Heavy Duty Frame Repair
During a collision, it’s not just your vehicle’s panels that get damaged. What you can’t see can also be severely affected: the frame. Modern vehicle frames are designed to absorb and redirect the force of a collision to protect the occupants. This often means that they twist, crack, crush, bend, or simply shift out of alignment.
If you’ve been involved in an accident and your vehicle now has a damaged frame, you may be wondering whether car frame repair is an option, or if it’s destined for the junkyard. While every vehicle is different, here’s what you need to know:
What Happens During a Vehicle Collision?
Old trucks and some large SUVs have a frame designed as a separate steel structure underneath the body. Modern everyday passenger vehicles have a unibody design, which is one load-bearing shell made of the vehicle body, floor plan, pillars, and structural rails.
While vehicle designs and frames differ, they have one thing in common: they absorb energy during a crash. This ‘energy’ basically means they take on damage to hopefully cause less damage to the cabin of your vehicle.
Common forms of frame damage include:
- Bent frame rails
- Distorted floor pan
- Damaged crossmember
- Crushed crumple zones
- Damaged suspension mounting
- General pillar damage
These forms of damage can happen in a range of accident types, and not necessarily just in severe collisions, either:
- Front-end and rear-end collisions
- Side impact accidents
- Vehicle rollovers
- Underride accidents
Sometimes, frame damage happens during events you wouldn’t consider a collision, such as driving a little too roughly through a pothole or hitting a curb.
How Do I Know My Vehicle Frame Is Damaged?
It’s easy to assume bends, cracks, kinks, and other damage to a vehicle frame will be immediately visible. However, that’s rarely the case.
Sometimes, you don’t realize something is amiss until you’re driving. Then, when you take it to a trusted auto repair specialist, they have to use advanced diagnostic equipment to find the issue. Frame damage can be subtle and not visible to the naked eye, yet it can still greatly affect how you drive and your safety on the road.
If you notice any of the following signs that indicate possible car frame damage, contact an experienced auto frame repair specialist as soon as possible:
- The vehicle pulls to one side, often because the wheels, suspension mounts, and steering geometry are out of alignment.
- Body panels have uneven gaps.
- The doors, hood, and/or trunk stick or jam.
- You notice visible undercarriage damage, like cracks in the metal, wrinkles, or kinks.
- One or more wheels look pushed back into the wheel well.
- One corner or side sits lower than the rest of the vehicle.
How is Vehicle Frame Damage Diagnosed?
When frame damage isn’t immediately apparent, how do technicians detect serious issues? The best car frame repair businesses have top-of-the-line diagnostic equipment, such as auto body measuring systems. This specialized repair tool captures 3D reference points of a vehicle’s frame and body and compares them to a manufacturer’s original specifications. Such a system:
- Generates repair diagnostics so you know where the damage lies
- Shows the dimensions that require correction
- Verifies structural alignments before repairs, during them, and after they are complete
Essentially, this advanced equipment takes all the guesswork out of repairs, which is important when precision is crucial for vehicle safety.
Car Frame Repair is Often Possible
While every vehicle is different, car frame repair is often possible with the right techniques, experience, and trusted professionals. This can provide much-needed peace of mind if you thought frame damage was a death sentence for your pride and joy.
- Securing the vehicle in place: To ensure accuracy when pulling and pushing the frame, technicians anchor vehicles into a special frame machine so they can’t move.
- Applying measured force: Technicians use special automotive industry hydraulic equipment to correct distorted sections of the frame. This takes place through multiple progressive changes, rather than single, long pulls.
- Measuring the changes: As the vehicle frame undergoes adjustments, the auto body measuring system tracks those changes to confirm accuracy.
- Performing final measurements: Technicians perform another series of measurements to ensure the vehicle’s frame is within the original manufacturer’s tolerances.
- Making the final adjustments: With the frame aligned, technicians can perform a wheel alignment, inspect the suspension, and recalibrate advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS).
When Auto Frame Repair Isn’t Possible
While technicians have a number of tools and techniques at their disposal to perform comprehensive car frame repair, there will be situations where it’s simply not possible. This is often the case based on:
- Vehicle damage severity
- Vehicle age
- Structural damage area
- Safety concerns
- Manufacturer repair requirements
- The total expected repair cost
In such scenarios, insurance companies can often deem auto frame repair not economically viable and consider the vehicle a ‘total loss.’
Do You Have to Repair Your Vehicle’s Frame?
If you suspect vehicle frame damage, you might think a minor crack isn’t anything to worry about. However, frame repairs are not on a sliding scale. A warped frame can be just as serious as a cracked one.
In fact, whether your vehicle frame is cracked, bent, wrinkled, or otherwise damaged, it affects your vehicle’s structural integrity. Therefore, it has a direct impact on your vehicle’s:
- Tire wear
- Ability to protect you in a crash
- Suspension alignment
- Door effectiveness
- Steering performance
- Airbag timing
- ADAS accuracy
Minor crack or a major kink; auto frame repair is a crucial service after an accident or road incident.
Schedule Car Frame Repair at Mr. Car Shine Body Shop in Garland, TX
Frame damage should always be taken seriously. If you’ve been involved in a collision and suspect damage, discuss frame repair services for your car or truck with Mr. Car Shine Body Shop in Garland, Texas.
We specialize in heavy-duty frame repairs and use the latest equipment and technology to ensure proper alignment and restoration. Let us perform a structural assessment and get your frame repair underway. We also offer post-repair support to answer any of your questions and provide a frame repair guarantee with every service.
Ready to start driving safely? Schedule your auto frame repair service with our experienced technicians today.
