just about how much would it cost to straighten a frame..? i recently bent my radiator core support when i was driving.. i hit a ditch *hammer me*. It was by accident though.. it seemed really small and i only went 5 mph through it, it was on some dirt road. anyways here is a pic of it


any idea on how much it would cost? thanks very much for your help

 

I'm not sure but my hatchback's trunk/rear quarter is slightly pushed in from being rear ended before when they previous owner used to own the car. I took it to a body shop and they gave me an estimate of $500 to straighten it back out so the tailgate and bumper will fit right again.. this is without paint.

 

Im pretty sure you could fix that yourself..

 

im doing that to my car right now and thet r charging me $500 to fix the frame.

 

i say bend it out and put in some supports on the radiator support and weld em up

 

ya you can fix that yourself. its not a big deal since its only the radiator support.

 

500 dollars geez... wow umm, this is off subject but slowdx do you have anymore pics of your car lately i looked in your garage and i saw that you put fat fives on you eg8.. i have an eg8 too and i wanted to get fat fives for my sedan after i got everything else done w/ it.

anyways i tried searching around i also read of people cutting it off and welding a new one back on? anyone know how to go about this and what tools i would use? any one seen cheaper prices on frame straightening?

 

Isn't that just the bottom part of the radiator support? You can pull it out yourself or Just replace a new radiator support. Civics Rad. support are pretty cheap. $50 around here.

 

the typical rate is 100 bucks to set it up on the machine (over an hour to do this, not a 15 minute job) and 60 dollars an hour straightening it, it doesn't look like much more than an hour or so of pulling though

 

isn't it attatched to the frame though.. like welded?

is there any way to unbolt it or would i need to take it to a body shop and have them cut it and weld it back on..? ya say it might be 50 bucks for the rad support ..but i think the labor charge would kill me ..

 

Yes, it's attached to the frame. If you have the time and patience to do it then it should save you some money. You unbolt some of the bolts and then drill out all the weld spots. (a lot)..If not, just properly chain it up and pull it with a car or a truck. I usually get on the car and back up slowly instead of pulling it with the other car.

 

yes it is welded to the frame but that doesnt always mean the frame's bent. Judging by the picture it most likely isnt. Anyways, you drill out all of the spot welds holding the radiartor support on, then pull it off put the new one on and weld it up. It's actually really easy, just time consuming. Search the web or even HT for more info on rad. support replacement. You may even find helpful info under 96-98 > 99-00 conversion how to threads. Pretty simple task though if you have a welder (MIG), or if you can rent one.

 

i would have to say that it wouldn be anything more then a $200. my uncle gets it done all the time at his shop...seeing that it isnt that bad of a problem, it shouldnt be to much.

 

thats a simple fix, just cause its connected to the frame doesnt mean you have to drill itout tofix it. the radiator support is thin metal.. if you can pull that out by hand get creative with a jack(s) and use them to push the bend out from the inside

 

$19.95

 

^^^ works cosmetically, but the strength of the metal is now gone.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by TRD MA70 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">^^^ works cosmetically, but the strength of the metal is now gone.</TD></TR></TABLE>
im sure most of the frame support would be from the bumper support

 

thanks for all the info guys..

right now i debating on what i should do.. get it straightend or try and knock it back into place? what would you guys reccomend... or even do that jack thing? thanks for any more suggestions you may have

 

get one of them wire pulley things...
tie it to your rad. support and the other to some large SOLID UNMOVABLE object (i.e. huge column or HUGE truck)...
i'm talking about the "ratcheting" ones... so basically just tighten it til it starts to pull the bend outward...

i hope you understand what i mean....

similar to this, but the smaller manual ratcheting ones