Hi, I was hoping i could get some advice about a real stupid thing I did. I have a old super duty disel, I was just finishing fixing the parking brakes, and was putting the tires back on, when the jack stands under the front axles suddenly slipped out from under the axles, and the whole truck fell forward directly onto the front axles, tie rods, and radiato. The radiaotr dumped all of its antifreeze on the ground within a few minutes at most. I then panicked and tried to raise the front end back up from the center of the core radiator support. Which damaged it badly. Has anyone done this before, or had to replace this? It fell forward, and the tie rods and rotors and all look ok, but idk if there is something else I should look for. Compatiable models are 1999-2004 f250s and 350s. There are youtube videos for replacing the radiator, but not for this radiator support. The closest I could find is a video for 1992-98 ford disels. I found a intact front end i can take the part from at the junkyard, but I dont even know if its bolted or riveted or spot welded, they dont allow you to take riveted or welded parts. This also seems to involve taking the entire front end of the truck apart, and im not sure I am even capable of doing this, the parking brakes are the most involved project ive ever done. If anyone has any advice about this, it would be extremly helpful.

 

Better pictures

 

As you may already know , you have some BIG expensive problems.

That bent steering rod will need to be replaced. Then alignment will need to be performed.
Right now I doubt both front wheels are pointing in the same direction

Can't see the radiator support you mention.
We can't cry over spilled milk, so hope you can handle all the work involved.
Do you have a means to obtain the parts you need ?

Consider this
Have your truck towed to a reliable shop because it cannot be driven in it's present condition. Are the rear wheels back on now ?

 

@hanky
Thank you for the help/advice. I defiently have big problems, this is one hell of a **** up lol. I already needed a front end alignment, and i can figure out how to do the steering rod. Both wheels are pointing straight, but still.
Radiator support is in the last picture. Also called radiator core support. There should be like 14 pics? I put the pic of the core support below, just in case.
I'll have to figure out how to do all the work, I dont got another choice. I can oder most parts off rockauto, and pull parts from the junkyard.
I wish I had the money to just have a shop do it, but I don't.
The rear wheels are on. As I was putting the rear wheels on (I had just finished working on it), I lowered the jack to put the second rear wheel down and thats when it slipped forward off the front jack stands. I had no idea it could even do that, I thought the jack stands werent something it could fall off of lol.

Question for ya. Ive been talking to my friends and another guy on a diffrent forum, can I just bend the core support back into shape and call it good enough? I know its not ideal, but I doubt I have the skill to take apart the entire front end on my own, and the core support is spot welded or riveted on. I know I defiently need a new radiator. Im also not sure how to check if the tie rods are bent, and also whatever else I could have ****ed up.

 

What usually happens when you jack up a vehicle is the jack moves vehicle forward and if in gravel, the jack may not be able to move, so the vehicle moves forward.toward operator

When letting the vehicle down, jack stuck in gravel, so vehicle has to move backward away from operator and in this case off the jack stands. I believe that is what happened.

You are much wiser now.and will not make that mistake again.
Working on gravel has a lot of pitfalls including if you drop a small part you might need a magnet to find it.
Don't feel bad, I learned this too, but not with that much expense,lol.

 

Honestly, I'm kinda scared of jack stands now lol. Gravel definetly kinda sucks, but its what I've got. Do you have any suggestions for how to make the Jack stands safer, so this dosent happen again? I have a "offroad" jack with big tires on it, but it can still get stuck sometimes, like you said. What happened to you, that you learned this?

 

If you have a radiator repair shop that you might call, give them a call and inquire if they can just replace the bottom tank of your radiator, worth checking , then it is merely remove and reinstall AND everything should fit without any addl problems, be cheaper too.

I would like to repeat an expression I read on this forum a few years ago,

"GOOD JUDGEMENT COMES FROM EXPERIENCE
EXPERIENCE COMES FR0M BAD JUDGEMENT"
We learn something new every day !

 

thank you for the help

 

Check pdf below.