Dodge Ram frame straightening questions/ photos

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PostPosted: Wed Jul 23, 2014 2:05 pm
I have a 2006 Dodge Ram 1500 that was involved in an accident. The truck was totaled by insurance and I was able to buy the vehicle back at a very reasonable price. It sustained visible damage to both rear quarters and the front passenger side. I removed the bed to explore the extent of damage to the frame and found some definite tweaking. I am posting some photos in the hope that some professionals out there could give me advice on the viability of getting the frame realigned and a ballpark guesstimate on the costs. I understand that it will be and estimate and that different shops will charge widely varying rate but, just looking to see if t is at all feasible to get this thing back on the road. Blow photos show the read bed section with the racking that occurred. As you can see by the measurements, there is about a one inch difference with the measurement I took. Also, the driver's side frame rail was pushed up compared to the passenger's side. As for the front end damage, it seems to be confined to the lower control arm and maybe a bit to the mounting brackets. I will do all the mechanical repairs and arts replacement myself. Thanks for any advise in advance. http://s92.photobucket.com/user/arrakki ... t=3&page=1
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PostPosted: Sat Jul 26, 2014 12:48 am
its really hard to tell the extent of the damage by looking at a measuring tape like that. you really should have the truck put up on a laser measuring system and that will give you an exact readout of the damage. but by the looks of it you have a twist in the frame for sure and depending on how the truck was hit it probably has much more damage then what you can see. do you have pics of the assembled truck so we can see how it was hit?

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PostPosted: Mon Jul 28, 2014 1:34 pm
Thanks for your reply. I guy slid on ice through a stop sign an hit it in the front pass side. then, both vehicle's back ends came together, so the rear pass side was damaged. Finally, this caused the rear to slide out into the on coming traffic lane where a car hit the read driver's side. The black Mazda SUV was the truck that slid through the stop sign and hit the Ram. My son was driving and he was fine. http://s92.photobucket.com/user/arrakki ... t=3&page=1

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PostPosted: Mon Jul 28, 2014 7:58 pm
glad to hear everyone was ok!

if you want a more accurate idea of what youre dealing with I would get the truck level on some jackstands and then measure it again. the car needs to have a solid foundation before you can tell where the frame is sitting. that being said, this is something that will require large frame pulling equiptment to fix and the person who does the repair is going to want to measure up the car with a computer before they give you a quote on the job. I would bring it to a frame shop and have them measure it before you do anything.

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PostPosted: Mon Jul 28, 2014 11:36 pm
That is kinda my catch 22. Do I buy the parts and get her rolling, then get it to a shop and have them tell me it's gonna be to expensive or not possible to get straight?

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PostPosted: Tue Jul 29, 2014 9:25 pm
to me, measuring the frame before anything is the insurance on your project. no matter what, you will need to have the frame measured weather it is before or after you order parts. and on a side note you should have the frame repaired before anything else if repaired/replaced because you may have alignment issues after the frame is pulled square.

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PostPosted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 2:52 pm
Can I ask, are you a body repair tech at all and or have good knowledge/ experience on the whole frame straightening subject? I don't have any working knowledge myself but, I'm a big time DIYer with plenty of experience with auto repair and home repair, plus whatever else pops up.

Yes, I was gone fix the front control arm, axle and rear axle so the tires could go back on just to make it much easier to move around first. Unfortunately the front tire was fine post accident until they started moving her on and off the flatbed. Now it's wrecked. Oh and thanks for your help and advise.

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PostPosted: Sat Aug 02, 2014 9:03 pm
no problem glad I can help, and yes I am a full time body tech and have been through the schooling to get my red seal.

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PostPosted: Sun Aug 03, 2014 4:32 pm
Cool, nothing like getting advise from a pro. I have decided I am gonna replace the front control arm, axle, and the rear axle so I can put tires on it and it will roll. Then I have a shop near by that's willing to give it a look. If nothing else I will make this a woods romper. It has 97,000 on it, ran great and the trans is good too so, I'd hate to see it **** caned or parted out. It cost me $200.00 to buy back from insurance after then gave me $16,200 plus tax for it. Then I replace it with basically the same truck only the new one is a Larime with leather, Infinity stereo, moon roof, auto rear slider and all the hook ups. So, like I said, the frame really doesn't look that bad to me not that I know all the little stuff to look for that might doom it to the scrap heap. I'll keep you posted though.

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