So my truck just blew up...

It has been mentioned that you contact the local tv stations. Do this, even before Ford denies responsibility. Theres a good chance they might. In Baltimore, one of the local tv stations had a lawyer on staff, they called it Get Gelfman (the guys name was Gelfman). Basically, insurance company/hospital/business etc effs with you. Gelfman does a story on it, and public is sympathetic to you. Now, for a big company like Ford, a local tv stations version of Get Gelfman might not work, you might have to pull out the big guns, and go for one of the big three or CNN or FOX. I'm dead serious. This is nothing to joke about, I see hundreds of F series truck on the roads every day, and I don't want one blowing up next to me while I'm stuck in gridlock on the beltway.


Good luck to you.
 
"Police officer's reaction: My truck appears to be on fire. I should investigate that. Yes, those are flames and, judging from the size of those flames, I'd say we're unlikely to get this one out without professional assistance. Has anyone called the fire department? Good. Now let's think if there might be hazardous materials in the truck... yes, the ammo. I should go and retrieve that if it can be done safely so it won't pose a hazard to anyone. Now that that's done, I will put up official yellow police tape a safe distance back so that public will be protected...."

Sadly my yellow tape burned in the truck. Good lord I needed a laugh and that did it. I think that precisely is what was going through my head, complete with Dudley Doright voice. I wish I had a picture of me in my Sponge Bob boxers grabbing my bag out of the inferno while fighting back the blaze with one of those tiny household fire extinquishers in the other hand.

On a more serious note, I finally got a hold of my auto claims person and she got that ball rolling as well. State Farms stance appears to be that they will pay both claims ASAP and then get Ford to reimburse them for the total loss and me for the deductibles. Sounds fair enough. Well, except that I think Ford may owe me one of those new Mustangs, just for the friggin inconvienience of a thousand degree fireball next to my bedroom. I figure that will be my negotiating tactic when I go to the dealer. "Hey, remember that truck ya sold me..."
 
Copaup said:
I think Ford may owe me one of those new Mustangs, just for the friggin inconvienience of a thousand degree fireball next to my bedroom.
Click to expand...

If you don't ask, you won't receive.

And it can't hurt to ask.
 
If anyone is interested enough to tell me how to post the images, I was able to take a couple of low res photos with the camera on my phone. Sadly, the nice camera was in the truck.
 
Well then you'll be getting a new, nicer camera shortly, won't you?

You may want to take out a sheet of paper and start listing off your losses.

As for hosting your pictures, inasmuchas you're an non-paying member at bf.c, you'll have to actually host them elsewhere. There are several free services which you can use. Then, you post them here using he img tag. Above the box where you post is an icon that yellow and black and sort of looks like the sun setting over a couple of hills. Click that and it will help you.
 
Definitely a bummer about the truck. I do have a question though. I've never been involved in a situation with fire and ammo so bear with me. What happened to the ammo still in the truck? Does it explode? Do you have bits of high speed metal whizzing about all over the place in random directions? Sounds like it would make putting the fire out an extra exciting operation!
 
Somehow "that sucks dude!" just doesn't quite cover it. And here I was moping because my car blew a headgasket. Good luck getting Ford to cough up, I hope they don't try to give you the run-around too bad. BTW, e-mail me those pics and I'll host them for you. Least I can do after your truck burned to the ground.
 
Wow, that's really terrible, talk about a rotten way to spend your day off. Sorry about the loss of your sentimental items, but at least the rest of them were only "things" and hopefully can be replaced when you get the insurance payout. Glad you thought about getting the ammo out of the truck. My father was a volunteer EMT for years, and I remember him telling me about responding to a house fire where the fellow's ammo cooked off. Not cool. Hope everything works out for you in the end. As for the photos, you can do like Gollnick said, or if you can download them to a computer click on my profile and email them to me. I'd be glad to put 'em up for you.

Lagarto
 
Sorry to hear about the truck, it really must have sucked waking up to see your baby as a big ball of flames. I had been thinking of buying a F150 or F250 for myself after I graduate, but now I am rethinking that a bit. I wouldn't want to have a huge fireball in my yard.

Also I would also be mroe than willing to host those photos for you. If you want go ahead and send them my way and I will get them up ASAP.

Hope everything goes smoothly with the insurance claims, and you get everything you lost back.
 
After reading this, I quickly ran out to make sure my Thunderbird wasn't in flames. It wasn't.

Seriously though, I'm sorry to hear about your loss, but it's good that the insurance people are working on it.
 
An ugly incident. I'm glad you escaped unscathed.

As to the ammunition "cooking off", I think the risk is over-rated. Without the confinement and acceleration afforded by the chamber & barrel, I believe that the rounds simply "pop." The case flies further than the bullet as it's lighter. (I'm not about to try this experimentally, though...)

maximus otter
 
Here are the pictures Copaup sent me:

truck1.JPG


truck2.JPG


cab.JPG


engine.JPG


Looks like the damage is pretty much confined to EVERYTHING on the truck. Glad nobody was hurt when this went up.
 
ErikD said:
Here are the pictures Copaup sent me:

truck1.JPG


truck2.JPG


cab.JPG


engine.JPG


Looks like the damage is pretty much confined to EVERYTHING on the truck. Glad nobody was hurt when this went up.
Click to expand...

"Oh, you can still drive that, I don't see any problems."

Just posting what the appraiser from Ford will probably say :D. BTW, doesn't hurt to ask about that Mustang, they might do something just to keep you from going to the press ;) .


Now, back to reality...
 
That looks like a Bob Vila kitchen ! I'm glad my F150 doesn't have any gadgets like cruise control. But how could you determine cause with that much damage ? Has a fire investigator seen it ?
 
quote:
Nature of Defect:
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL:CRUISE CONTROL
Recall Number: 05V017000
Dates Manufactured: N/A to AUG 2000
Number of Vehicles Affected: 738490
Date Owners Notified On: N/A
Vehicle: 2001 Ford F-150

Defect Description:
ON CERTAIN SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES AND PICKUP TRUCKS, THE SPEED CONTROL DEACTIVATION SWITCH MAY OVERHEAT, SMOKE, OR BURN.

Consequence of Defect:
THIS CONDITION COULD LEAD TO A FIRE. FIRES HAVE OCCURRED WHILE THE VEHICLES WERE PARKED WITH THE IGNITION 'OFF.'

Corrective Action:
AS AN INTERIM REPAIR, OWNERS WILL BE INSTRUCTED TO RETURN THEIR VEHICLES TO THEIR DEALERS TO HAVE THE SPEED CONTROL DEACTIVATION SWITCH DISCONNECTED. AS SOON AS REPLACEMENT PARTS ARE AVAILABLE (EARLY APRIL 2005), OWNERS WILL BE INSTRUCTED TO RETURN TO THE DEALERS FOR INSTALLATION OF A NEW SWITCH. OWNERS SHOULD CONTACT FORD AT 1-800-392-3673.

That's from their website. I'd say that would fairly lead me to believe that it was the most likely cause of the fire, since they even point out that the truck might spontaneously combust while parked. I don't remember ordering that feature...
 
It's 4 years old right? So you insurance company will just pay blue book value, whatever that is.
 
Ammo does not "fire" in a fire like it does in a gun.What often happens is the lead,copper etc. melts and the powder kind of fizzels or the cartridge may expode and split apart. In order for it to "fire" a round and the round to go forward with force the cartridge needs to be held (like in a chamber of a gun) as a kind of launch pad. Equal opposite reaction,gun kicks back into shoulder,bullet sails forward.

Ammo heats up,powder or primer ignite,case ruptures,bullet does little more than fall out.(short version). :)

This has been proven time and time again. Yet you can still find news reports
of ammo flying over firemans heads etc.All false and based on ignorance.

Well time to go to work,I worry more about the bullets that come out of guns and into the firehouse,like two nights back at E16's.We hear shots nightly,and once in a while you get to see a gun fight but mostly they tend to miss the firehouse...
 
YOW! Sorry to hear of your loss. When I first saw the thread, I thought you blew your motor or something.

Sounds like lawyer time. Not only was your truck destroyed with lots of expensive personal stuff in it, but your house was damaged with the potential of burning it down.

Don't forget that you probably need a enw driveway as well. between trying to scrape the menlted rims off of it and the exposure to extreme heat, the concrete or asphault will certainly be damaged. The homeowner's claim is certainly going to be more than a couple grand.

Glad no one was hurt.

John
 
Hate to hear about your loss. A month or two ago I got a call at around midnight from a buddy of mine. He called to tell me my roommates 01 was burning to the ground in the locked fence next to the dorms. His did not burn near as bad though. It managed to get hot enough to melt the carpet in the back and destroy everything in the truck though. He ended up getting a little over 17k out of it.
 
BTTT for this thread.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/06/16/ford.vehicles/index.html

It now looks like millions of Ford vehicles have the same cruise-control cut-off switch that apparently caused Mr. Copaup's truck to burst into flames.

The list of Ford vehicles which have the same switch part is huge:


Crown Victorias 1994-1998
Grand Marquises 1994-1998
Town Cars 1992 and 1993
F-Series SuperCrews 2001
Expeditions 2000
Navigators 2000,
F-150 pickups 2000
Mark VII/VIII from 1994-1998
Taurus/Sable and Taurus SHO 2.3 L 1993-1995
Econoline 1992-2003
F-Series 1993-2003
Windstar 1994-2003
Explorer without IVD 1995-2003
Explorer Sport/Sport Trac 2002-2003
Expedition 1997-2003
Ranger 1995-2003

That list may not be complete. Basically, if you own any Ford between about 1993 and 2003, you need to check into this.
 
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