What is an easy way to tell if a car has frame damage by looking at it yourself? im just curious because my 89 iroc was stolen from me and wrecked last year and ive replace pretty much everything that was damaged except for the driver's side corner of the radiator support (where the carbon canister and cruise control is) which is still a bit crunched in. Until i cut it out and replace it, i used washers to help me align the fenders and such and i got it pretty darn straight....i'm just worried there might have been frame damage from the wreck, how can i find out if there is or not without taking it to a shop?.

so far as the body goes, i've replaced the nose piece, hood, front fenders, both doors, all the ground effects, rear bumper, A-frames, struts, springs, steering sectors, tie rod ends and some other small stuff. and the body looks pretty straight, all the panels are aligned fairly well but i did notice i need a new K-member...the wreck caused one of the bolts on the passenger A-frame to tear the mounting holes on the K-member, so even though i got a shop to do a wheel alignment, the car vibrates a bit when i drive over 70-ish MPH. I personally think it just needs a new K-member but i'd like your guys' opinions first. I'll get pics up tomorrow

thanks guys!

 

Best way to check for frame damage is to measure, laser system works best IMO. Sounds like it's not far off if any as the suspension did line up but some front end men will let little things go and just get it back out the door. That 70 mph shimmy probably is something wore or loose instead of misalignment. I'd check bearings and bushings for that issue. Sorry about your bad luck but glad you got it back in one piece for the most part.

 

the way to check is measure to see if the engine bay is square. measure diagonally across from corner to corner if the two measurements arent the sale its probably bent

 

for some reason the name escapes me, but i replaced the bolt and bushings that connects the A-frames to the front sway bar, can't remember what its called. what else should i look into replacing?

 

Sounds like you are talking about the sway bar links. That shimmy could be a number of things which makes me question your front end man even more. A good front end man, knowing the recent history should have checked for worn out ball joints, tie rod ends and such. Did you get a print out of the front end alignment when they got done? With the damage you described you may want to check the wheelbase which should have already been done.

 

no they didnt give me anything other then a receipt. when i was out driving today, i made sure to pay good attention to it, and I mostly only notice it in the steering wheel. and barely feel it in my feet, BARELY. and that is at 65 MPH. Thing is, it comes and goes sometimes....some days its bad, most days its not all that bad and on a VERY rare occasion I dont even notice it at all, almost like it just isn't there anymore. so if it is frame damage, would it always be there and be just as bad everyday? i'm thinking front wheel bearings and ball joints. my old man thinks they alignment guys just did a shitty job since they have a crappy reputation around here for being lazy and not finishing the job right. I did notice that after the alignment they moved my strut mounts ALOT there was a huge difference in the location compared to how they were previously..probably about an inch or so. so maybe they really did just do a shitty job.

 

here are a few pics of the damage, it really isnt all that bad in the corner there.

 

as you can see, i got all the panels to line up relatively well. I used a jack and a crow bar to pull the crunched part back into shape as best i could.

 

now here is the part that tells me i need to replace the K-member. it might be hard to see, but that bolt and washer is where the A-frame connects to the K-member...and as you can see there is a space there where the bolt hole was torn a bit on the K-member. that is what i think most of my problems are coming from, I believe that damage is preventing a good alignment on the car, but i could be wrong...id like to hear what you think of it.

 

whoops, forgot to upload those last two pics of the K-member area,lol

 

That looks terrible and is not safe. Just did a subframe and the bolts do not have any washers. Sorry to advise but your car is compromised structurally on the left front and will fold up like a soda can in the next accident........do your body a favor, don't worry about the panel alignment, repair the inner structure.

 

Thats exactly what im doing, I recently bought a donor car that is too far gone to repair, but has everything i need to repair my own, ill cut out the damaged radiator support and that front corner, and weld in the replacement from the donor car. and i'm dropping the bad K-member and putting in the one off the donor car. I have it all planned out and have been looking over options on what i can do, what i should do and shouldn't do for a year now. I talked to a buddy of mine the other day who has been a body man his whole life and he gave me the green light and said it should go pretty smooth if i take my time and once im done nobody would know the difference. essentially ill be doing what this guy in this thread did, but with minor differences. I only worried about replacing the panels just to get it back on the road, considering its the only car i own. I hope i didnt sound like a ***** when i got kinda defensive there, sorry about that,

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/body...ml#post5529485

 

1989 is right. That subframe is toast and that inner structure needs replacing. Your body panels should fit much better after replacing that inner structure. I'd find another front end man after replacing that sub frame also. Your front end man may have had to move the strut because of the upper rail being pushed over or possibly a bent strut. Compare the distance between the inside of the tire and the strut form one side to the other. If the distance is shorter on the left then the strut is probably bent.

 

alright cool, im just glad it can be fixed! I replaced the struts after the wreck so i dont think they're bent, but ill go ahead and check that measurement today. thats alot guys, you've helped a great deal.