bent frame

[AUSMHLY]

My 64 BJ8 is in the body shop, getting a new paint job. As if the frustration of pleading with them to actually work on my car is not enough, I noticed that they bent the frame, drivers side, right under the motor mount. When I brought this to their attention, he said sorry and will fix it.

The center bead area is pushed up about half an inch. Length is about 8". Not sure if the edges of the beam is pushed up also. Should I be concerned?

I don't know how he is going to fix it. Any suggestions before he does what he thinks is best?

Roger

 

[shorn]

I think I would be concerned as to why it bent. Is there rust on the inside of the chasis channel, causing weakness? Often, when jacking up the car on the frame, not the best place for a jack by the way, the jack will cause the the bead to indent somewhat. If jacking the car via the frame, it is best to use a block of wood with a cut out that matches the bead, so that the jack pushes up on the the area outside of the bead. Anyway the bead can be pulled back out by welding a perpendicular piece to it and pulling it back out. However, if the length of the bend is 8 inches, it would seem that they did more than jack the car up or the frame may have some internal rust.

 

[Keoke]

ASHLY, Shorns comment is good. I do not know how they bent the frame either but if it is a well equipped shop they have a special tool that will weld puller strips on to the frame ridge and pull it out. these puller strips are simply broken off when finished.But, rather than wonder how they did it why didn't you ask HEY!, how did you guys do THAT!?? Based on your description of the damage I do not think the problem is terminal. But it is Bummer init---Keoke /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif OH! some one on this forum modified a cheap pitman arm puller that will do this job also, best thing I have seen the pictures are in the archive. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yesnod.gif

 

[AUSMHLY]

Shorn, Keoke, thank you for replying. Maybe I was down playing my concern here. Yes, I was wizzed to see what had happened and immediately brought it to the shop owners attention. The car was a frame off restoration, bead blasted. No rust that I know of. I'm assuming that the guy put a jack there, lifted the car, saw what he did, and moved the jack to another area. The bottom of the car is covered in dust from the body shop. The area that was bent, was now dust free because of the plate where the jack was placed. Clearly no excuse could be given from the shop as, I didn't do that. He appologized and said he will make it right. I can't be at the shop monitoring everything they do, and would assume they are a quailty shop, with guys that pay attention. As I said before, it's a battle to get them to work on my car, for it gets put on the back burner all the time. As if that's not frustrating enough, I find things like you not paying attention and you bent my frame. Anything else you guys gonna &^$* up?

OK, I guess they should weld the pins on the frame, use the dent puller to pull the frame back to shape, grind off the pins, then paint the frame area. Or what ever method they deceide to use to make it right. Thank you guys for your input.

I will take a photo of it on Tuesday and post it here for you guys to look at. Thank you, Roger

 

[Keoke]

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yesnod.gif Yep, That dent size just about fits a shop type jack saddle I think.---Keoke

 

[Dave Russell]

[ QUOTE ]
I think I would be concerned as to why it bent. Is there rust on the inside of the chasis channel, causing weakness?
it would seem that they did more than jack the car up or the frame may have some internal rust.

[/ QUOTE ]
In my experience, jacking under the frame rails should not cause ANY dents or distortion. UNLESS, the frame is weakened from serious internal rust or broken welds. Original new cars did not bend or flex. Similarly, you should be able to jack up any single corner without ANY change in bonnet, boot, or especially door gaps. Any changes indicate a frame that is weaker than the original. If parts are changing alignment, it's your call on how much frame flex you are willing to live with. The correction is so expensive that many people chose to just live with it.
D

 

[Randy Harris]

Roger - call me at home. I'll take a ride down with you and inspect the frame before they "fix" it. As you know I had my own frame issues a few years ago and can probably give you a decent assesment of the situation and the appropriate fix.
Randy '66 BJ8

 

[AUSMHLY]

Here is a photo of the dent

 

[vette]

Roger, I will have to agree with Dave Russell, your frame should not have bent just by jacking it up. I have an unrestored Bj7 that has some rust issues that I really must fix soon, my front cross member is so filled with weld that it looks like the craters of the moon. Yet when I jack it on the cross member or at any point on the frame I get no distortion. From your picture I believe it might have slipped off the jacks and came down unto something else creating an impact on that frame rail.
Dave C.

 

[anthony7777]

ausmhly,to me it does not look to be damage from a jack,in my earlier days befor i was interested in reading my healy manual,id jack up my cars anywhere along the frame and did some minnor damage but nothing like i see in your photo,it appears as though the car jumped a street curb or an exposed serwer pipe or other obstruction.maybe even an arm from a car lift[are those stryations allong the damaged area?]you should not have to pay someone to get abused unless your into that freaky deaky kind of stuff.get your money situation ironed out with this guy,present him with a letter from a lawyer friend[oxymoron]and find a more reputable shop,your car can be fixed,but you should not be 'put on the back burner'any longer.like granpa always said "dont take any sh-- from nobody"im sure youll find a more reputable shop,and the car will be fine! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/pukeface.gif

 

[John Loftus]

Roger, I agree with what others have said. The dent in the picture is a major one, not caused by jacking but by the frame landing hard on something. The stridations are vertical which would be caused by a vertical drop. The car probably slipped off a lift or jack stand. I would look carefully at the rest of the car for possible damage. When the dent is repaired there is a good chance that the seam weld will crack and need to be rewelded. It's important for you to see the repair in bare metal to make sure the geometry has been completely restored (not made to look good with bondo). Ideally it is repaired at a place with a frame machine so they can check points on the frame for alignment.

Cheers,
John

 

[Dave Russell]

After seeing the pic, I have to agree. It certainly doesn't look like jacking damage. I'll bet someone at the shop knows what really happened.
D

 

[Michael Oritt]

Man that would ☼☼☼☼ me off bigtime.

Looking at the way the damage tapers from front to rear I also suspect that something was run over.

 

[Randy Harris]

I gotta agree with the others here Roger. When we spoke the other day on the phone I told you that my frame is slightly dented in a few spots where it was jacked improperly. However, looking at the pic, it's pretty clear that a jack alone wouldn't do this kind of damage. Most likely it fell onto something, a pipe or an edge of the lift arm . It can be fixed though, so I wouldn't lose your marbles just yet. Based upon what you told me it sounds like your shop has the right tools to pull the frame back out, weld and strengthen where needed and adjust the geometry if called for. It also sounds like the shop owner has agreed it's his fault and will make good on it. Just don't let him dick around anymore - he owes you, at least to get the car done now and done right.

Randy

 

[Keoke]

HI John, I tend to agree the car did not run over anything. But lets suppose that they tried to place a jackstand under the car. When the jack contacted the frame it started to slip because the jack was walking away from the car.So he stopped jacking at that location,unaware of the damage, and moved the jack backwards trying to get a better bite and it did it again but this time the jackstand was installed just in front of the damaged area,see the foot print on the bottom of the frame.Also see the dent at the far right edge that could have been the first location for the jack stand but it buckled and he moved it further forward. The damage is rather severe because the frame in that area is a little weak.But inspite of the frustration caused the situation is not terminal.-Just my take ---Keoke

 

[AUSMHLY]

WoW, it's great to see so much imput here. If someone will explain how I can attach 8 more photos, everyone can see from different angles what it looks like. For the record, the bottome of the car is covered in bead blast dust. So what happened, happened where the car sits. It is currently held up by tripod jacks. Would seem it happened by jacking it up and jack moving, or maybe dropped onto something when jacking up in another area of the car? Who knows. I don't want to make a big deal out of who is to blame, being the owner said he will make it right, and told me that person will not be working on my car. He also told me he will now be the only person working on it. He told me he will be weldin a plate, pull the dent out, remove the plate. He also has a new lazer alignement rack and will makes sure the car is correct.

Thank you everyone for the imput. Plz let me know how to attach more than one photo at a time. Roger