Frame damage is one of the most serious types of damage a car can have since it ruins a car's structural integrity. Thankfully, frame damage is fairly rare except in high-speed collisions — it takes a considerable amount of force in order to bend and crumple a car's steel or aluminum frame. Fixing frame damage is a lengthy process that requires a technician to slowly bend and stretch the frame back into place with a hydraulic pulley. If you were in a collision and you were told that your car suffered frame damage, read on to learn more about how an auto collision repair shop can tell that the frame is damaged and how they can fix it.
How Do You Know if a Car's Frame Is Damaged?
It's not possible to tell if a car's frame is damaged on your own, since the frame is hidden under the car's exterior panels like the side doors. You'll need to take it to an auto collision repair shop. In order to inspect a car's frame, an auto body technician will remove all of the panels from the car and mount it on a frame rack above the ground. Once on the rack, a technician will take measurements of the car's frame and compare those measurements to the manufacturer's original specifications. If the measurements don't match, then the car's frame is out of alignment and will need to be repaired.
Taking measurements of the car's frame allows the auto collision repair shop to determine how much work it will take to fix the frame, and it also allows them to see if the frame can be repaired safely. Bending metal weakens it and creates microscopic fractures, so car manufacturers limit the amount that a frame component can be bent without affecting the vehicle's crash rating.
How Does an Auto Collision Repair Shop Fix a Damaged Frame?
In order to fix the damaged frame, an auto body technician will attach clamps to frame components and use a hydraulic pulley to slowly bend the frame back into shape. Modern car frames are designed to transmit the force of a collision equally throughout the frame, which means that components far away from the impact site will crumple and bend. This keeps you and your passengers safer by dissipating the force from the collision away from the cabin, but it also means that it's common for most frame components to require adjustment in order to fix the frame.
By repeatedly measuring components and using the hydraulic pulley to straighten them, an auto body repair technician will return your frame to its factory standard measurements. After the frame is fixed, an auto body repair technician will replace all of the damaged panels that attach to the frame and then paint the panels in order to restore the appearance of your car.
If your car has frame damage, take it to an auto collision repair shop for an estimate. It's not safe to drive with a damaged frame since it makes your car much less safe if you have another collision — all of the parts of the frame that were designed to bend and crumple are damaged, so they can't transmit collision forces around the car effectively. For your safety, it's important to either have your car's frame repaired or to purchase a new vehicle if the frame is too damaged for a safe repair.
Share13 June 2022
When I graduated from college, I was able to purchase my first car. After much searching for the perfect vehicle, I selected a white sedan. This car has always been special to me because I earned the money to pay for it by myself. I even still own it. However, because it’s 13 years old now, it really needs to be painted. Instead of hiring someone to repaint it white, I’m considering trying something different. I would like to have a professional paint it either black or silver. On this blog, you will discover how to give an older vehicle a new look by hiring someone to paint it a different color.
