On Sept, 4, my 2002, F-250, 4x4, Crew, V-10 was in an accident. I made a left turn and did not see the Nissan Sentra in lane #2. The guy was hurt and I still feel like crap about the whole thing. I had AAA and was so underinsured it was criminal. They will NEVER tell you how cheap a $1,000,000 policy is. For me, just $400 per year extra. Ask your carrier!!!!! Those are their best kept secrets.
Anyways, the truck was totaled. The frames right beam was bent only in front of the front axle. The repair was more than the value, so AAA said no work would be done. The front end sustained moderate damage but no panel of hood damage. All of it was underneath. I have photos. One auto body place that AAA sent me to suggested that I take it to a frame straightening place myself and then to a cheap body specialist and I would save a ton.
Does anybody have an idea how much frame straightening is? It isn't crumpled, just bent at a slight angle.
I am in Los Angeles, if you happen to know of a particular place.
AAA has offered me $17,900 for the truck and about $2,500 to buy it back. The truck was clean before this happened. It had 87K miles.
Thanks,
Mike

 

Man, I am sorry to hear about your accident. Being underinsured is a terrible feeling to have. I am a Farmers Agent and find people underinsured all the time and when they are informed of the minimal amount it costs to drastically increase coverage they generally do. Generally if there is no frame components (i.e. crumple zones & Rails) the frame straightening in my area is about $1000-$1200.00. Again sorry to hear about this and I hope the injured party gets better soon to help ease your mind.....

 

I met a guy recently who buys wrecked Super Duty's from the insurance companies. He will use the parts, and builds new trucks out of them, and he also sells some of the parts. He told me that once a Super Duty frame is bent you should not straighten it. He said the trucks are to heavy, and the frame will flex after you have had it straightened. He had several good bare frames there the day I was there, but those frames were going to be used to build new trucks. He also had a bent frame there as well, and it was going to the scrap yard, and it wasn't even bent very bad. This guy is in the business of rebuilding Super Duty's, and he will not do anything with a bent frame. You should get more advise on the frame. You might be able to get another frame, and transfer all of your good parts. It might even be cheaper.

 

17.9K sounds like huge money for a 2002 V10, even with low miles. While it could perhaps be fixed, taking the money may be a good plan - then find another (or an '05 v10 with the 3v head) and buying again.

 

+1 that's what I was thinking..

 

I'd take the 17.9K and start over.

 

Frame straightening is just like anything else, it's done by the hour, meaning there is an hourly rate. Frames bend in a lot of different ways. Frame rails can be bent over, pushed back, pushed up and any combination of those. So, you could have one rail bent over slightly or it could be bent over slightly and then up. It could have been pushed back, up and over and caused the other side to shift without you even being able to tell until it is measured.

So, all of that said, it should take a shop about 1.5 - 2 hours to tell you what is wrong with your frame. Find out the hourly rate, and then you can ask what "set up and measure" would cost (approximately 2 hours of frame time). That'll then tell you how much it should cost to straighten it. Might be a little, might be a lot.

Where I live it would probably cost $100 for set up and measure, but California rates are MUCH different than here.

 

I'd say that is good advice in general, but if the only damage is in FRONT of the front axle and is very minor, well, that could be the exception. The loading on the frame up there, especially with the much lighter V10, is relatively low. I believe the frame is the same for diesels and gassers, so it is definitely overkill up there.