has anyones f-body frame ever gotten twisted from too much torque, and how much would it be to fix it?

 

the whole car is the frame because its a unibody construction.....and if it is twisted its done. drive it off a cliff or throw it to the boneyard....there aint not coming back

 

what does unibody construction exactly mean and how easy and common is it for a frame to get bent or twisted?

 

unibody means there is no frame....the car itself is a one piece construction with front and rear sub-frames. for example, you cant take the body of the frame, because its all one piece.

If you dont install subframe connectors or a cage and throw some serious power at the car its very common for them to twist.

 

our cars will even twist & crack regardless without sfc's. i have a v6 with a cam, and some minor head work and ive got one of those stupid cracks above the window.

i specially got a hardtop car because i heard there less prone to this happening, and it ticks me off every time i have to look at that crack when i get into the car.

 

yeah subframe connectors are the way to go, keep the chassis flex to a min.

 

how much are subframe connectors? if 400HP is going to be put a 3rd gen would should be done to "assure" the frame doesn't get racked

 

How much horse power you have shouldn't make a difference, how much torque is it pushing? Sub frames are one of the best things you can do for a car, even if your not pushing high numbers. You could get a set of sub frames from Jegs for a little over $100.

 

Sub frames are important....and the next step is at least a 6 point cage to tie the chassis together an 8 is even better...

 

How can you can you tell if your frame is bending?

 

the easiest way is to look for cracks above or around your windows or roof

 

And definately DONT pop curbs and crap like that .. i have the cracks near the window and roof on a 2.8L hardtop i know the 2.8 has some tourque but i HIGHY doubt it did that so im guessing popping curbs and speedbumps and stuff like that dont help the frame out at all just some friendly words of advice.

 

if your body is tweeked form torque, jack up the pass rear on the body and let it sit that way with the doors open for a couple of days. it is an alternitive to an alighnment machein. also, after you get the car sitting level, make sure you put in the connectors before you abuse it again.

i had this problem with my 355 tpi in my 87 roc.

thanks
anthony

 

but the crack was made that big when i hit the light pole. ir was about a 1/4 of the size before.

 

last one .

i am going to fix this. i was told by the best puller at work that most of that should pop out when pulled. i am calling this car project reserection.

just remember that anything is fixable.

thanks
anthony

 

If you have bent the unibody of the car ( there is no frame) jacking up anything and leaving it there will not correct anything.

The damage was caused by applied torque twisting the body itself.....by letting it hang on a jack it will only seem to fix the problem while its sitting jacked up. There is not a sufficient amount of force push the body back straight.....and even if there was, it wouldnt stay that way because it isnt stiff enough.....otherwise it wouldnt be twisted in the first place

 

i work at a body shop in town and i was talking to one of the guys there and i asked him about body tweeking, and this is close to what he said:

the force applied from the excesive lift from the jack (ie, only one wheel on the ground) will fix minor tweeking.

he frame alighnment rack is the best way though.


thanks
anthony