I had a slight accident with my 95 F150 where the front end made contact with a dirt embankment. The left frame rail appears to be slightly bent up on the left front. The reason I suspect this is the left door would contact the fender when opened. The body shop that fixed it said the frame was OK but I don't believe them. The truck now sits 1/2 inch low in the left front and 1/2 high in the right rear. It is quite noticeable on level ground. The truck now pulls to the right which it didn't do before the accident.My question is...Should I try and replace the frame rail or take my chances having it straightened by a body shop. I really like the truck and it has only 30k miles on it. Any help is appreciated.

 

I would get a second opinion from another body or frame shop, then inform your current body shop and your insurance company that you want satisfaction or a lawyer will be contacted. You shouldnt have to live with shoddy workmanship.

Nathan

 

Taking your truck to a very competent, state of the Art Frame Shop, is not even a compromise to the factory specs. They can allign your frame with the propper equiptment, to much better tollerances than factory spec(especialy trucks). If the repairs are being made by your insurance though,it is often hard to convince them that you arent trying to performance modify your truck on thier dime. The average body shop usually wont do much more than make your truck purdy again. Replacing and marking up as many parts as is acceptable, Thats where the money is, so thats what they concentrate on. A Ford dealership if propperly equipt can give you a good finish product,(as long as you dont have to pay for it out of pocket). The future of your trucks performance rests only in the fact that it needs to be propperly repaired, not can it be propperly repaired. My friend in California had a delivery truck run a stop sign and he smashed up the front of his 2 month old Dodge 1 ton, he had to fight the insurrance comp at every turn, but eventually got them to strip down to the frame and laser allign it at a race chassis shop,($$$$), which is actually an increase in value rather than a decrease suffered after an accident. Good Luck,
Jeff

 

I called the body shop as well as the insurance agency. They said bring it back and they will take a second look. Once I point out the obvious they will have to do something. Thanks for your help.

John