustrating when you're opening the door to see where you're going. Did you change something to keep it from automatically going into park?
I guess that's why this "feature" was added....to avoid mishaps like yours.

Well that would be my safety habit of immediately buckling my seat belt when getting into a vehicle, even when moving it a few feet. (A reflex I've had ever since I was in and almost deadly car accident when I was a kid)

With the seat belt buckled, the auto park function is disabled. And I also initially planned on only pulling in just enough for the tailgate to be inside. But then mid backup, I decided to pull it in further and by that point I'd already forgotten about not being centered and having my door open

Either way, what I can say is, I learned a lot about door alignment and autobody work and while I'd still rather not do it again lol, I'm at least grateful to have gained knowledge from it!

 

[dmd3home]

Oh, so if the seat belt is buckled it won't auto go into park when opening the door?
Yes, I ALWAYS have my seat belt buckled....I grew up with seat belts since 1955 when my dad, who was a test pilot, put them in our car....long before they were required.
But, on backing up slowly to fit in a tight spot, guess I had the belt off to lean out some for better vision....then it slams into park.

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