Kissed a moose last night

[Cheekster96]

Coming home from dinner last night around 9pm. Back country roads. Foggy and some condensation coming up from the rain soaked roads. Wife was behind me in her X1.

I was doing 55.  Moose up here usually just stay put. This one darted from the tall grass into the road right in front if me! I braked hard and swerved. I heard my tires screech. I made contact on the passenger side and a big thud was heard. Didn't kill it as it ran away.

I was PISSED! First time ever hitting a moose.

Got out and was scared to look at the damage. I got lucky.

Made impact with the passenger window only!! Shattered the top glass, missing glass gone. It still folds in and out. It does not retract out anymore and the bottom LED security light doesn't work. 

The impact pushed the mirror hard against the door, denting the door and leaving a plastic scratch, the length of the bottom of the mirror.

If you can zoom in, you can see the plastic scratch on the upper door.

I have duct tape holding it all together until I can get it fixed.

I got lucky!

Lee

[shadow gray 2020 hd]

That sucks, but could have been a lot worse.  Couple months back had a box truck hit my driver side mirror, was lucky to only have damage to the mirror.

[Cheekster96]

[Dr1ft3r]

Sorry to hear it. I've passed moose that were on the shoulder of the highway several times. But luckily never hit one.

That's part of the reason I invested in a steel bumper and grille guard. I'll still hit the brakes, but if a hit is inevitable then I'll try to make it a direct hit so that the heavy gauge steel takes the force of impact.

[Jettech1]

On 6/10/2023 at 8:51 AM, Cheekster96 said:

Coming home from dinner last night around 9pm. Back country roads. Foggy and some condensation coming up from the rain soaked roads. Wife was behind me in her X1.

I was doing 55.  Moose up here usually just stay put. This one darted from the tall grass into the road right in front if me! I braked hard and swerved. I heard my tires screech. I made contact on the passenger side and a big thud was heard. Didn't kill it as it ran away.

I was PISSED! First time ever hitting a moose.

Got out and was scared to look at the damage. I got lucky.

Made impact with the passenger window only!! Shattered the top glass, missing glass gone. It still folds in and out. It does not retract out anymore and the bottom LED security light doesn't work. 

The impact pushed the mirror hard against the door, denting the door and leaving a plastic scratch, the length of the bottom of the mirror.

If you can zoom in, you can see the plastic scratch on the upper door.

I have duct tape holding it all together until I can get it fixed.

I got lucky!

Lee

Remember, I grew up in PI and Naples.  I never kissed a moose but loved to take pics of those swamp donkeys when I got a chance...I'm glad it wasn't worse...be well sir!

 

[XY74]

Ouch on the new truck!  I met up with a deer last night, glad it was my old truck.  vermin.......

 

 

[nards444]

On 6/10/2023 at 6:06 PM, Dr1ft3r said:

Sorry to hear it. I've passed moose that were on the shoulder of the highway several times. But luckily never hit one.

That's part of the reason I invested in a steel bumper and grille guard. I'll still hit the brakes, but if a hit is inevitable then I'll try to make it a direct hit so that the heavy gauge steel takes the force of impact.

 

Those may help specially on deer.  But on a 1500-2000lb moose most likely they will do nothing.  Law of physics happens here and something that weight half of your truck, a bumper guard will not do anything,  just going to be one more thing to claim on insurance.  

[Dr1ft3r]

15 hours ago, nards444 said:

 

Those may help specially on deer.  But on a 1500-2000lb moose most likely they will do nothing.  Law of physics happens here and something that weight half of your truck, a bumper guard will not do anything,  just going to be one more thing to claim on insurance.  

 

There's only one way to know for sure. Also, a 1,500-2,000 pound moose is closer to 1/4 the weight of my truck, not half. My truck weighs 7,450# according to my factory sticker. That was before I added a 270# front bumper and grille guard combo and a 107# rear bumper to my truck, as well as a ~250# bed cover. Now I have added another 80# from a new battery and soon will be adding another 200#+ from my new winch and mount. I expect the truck to weigh well over 8,000# before adding any cargo, including myself.

As far as physics, my Ranch Hand Legend steel bumper is capable of supporting a winch with a weight capacity more than the GVWR of my truck (which means that it can hold the truck off of the ground). Any force strong enough to tear through my bumper will also have to bend the chassis frame of the truck. A very difficult task to accomplish on a direct hit. Deer will not do anything to the bumper, I know first hand. This is NOT a bumper guard. It replaces my stock bumper entirely and is directly tied to the frame of the truck with 12x grade 8.8 bolts.

I've seen moose that were turned into ground beef by 18-wheelers and it didn't even bend the grille guard on their truck. Flesh has never faired well against steel. Our stock bumpers are tin foil.

However, with our trucks it's much more likely that a moose will end up going through my windshield as I'll likely only hit the legs of an adult moose. But if I were to strike a 2,000# moose body dead on then the potential damage to my vehicle would depend on the speed I was travelling at when I made contact (I'd be hitting the brakes). At a speed under 40 mph, I'll bet against having any real damage. At a speed of 80 mph, I'm pretty sure that something would be damaged. That is for a dead on hit. If I hit it near one of my headlights then the damage potential will be worse at the given speed as the steel is not as thick there.

Many people only buy the grille guard, and not the bumper with the grille guard welded onto it. So, when they hit something the grille guard is only attached at the bottom so it folds in due to forces pushing in at the top (think lever action). With the grille guard welded onto the bumper it is supported in the front by the bumper to help keep it from folding, but it is also welded to the bumper on the sides, which adds even more stability to the guard.

Edited June 17, 2023 by Dr1ft3r

[swathdiver]

On 6/10/2023 at 12:08 PM, Cheekster96 said:

A good PDR (Paintless Dent Repair) guy ought to be able to fix that crease.

[nards444]

On 6/16/2023 at 6:37 PM, Dr1ft3r said:

 

There's only one way to know for sure. Also, a 1,500-2,000 pound moose is closer to 1/4 the weight of my truck, not half. My truck weighs 7,450# according to my factory sticker. That was before I added a 270# front bumper and grille guard combo and a 107# rear bumper to my truck, as well as a ~250# bed cover. Now I have added another 80# from a new battery and soon will be adding another 200#+ from my new winch and mount. I expect the truck to weigh well over 8,000# before adding any cargo, including myself.

As far as physics, my Ranch Hand Legend steel bumper is capable of supporting a winch with a weight capacity more than the GVWR of my truck (which means that it can hold the truck off of the ground). Any force strong enough to tear through my bumper will also have to bend the chassis frame of the truck. A very difficult task to accomplish on a direct hit. Deer will not do anything to the bumper, I know first hand. This is NOT a bumper guard. It replaces my stock bumper entirely and is directly tied to the frame of the truck with 12x grade 8.8 bolts.

I've seen moose that were turned into ground beef by 18-wheelers and it didn't even bend the grille guard on their truck. Flesh has never faired well against steel. Our stock bumpers are tin foil.

However, with our trucks it's much more likely that a moose will end up going through my windshield as I'll likely only hit the legs of an adult moose. But if I were to strike a 2,000# moose body dead on then the potential damage to my vehicle would depend on the speed I was travelling at when I made contact (I'd be hitting the brakes). At a speed under 40 mph, I'll bet against having any real damage. At a speed of 80 mph, I'm pretty sure that something would be damaged. That is for a dead on hit. If I hit it near one of my headlights then the damage potential will be worse at the given speed as the steel is not as thick there.

Many people only buy the grille guard, and not the bumper with the grille guard welded onto it. So, when they hit something the grille guard is only attached at the bottom so it folds in due to forces pushing in at the top (think lever action). With the grille guard welded onto the bumper it is supported in the front by the bumper to help keep it from folding, but it is also welded to the bumper on the sides, which adds even more stability to the guard.

 

I suppose something like this would help on some glancing hits or slower speeds,  but adding weight and bumper or not anything above 40-50mph, truck is destroyed

[Dr1ft3r]

4 hours ago, nards444 said:

 

I suppose something like this would help on some glancing hits or slower speeds,  but adding weight and bumper or not anything above 40-50mph, truck is destroyed

 

You're free to theorize all you want. But there's a reason why almost every 18-wheeler on the road has a steel guard on the front of their trucks.

 

I live in the country and most pickup trucks out here have steel bumpers as well. I know people that will swear that their steel bumper saved their life and their family's life.

 

We don't have to theorize out here. We have personally seen what a steel bumper will do and what happens without one.

 

Good day to you.

[nards444]

On 6/21/2023 at 11:39 AM, Dr1ft3r said:

 

You're free to theorize all you want. But there's a reason why almost every 18-wheeler on the road has a steel guard on the front of their trucks.

 

I live in the country and most pickup trucks out here have steel bumpers as well. I know people that will swear that their steel bumper saved their life and their family's life.

 

We don't have to theorize out here. We have personally seen what a steel bumper will do and what happens without one.

 

Good day to you.

 

 

I live in in a rural area with lots of deer as well no moose.  Ran the highway yesterday not a single grill guard on a semi,  been through many states regularly and they aren’t on every semi.  Deer would be much more mitigated by these Moose, not so much.  You can do some basic physics math on 1500lbs against various weights, and sorry bud not helping much.

 

But if it anecdotally makes you feel better, by all means. 

[Jettech1]

This is all about weight.  A common deer, 100 to 250lbs.....somewhere in that area.  A full grown moose, 1500 plus...depending on the sex of it.  A bull moose closer to 2k full grown.  So we are talking about hitting a cat with a prius or a bear with the same prius....big difference of what you are hitting and how the vehicle will react during that hit.  And by the way, the legs on a moose are extremely long, those swamp donkeys tend to invite themselves into the cab after being hit all the while taking everyone's head off.  They are extremely dangerous to hit, God help anyone that does.

[Silverado4x4]

What gets me is people put these big heavy-duty bumpers on their trucks and think the big bumper is going to protect the truck which really is not as too big of a bumper will not absorb the impact and will be transferred to the frame and tweaking it. A common small deer it will help protect the truck but a moose with a direct front or side front hit the truck is done. Putting a bumper on that's tougher than the frame the frame will loose the battle.

[nards444]

On 6/24/2023 at 8:15 AM, Silverado4x4 said:

What gets me is people put these big heavy-duty bumpers on their trucks and think the big bumper is going to protect the truck which really is not as too big of a bumper will not absorb the impact and will be transferred to the frame and tweaking it. A common small deer it will help protect the truck but a moose with a direct front or side front hit the truck is done. Putting a bumper on that's tougher than the frame the frame will loose the battle.

 

Yup my point.  A deer maybe,  moose it will not. Law of conservation and this guy doesnt get it.  Energy has to go somewhere.  Assuming the moose doesnt pop up and take your hood and windscreen out that energy is pushing into the frame or just the front of the truck.

 

Deer and or glancing hits, it might help,  but these systems arent attached to shock absorbers or anything.  to me some of them look cool, a lot of them dont.  and if you like them and want them, Im fine with that, who cares.  But if you think they are saving the truck in a hit, you are in fantasy land.