How straight do frame rails need to be?

[supton]

Went to the grocery store, as I came out I noticed something wrong with the rocker on the passenger side of my car--which is weird, if you knew my car, you'd be surprised that anything might look out the ordinary. Got home, and... nobody's admitting to doing thing to daddy's car, but darned if that isn't a new dent to the guy who's spent too much time under the car.

I almost think someone didn't slow down for a speed bump... which I usually don't either, so I can't rule myself out (and I'm the one most likely to drive around as much as I can so only one side gets the bump). Which doesn't explain the minor dent in the rocker though, which looks like something made of rubber was run over. Weird.

Guess it matches the patch of bondo I found the other day--I think I was more upset about finding that than finding this dent. I mean, you pay $1,500 for a 17 year old car, and you just don't expect to find bondo. Bondo! What is this world coming to? (imagine that in Derek's voice from VGG, and with about as much seriousness).

Back to waiting for this week's I Do Car's video, and in about 5 minutes I'm going to forget about this dent on a 24 year old beater (which apparently is literally getting beat on, like the lease/rental that it probably was).

 

[bullwinkle]

Went to the grocery store, as I came out I noticed something wrong with the rocker on the passenger side of my car--which is weird, if you knew my car, you'd be surprised that anything might look out the ordinary. Got home, and... nobody's admitting to doing thing to daddy's car, but darned if that isn't a new dent to the guy who's spent too much time under the car.

View attachment 163185

View attachment 163186

I almost think someone didn't slow down for a speed bump... which I usually don't either, so I can't rule myself out (and I'm the one most likely to drive around as much as I can so only one side gets the bump). Which doesn't explain the minor dent in the rocker though, which looks like something made of rubber was run over. Weird.

Guess it matches the patch of bondo I found the other day--I think I was more upset about finding that than finding this dent. I mean, you pay $1,500 for a 17 year old car, and you just don't expect to find bondo. Bondo! What is this world coming to? (imagine that in Derek's voice from VGG, and with about as much seriousness).

Back to waiting for this week's I Do Car's video, and in about 5 minutes I'm going to forget about this dent on a 24 year old beater (which apparently is literally getting beat on, like the lease/rental that it probably was).

Well-it does have 257,000 miles… I should post a pic of the hood of the merely 167K Corolla in my sig-it looks like 150K of it was following a gravel truck!

 

[atikovi]

It's totalled. And a deathtrap now. Scrap it.

 

[Soft Cars]

I think what they did is made a real sharp U-turn over a concrete curb divider. I've done that before too.
I gotta remember to pull forward past the divider before making a U-turn at the intersection.

 

[supton]

Well-it does have 257,000 miles… I should post a pic of the hood of the merely 167K Corolla in my sig-it looks like 150K of it was following a gravel truck!

258k, I haven't updated the sig line.

One of my sins in life was using Rustoluem rusty metal primer as touch up paint on the rock chips. Brown paint sorta matches gold, right?

 

[supton]

I think what they did is made a real sharp u-turn over a concrete curb divider. I've done that before too. I gotta remember to pull forward past the divider before making the u-turn at the intersection.

Ah, I could see that.

I did ask the daughter if she hit anything. Maybe I wasn't specific enough. Oh well. Maybe in 10 years I'll get an answer--I recall, about 15 years ago, me and my brothers were altogether at the parents house, all of us in our 20's or beyond, few cold snacks in hand, and a few things got confessed that the parents had no idea about... what they didn't know didn't hurt us, we figured at the time.

 

[Soft Cars]

Ah, I could see that.

I did ask the daughter if she hit anything. Maybe I wasn't specific enough. Oh well. Maybe in 10 years I'll get an answer--I recall, about 15 years ago, me and my brothers were altogether at the parents house, all of us in our 20's or beyond, few cold snacks in hand, and a few things got confessed that the parents had no idea about... what they didn't know didn't hurt us, we figured at the time.

Yes as soon as the left front tire comes down past the curb, the frame slams down on the curb and drags along until the left rear tire picks the frame back up off the curb.

 

[ctechbob]

Those look similar to the 'frame rails' that I had on my Miata. They got bashed up all the time with no ill effects. They're not super structural. Other than someone damaging the car and not admitting to it, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[supton]

Those look similar to the 'frame rails' that I had on my Miata. They got bashed up all the time with no ill effects. They're not super structural. Other than someone damaging the car and not admitting to it, I wouldn't worry about it.

Yeah, I'm sure they are strong enough for a Camry, I might corner hard--but let's be clear, I corner hard for a Camry. 195/70R14's? sure, every corner at full tilt (and when I say "tilt" I'm not joking).

 

[meep]

I’ve had a similar head scratcher. The drivers floorpan in my GS is pushed up an inch or so, towards the seat. You don’t notice it in practice because it’s fine where your feet rest. I didn’t notice until after I’d had it for a bit. I look beneath it for evidence, but everything is encased in plastic, and the plastic looks original and normal for wear. Peeking beneath, I couldn’t find any telltale marks.

 

[Soft Cars]

Another thing that can happen is letting the car down too fast on the jack stands. I did that to my engine cradle/sub frame and I'm going to eventually weld some 3/8 inch steel plates over the dented frame rails. I gotta remember to disconnect the battery first.

 

[wpod]

How does the vehicle drive?

 

[andrew_j]

Happens, my daughter somehow got the steering wheel so that to go straight you had it at the 1:45 position. Destroyed the front tires in wear. The tire shop said alignment was if someone took car into a ditch yet only charged $45 to fix that with set of tires.

16yo Daughter had no recollection of hitting anything…

 

[meep]

Sidebar: I recall my dad’s ’89 CRX… and actually several of the 80’s vehicles … would not hold alignment if parked with the wheels rolled up to a curb such as the little concrete barriers across parking spaces. It took very little to knock that thing off.

frame: I had a 97 pathfinder that saw minor trail use. I was driving over maybe 9” of snow, which was over sheet ice, which was over unknown gravel (unknown in that I couldn’t see it) and at one point the ice broke through and the vehicle dropped. I was miles from civilization. I immediately gave it gas to hold momentum since wheels breaking through the ice would be an effective immobilizer. It would climb up and then crash back down, and probably did that half a dozen times before the terrain changed. When I got home, there was a complete hole, about the size of a quarter in the drivers side rail. In the pathfinder, that “frame rail” was embarrassingly thin.

 

[RaymondP]

Give me rails instead of pinch welds for my VW any day. Mine are ugly/collapsed from hydraulic jack use, even though I made every effort to place the jack at the correct lift points.