Well, about a year ago I built some wall hangers for my doors when I take them off, so I don't have them scratched all up on the floor. I just built them out of basic stud 2x4's, and mounted them in the studs in my garage using 3 4" lag bolts per side (one side has the driver's side doors, the other holds the passenger).
Well yesterday, I get home and open the garage - and I see one side of the doors laying in the middle of the bay. I freaked. I looked for glass, but luckily, the glass didn't bust...and I picked the doors up to assess the damage. The rear passenger side door was the first to fall, popping the ground and falling face flat on the concrete. The handle and hinges were the only places that really hit (minor scratches everywhere else). I've posted a pic below. The front passenger side door fell next, and landed on top of the rear. The front door is fine, only suffered a couple of small dime sized dents that look like they could be popped pretty easily. The rear side is a different story.
Hoping that the fall didn't damage the door latch in any way, I put the rear door on the car this morning, and it latched just fine - except...it won't open now! Ha...so yeah, I'm that guy driving with one door on his jeep.
But my question is...with the doors having an unrelated car accident...would insurance cover this? I have a $100 comprehensive deductible, but I'm not sure if I could use it or not.
That's a good question about insurance, you will have to talk to your insurance company. I asked about the doors and hard top when stored and from what my insurance company said was that when stored at home or in my shop it falls under house insurance or shop insurance.
Sorry for your luck. How did it let go? Did the lag bolts pull out of the stud? I'd be shocked if that's where the weak point was.
As far as insurance, I used to work as an auto claims adjuster and I think this would be covered but I'm not 100% sure. Once a part comes off the vehicle, I'm wondering of the carrier would try to claim that it's no longer part of the vehicle. That's a stretch so I think they would cover it. However, I would expect that they would call it collision so you would have a higher deductible than if it were comp. Comp is for 'other than collision' such as falling objects, animals, and vandalism. Collision is the vehicles' impact with another object, in this case, the floor. No different than if you drove into a light pole or concrete barrier. It's an impact (that's not an animal) so it's collision..... In my opinion. Only one way to know though, call your agent and file the claim. Let us know how it turns out!
You homeowner's insurance with be what covers the loss. Lag screws are probably the worst fasteners to use in this application, as you have now found out. In such applications I use 4" cabinet screws.
Why do you say lags are bad?. It is probably the proper fastener and will hold if seated properly into a wood member. You also know clearly if you hit wood because of the resistance when screwing or driving it in.
Lags are used to build decks and attach ledger boards. They are strong enough to hold up some jeep doors.
If they call it at fault yes. Some carriers take the stance that if it's a one vehicle accident, you're always at fault (since there's no other driver to blame). Hopefully he gets an adjuster with some compassion and they call it not at fault.
This is definitely a unique situation. As another person mentioned, this might need to go to homeowners. I think it boils down to how strict or lax the company wants to be. You could make an argument for comp, collision or homeowners providing the coverage.
Oh they were definitely the proper fastener. I either used 1/4" or 5/16" lags (3 of them, 4" long - so about 2.5" were in the studs bc I countersunk them about half an inch) per side, and they were in the studs very well. When I was finished, I was doing pullups on them (I weigh 170) with no flex.
I think what may have happened - my gf had parked in the garage the night before (she knows one of my neighbors and didn't want them to see her "shacking" up at my house)...and she drives a newer accord. The bay is already pretty tight, and I'm not sure if she accidently bumped it while backing out or what. I think what probably happened is that I didn't use a large enough drill to pre-drill and I split the stud on one of the bottom lags. With the humidity being high recently, the studs just got soft and weak, and probably split all the way to the top lag (the one holding the most weight) and it collapsed.
I am sorry to hear that your awesome idea failed. I have been trying to come up with a solution the this very problem. I have been storing all my Jeeps clothes in my spare bedroom to keep them safe from damage.
On a side note I noticed that you put your Jeep door on a car?? Hmmmmm :rofl2: A JEEP is a JEEP not a car. Jus sayin
Hahaha, touche, touche. It's been a long morning, forgive me .
But I just spoke with my agent, and he said was kind of baffled too and just told me to call the claims hotline (I have progressive) and see what can be done. So I call them and report it, and they said a claims rep will call me back soon.
Just got off the phone with the claims rep. He said that he was talking to his supervisor, and his supervisor was talking to another supervisor...and before you knew it - they were having a roundtable discussion about this particular claim with 6 different managers/supervisors. I kinda felt a little special at that point.
At first, they said that normally, auto insurance covers damage to a car and components attached to the vehicle. But then he said that they considered how long I've been with them (10 years) and tried to make it seem like they were going out of their way for me - which I understand how this claim could've gone either way. They talked about how they could write it up to where it was covered under collision. They basically said that, in legal terms, taking the doors off a jeep in the summer is a "normal/reasonable" action, and does not deviate from the standard for "Jeep owner behavoir", as this is what Jeeps are designed for...similar to a car with a removable T-top...if the t-top were to get dropped in the process of removal, insurance would probably cover the damage. If this were a taurus and the same thing happened while taking the doors off of it, that argument obviously couldn't be made. So he said they could cover it under collision, because the collision occured with the garage floor. In fact, he had to write 2 claims because there were technically 2 collisions, one for each door - but they waived the deductible for the second door.
So now it just comes down to whether or not the $500 deductible is worth it. Probably anything around $600, I won't use the claim. I'm hoping that they can just pop everything back in place, connect a few mechanisms, and charge me a shop hour or two. I'd be fine with that. The only thing that got majorly scratched were the hinges - everything else can be buffed out. But I have an appointment set up tomorrow to get it checked out. I'll keep y'all posted.
A big ole $1K...and I use progressive for my homeowner's and auto.
Now I wish I would've had $250 coverage on collision. I thought about moving it down today and claiming the damage next week - but I already did that with my comprehensive one time when I needed a new windshield and lowered it from $250 to $100.
And to be honest, I've been very happy with progressive. They've been great/fast to work with. I've had to claim a couple of things - got popped by a teen running a red light, and my front end clipped her side..this back in Jan of 2012. I just had to pay the uninsured motorist deductible ($200) because the girl didn't have insurance. They tried to collect that back for me, but with $15K worth of damage to the Jeep...I doubt if the girl didn't have insurance, that she could afford that settlement. The jeep was in the shop for about a month and a half - primarily bc I had to get a new front differential bc the housing was cracked (originally the claim was for $10K-$11K until they found that). But they paid for the rental, no issues whatsoever, and kept me up to speed on the progress. And every year, I think I get a new windshield because, let's face it - it's a jeep and I ride the interstate a lot...and no issues with those claims either.
I had the opportunity to switch bc my agent/broker whatever you want to call him writes for a few different companies...he found one that could save me a few bucks a month, but he didn't recommend switching since I'd been with progressive for so long. He even said how easy/advanced they were and liked working with them.
I'd eat it and get it fixed. The claim will cost you more in the long run in possible increased premiums. Save the claims for a big ticket item. $500 cash money will get those doors fixed up pretty good
14 years in the business. Three as an agent, three as an auto adjuster, and eight as an underwriter. I like to think that I know my trade, so thank you. That said, an at fault collision claim is what I expected, but this was a pretty unusual circumstance, so I could have seen them skew it another way.
Hopefully the damage is less than $500 so that they can close the claim with no payment made.
Just met with the adjuster - $651.84 for the front door (seriously - two dime sized dents???) and the rear passenger door was $830.75, for a grand total of $1482.59 - less my $500 deductible = $982.59.
Had the same thing happen to my doors - hung my 07 Sahara doors for years w/o any problems....give my Sahara to my youngest daughter and hang my 13 doors up and boom!
Jacked both doors - dented the corner/lip....cost me $1k - didn't involve my insurance co.
Actually the claims adjuster said to schedule a time when it's good weather for 2-3 days, so I won't be out a car...and I can just drop off the doors with them. Blending the paint won't be an issue - the only thing they really have to paint are the door hinges on the rear pass door. Just from the cost of it though, It's looking like they might paint the whole door. At first, I was more concerned about the alignment of the doors with the jamb than the paint blending properly.
LOL enjoyed this thread....helped that OP didn't get upset about the circumstances...sucks to hear the cost of fixing though and that it happened. also helps me explain why we need the Ace Rock Rails on the Jeep so that no one can bang their doors into the Jeep.
and the levity with the doors don't come off the '14s....at least someone told the New Jeeper the truth...entertaining and useful info....Thanks All!!
Something got damaged.. ok, so what!
Stop looking for someone/thing to blame (ie-your girl)
Shit 'just happens' all the time.. Even monkeys fall out trees, & they live there!!
Pay the freight & move past it..
A few years from now you'll be laughing your ass off about this nonsense..
Damn, I guess I'll head into the garage tomorrow and replace my screws with the longest thing home depot sells. I may also build a stand that sits below the doors to support them from the bottom. good luck getting your stuff fixed!
Did I read what you said right that you used 3 lag bolts to hold up your 4 doors , because I thought when you did this for the 4dr you are supposed to use 8 bolts I know I used 8 lag bolts
Did I read what you said right that you used 3 lag bolts to hold up your 4 doors , because I thought when you did this for the 4dr you are supposed to use 8 bolts I know I used 8 lag bolts
I used 3 lag bolts per side...so 6 lag bolts total. I think I simply used a drill bit that was too small when I pre-drilled, and split the studs when I tightened up the lags.
All-in-all...a good lesson learned. Not just from "hanger vs wall cart" or whatever I did wrong...but about the whole insurance thing. Hopefully, it may help someone else down the road in some way.
K after coffee, interesting thread. Wife works GL, and I'm an IA property adjuster. Even having the JKU hoisted in the garage and a similar (over built like a brick shit house) door mount as on the last page, we both found this interesting to think about. However I can't see how any company would cover it under HO ins. It's an auto claim. Had one the other day where someone torched a vehicle at an insureds, causing 2 to other of their autos to go up, melt the siding on the house, etc. Company has two claims and the only thing for property is the house, and contents from inside the vehicle.
No many do enjoy it, but we live it. The work can be very interesting.
This situation could have gone either HO's or Coll.
Your example I see the way the insurance made their decision due to Someone setting fire to the cars Comp claim( unless it is a named Insured) and the house is a separate claim and separate policy and should be different claims and deductibles for all the cars and the house. Some insurance companies cover some items inside the vehicle. ( usually up to a dollar amount)
So I gather 3 cars and a house 2500 in deductibles if the cars are 500 each and the home is 1000. Thats the part that sucks for the Insured.
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