98 Grand Marquis has Bent Frame, How much to Fix?

A good frame shop can return the frame or unibody back to what it was before the crash.

You hear horror stories of cars which are "never the same".. if so, it was poor workmanship. But the technology is there to do an excellent job.

Now, no matter WHAT the shop does, you will be expecting problems and your mind will sometimes play tricks on you. You may perceive problems that are not there, or were not a result of the accident.

I dont know what they will charge to fix the frame.. A couple of decades ago, I had a couple fixed in Houston, and the charges were only a few hundred dollars. That was a long time ago. That shop, unfortunately, does not exist any more. The aging owner and his crew just sold the land and retired.

If you have to spend that kind of money to fix it-it's probably not worth it. when they unbend a frame (from what I recall) they have certain points on the frame/body that they line up to their proper position. In theory when these points are in their proper position the frame is supposed to be straight.. As for safety as long as the bend isn't too extreme and they CAN straighten it the car should still be safe.

If you know the frame is bent and it will cost >$1000 on a car with a book of $1500, my call would be to salvage out the rest for whatever you can get out of it and go for another vehicle. Once the frame is straightened, it will probably require additional repair of the suspension components. I can't imagine a wheel hit that bends the frames leaving the spindle and control arms unscathed. Parts and labor there can mount up quickly.

Lugnut

The problem with junking the car and buying an equialent one is that for $2,000 I will probably get a car that need lots of repairs. This car has new tires, brakes, tie rods, ball joints. If I buy a more expensive car say for about $5,000., again, I will be getting a car that needs work, not to mention that I have no cash to buy it an if financed will require collision insurance, sales tax etc.

Bottom line is that I'm willing to go $1500 for the frame work. My brother sends a lot of customers to this guy so he will probably do a decent job. If I get another 8 month use from the car, I will probably feel that its worth it.

If I had collision insurance on this car, it would be totaled and I think that the isnurance company would pay me roughly$2,000 less less $500 deductible and I would have to loose the car.

Can't win !! In tthe end this is going to cost me. Not a good holiday season this year.

Simple... get an estimate, and go from there.

Yes, I'll get an estimate and post it. I have no idea how high it can be.

I do know that my daughter is lucky she didn't get seriously injured and it's a good thing she was driving a big car like a Gran Marquis.

That's the most important thing, she didnt' get hurt.

If the charge is close to $500.00 or more, they saw you coming.

To mount and measure is 2 hours of labor, at the prevailing rate in your area, and also, I doubt that would be more than a three hour pull.

Especially if they are using computerized measuring.

RK

RK Thanks for the input.

How do they actually pull the frame?

I'm actually a mechanical engineer with a stress analysis background so I know a lt about yielding materials, for instance, standard A36 steel would have a yield strength of 36,000 psi, so they would need to load the frame (bending moment load) to exceed that if that is he actual steel alloy. I would also assume that they would need to do this slowly.

The car is secured to a large framework. There are hydraulic rams that can pull from almost any height or angle through adjustable beams, pulleys and chains. A good frame guy can do magic. I have pulled numerous frames and unibodies close with chains, poles and compound low on my truck. Towtruck winches work well too... HTH, Ben Happy New Years!

The steels they use for auto body and frame work today are really bizarre. They all have very tightly controlled cold working characteristics because most of those parts are stamped. So you see alloys with all kinds of odd stuff in them (can you believe silicon/aluminum steels???) and the yield curves are pretty weird-looking.

But yes, they do use hydraulic gadgets to produce slow shifts with a whole lot of force, and I think it is more art than science. Consequently the skill level of the guys doing the work is very important.

--scott

Hmmm. What to you would constitute odd silicon and aluminum levels? Are you referring to base residuals? Just asking.

Of course....and appropriate force application and the resultant bending moment will cause localized stress to exceed the yield..........but you meant that, didn't you?

Rut-Row...

Moi?

Yah I meant that but what happens to the place where they attach the chain or what ever they use. My brother ordered the new upper conrol arm before he realized the frame was bent. He says he won't send it back yet because they might destory that part when they try to sraighten the frame.

As far a the steel alloy, I'm sure it's low strength steel like A36. about 36,000 psi yield.

Probably nothing because the force being applied wouldn't exceed the yield at that point.....think lever.

Which isn't really what one would refer to as high strength, is it?

No it's not particlarly high, but if it was a 100 ksi high strength steel it would be tough to perform frame straigteniing. It's also fortunate that steel does'nt have "creep" problems like aluminum otherwise they would need to stress relieve to avoid long term dimension changes. There are probably some light weight vehicles that use aluminum alloys for frames?

Anyway, my brother th>>> Yah I meant that but what happens to the place where they attach the

Corvette uses hydroformed Al I believe

I can sympathize with almost all of the above, but why would you need to spend $10K to get a decent car?

nate

Hello:

If the car is of uni-body construction, it is clamped to the four farthest corners, of the rocker panels.

It is a perimeter frame, either it's chained and blocked up with wood, to the machines platform.

Then the towers, which are hydraulic, are put in the proper area, and pulls are made with the hydraulically driven chains. The pulls should start at the outer areas of the damage, then to the main damage. There are several adapters available, and some shop made adapters to pull , on which another poster called: "Special areas), I think.

Which are actually control points.

I'm certain the steering knuckle is also bent, as mentioned by another poster. So you will need a used right side suspension assembly, and it should align like new.

RK