DIY Frame Straightening?

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Supercharged111

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This seems as good a place as any as there isn't exactly a frame section. This is regarding the CCSB with a bent frame I recently picked up cheap. I already had it to the frame shop and it's definitely fixable, but it's been a week and still no estimate in my email inbox so I get the impression it won't be easy to get on their books to get it fixed. I think there's one other shop in town that will pull it without it being an insurance job, probably gonna get the same runaround there though. While I wait, the right wheel is almost 2" farther back than the left front. I have to wonder if there isn't a semi calculated way to give it a yank and make it less like a lawn decoration. I wonder what I'd chain to on the truck to make sure I'm not just creating more work in the end? I can deal with the alignment to get it to go halfway straight without 45 degrees of counter steer with a little cross camber or cross caster (or a lot of that's what it takes). After it gets properly pulled I'll be burning some more steel onto the frame so it isn't prone to bending again in the same spot and to get it ready to hang a plow.
 

Schurkey

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You pull on it wrong, you'll not only not fix what's bent, you'll add new bend(s) to the frame.

Half the problem--maybe more than half--is figuring out how to secure the "good" part of the frame so that the force used to pull the bend actually acts on the bent part.

Expect to need new cab mount(s) and/or radiator support mounts when you're done.

Are you sure it's the frame that's bent, and not the control arms? (or both frame AND arms.)
 

Supercharged111

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You pull on it wrong, you'll not only not fix what's bent, you'll add new bend(s) to the frame.

Half the problem--maybe more than half--is figuring out how to secure the "good" part of the frame so that the force used to pull the bend actually acts on the bent part.

Expect to need new cab mount(s) and/or radiator support mounts when you're done.

Are you sure it's the frame that's bent, and not the control arms? (or both frame AND arms.)

Well the lower arm is bent, it measured 1/2" off of the driver's arm they said. Upper could very well be bent too. And the alignment knockout dealies are still in there so it all has to come apart anyway. The frame shop said it was bent and diamonded. In person, you can see that this rail is bent behind the rear upper control arm mount. That S section gave way to some extent.

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Thankfully I don't need this as a driver. I can afford to have it sit a year if that's what it takes. But it does bother me that it might take that long. Feels like such a waste.
 

Erik the Awful

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If it's bent behind the crossmember, I'd probably opt for finding another frame. We're not in the rust belt, so it should be easy.

I've seen a handful of race cars get straightened at the track. We endurance race, so using a K2500 and a tow strap to pull the frame horn on your Lancia Scorpion straight is worthwhile if it gets you running again. I've only ever seen people try to straighten frame horns. Past that and the car usually gets turned into toasters.

Schurkey hit the nail on the head about securing what you don't want moved.
 

Supercharged111

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I think securing what I don't want moved factors into the risk vs reward category here. That's the million dollar question, is the juice worth the squeeze? Because I too have seen shock towers getting yanked at the track by 2500 trucks and it made the alignment good enough to race.

As for the frame, well at the moment I know of one in the country. It's in WA and it's $750 which is fair, but getting it to me would not be cheap.
 

Hipster

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Well the lower arm is bent, it measured 1/2" off of the driver's arm they said. Upper could very well be bent too. And the alignment knockout dealies are still in there so it all has to come apart anyway. The frame shop said it was bent and diamonded. In person, you can see that this rail is bent behind the rear upper control arm mount. That S section gave way to some extent.

You must be registered for see images attach


Thankfully I don't need this as a driver. I can afford to have it sit a year if that's what it takes. But it does bother me that it might take that long. Feels like such a waste.
more often than not pulling something like this usually requires multiple methods, sometimes multiple towers pulling, welded on plates to clamp to, etc. Fixturing is 90% of the pull. If you can't hold it still you can't pull against it. It's not something that goes on a frame machine and is done in a few hours. Not an easy fix. These days this gets wrote for a new frame. Frame labor around here is about $100/hr. 4 hours usually just to set a truck up and fixture it. 6-8-10 hrs later buying the frame starts to look like a good deal. Shops typicall won't get involved because by todays standards this is considered an improper repair and the liabilities associated with that. Good luck with it.
 

Supercharged111

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I would have already bought a frame if I could get one locally. It's gonna take a lot of gas to run to OR or WA to pick one up. The one guy who looked at it guessed a half a day on the rack.
 
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