8 replies to this topic

[trey]

Need some advise in regard to LF Upper Frame Rail Repair

I screwed up and gave another car a pretty good shot , the Upper Frame Rail is cracked and appears to be moved in about an inch.

My assumption is that I need to remove as much as possible , take it to a body shop with a frame machine , assume they need to pull it out reinforce it , then I need to start the process of finding the bent suspension parts

What's reasonable and customary cost to have the frame pulled out ?

Is there a piece of the puzzle I'm missing ?

Can it be good as new after repair ?

Alternatives ?

Thanks

[Jim Drago]

Need some advise in regard to LF Upper Frame Rail Repair

I screwed up and gave another car a pretty good shot , the Upper Frame Rail is cracked and appears to be moved in about an inch.

My assumption is that I need to remove as much as possible , take it to a body shop with a frame machine , assume they need to pull it out reinforce it , then I need to start the process of finding the bent suspension parts

What's reasonable and customary cost to have the frame pulled out ?

Is there a piece of the puzzle I'm missing ?

Can it be good as new after repair ?

Alternatives ?



Thanks

Do you have any pictures?

It can absolutely be as good as new. Don't cut anything off, just unbolt. Everything in front of the subframe basically is there to hold sheet metal and cooling and crash support. If you take it to a decent frame and alignment shop, depending on how bad it is I would expect $500-1000 bill.

Jim

[trey]

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Thanks Jim , Here are a couple of weak photos. Sorry about the upside down photo , Note how much the hood is moved over

The main hit was on the internal bumper , it appears that it prevented much greater damage.

[Jim Boemler]

Tough to be sure from the photos, but this doesn't look like "frame" bending. I suspect a guy with a hammer is gonna have this usable in a few hours. Looks like you peeled some inner sheet metal away from the frame is all. The hood movement is likely a function of bending the hinges, back by the windshield. Looks bad, but easy enough to fix or replace.

[FTodaro]

I had a little front end damage and bent right front frame rail just ahead of the a frame and just below the sway support. it was no big deal to put it on a frame machine heat it a little and pull it out. they are able to put it back to spec. the time on the frame machine is by the hr. They also wanted to put on some of the replacement parts so they could confirm that things would line up so I had them do that as well as paint the new stuff.

[tony senese]

The clown is absolutely correct.....DO NOT CUT ANYTHING OFF. You need a BFH and lots of patience. Unfortunately, I am sorta an expert on this exact damage. It can all be bent back into position. If you have a GOOD body shop you trust, let them do it is is worth the couple hundred bucks labor, if you don't, do what I did and take all the parts in that area off, ALL means all, get it down to the subframe so you can see all the damage. You will be able to see what to do.

[trey]

Thanks for the advise guys ... I used your posts to act like I knew what I was talking about with the shops.

After spending the morning having 4 different shops take a look at it , and seeing estimates ranging from $ 750 - $ 1,000+ , I made my final stop @ the shop that did my paint after I bought the car.

$ 420 including painting the new bumper cover I already had ... Then I get to go to work ID'ing the bent suspension pieces ... I needed a subframe anyway , so maybe it bent back into position

[trey]

Update :

# 1 - I got the car back from the bodyshop , did not cut anything off , pulled the upper frame rail ( or whatever it's called ) back into place ... I was under the impression that where it separated should be welded , but the shop did not think it should be welded ?????

# 2 - I took the LF suspension off , and checked everything. It all " looks " OK , and the long bolt is straight and slides in/out easily

Sounds like I need to paint the area where the crack is , align it , go run it in a DE , and see if it moves.

Thoughts ??? Did I miss anything ???

[Jim Boemler]

As far as welding, that lower box section is doing all the real work. The sheet metal above it is just carrying body weight. That said, if it was me, I'd still weld it back together before painting it. These cars take a pounding, and I'd just as soon they were as solid as possible.