Your vehicle's frame is one of the most important safety features that you don't see often. This frame is considered the base foundation for your car, and it's designed to absorb any collision.
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Several studies showed that the average person is expected to get involved in a car accident once every 17.9 years. So, what happens to the frame when someone gets involved in a car accident? Is it important to check for frame damage when purchasing a used vehicle? Are minor frame damages significant?
This article will answer these questions and provide you with additional information to consider when it comes to “what is frame damage.”
What is the frame of a car?
Before we dive into the frame damages, it's important to familiarize ourselves with your vehicles' different components.
Here are the major parts of your car's frame:
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The vehicle's front section
The front section of your vehicle usually withstands most damages during a car accident. This section consists of the core support, firewall, unirail, apron, and the strut tower.
The unirail is the strongest part among all front section components. When a car accident affects the front section, it's most likely that your vehicle's alignment will be bent.
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The vehicle's middle section
Since your vehicle's middle section holds the passengers, it's usually the third year apart compared to the front and back sections of your vehicle.
This section consists of the floor can, the rocker panel, and the A&B pillars. This section is designed in a way allowing it to protect passengers from major injuries. Unfortunately, if the car's accident caused significant damage to the middle section, it would be challenging to evacuate the vehicle.
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The vehicle's Tail section
The tail section is very similar to the front section. It consists of the back support, the quarter panel, and the C pillar.
Depending on the severity of the damage, you might not be able to access the vehicle's trunk along with the gas cap. Your vehicle's wheel alignment might also get affected if the tail section gets damaged in some scenarios.
What is frame damage?
Frame damage is related to any problem in the vehicle's frame, which is the main structure. For example, the vehicle suffers from frame damage if it has issues with the suspension mounting, lower frame rails, unibody construction, upper frame rails, hey, B, and C pillars, and rocker panels. Therefore, any vehicle part bolted to the mean structure is not considered part of the vehicle's frame.
What are the different types of frame damages?
Frame damages are not all the same; depending on the severity of the car accident, the damage can differ.
In general, minor damages are considered cosmetic, and they don't cause significant effects on the vehicle's frame. These damages can be repairable and do not affect the overall safety of the vehicle.
However, if minor damages were not taken care of immediately, they can be more complicated than cause other significant damages to the vehicle's frame, affecting its safety. Thus, it's recommended that you never ignore minor damage is to prevent high repair costs and high risk when driving this vehicle.
On the other hand, major damages are more complicated, and they usually cause safety issues. They also might affect the vehicle's resale price and people's desire to purchase such a vehicle.
The most challenging part about measure damage is that you can't spot the problem, and you need a significant intense inspection of your vehicle to pinpoint frame damages.
Here are some of the most common types of frame damages:
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Twisted or sagging frame
Your vehicle might have a sagging or twisted frame if you realized any of the following signs:
- You will notice gaps in the body
- You will experience the vehicle leaning deeper towards one side or one section of the vehicle
A sagging or twisted frame usually leads into one section of your vehicle, wearing out faster than the other. This is very similar to having misaligned wheels where your vehicle's tires wear out from one side more than the other.
While you can spot a twisted or sagging frame by looking for difficulties as you turn, in most scenarios, you must consult a professional mechanic to pinpoint the actual location of the problem because it can be challenging to find the problem source.
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The sway
Sway damages most likely occur when the vehicle is hit in a corner. Luckily, sway damages can be spotted easier than other types of frame damage is as you will notice that your vehicle is leaning towards one side.
Besides the visual inspection, you can confirm the sway damaged by driving your car and noticing your vehicle's not driving in a straight line. If you ignored sway damage in your vehicle's frame, the problem can worsen, resulting in severe vibrations that could lead to a significant breakdown.
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Mashed frame
The last and most severe type of frame damage is a matched frame. This usually happens when a car accident occurs had a head-on hit or rear-ended damages. You will notice that the vehicle got shorter after the accident as compared to before the accident.
A mashed frame indicates that your vehicle's frame crumbled in on itself. A mashed frame is usually associated with other damages in your vehicle as you will notice that the frame might be twisted, sagging, and you might deal with a sway frame as well.
How to deal with frame damages?
When dealing with frame damage, you need to evaluate the situation and check whether your vehicle is repairable or not.
In most severe and major damage scenarios, you will end up selling your vehicle as parts because no one would be interested in a vehicle with a damaged frame.
However, if you're dealing with minor problems, you can resolve anybody issues by replacing needed parts. These replacements you can do yourself if you have some mechanical skills or you can visit a repair shop.
Even if your vehicle is repairable, it's very important to compare the required repair costs to your vehicle's overall value. If you've noticed that repair costs are getting close to 75% or more of your vehicle's worth, it might not be worth spending a penny getting this vehicle fixed, and instead, you should get rid of it and purchase a new, better one.
Who buys vehicles with damaged frames near me?
If you decided that your vehicle is not repairable because of the frame damages or if repair costs are very high, we can help you!
Our company buys vehicles despite their type or condition. We don't care whether your vehicle has a damaged frame, a field engine, or missing parts. Our company sees value in every vehicle, and we pay you the most cash your vehicle would ever deserve.
All that takes you is a quick phone call with our members describing your car's type and condition. Once you provide this basic information, our team will provide you with an instant offer within a couple of seconds from submitting this information.
The offer should reflect your vehicle's actual worth because it's based on an in-depth evaluation and comparison of your vehicle's type and condition to the most recent transactions around your area.
Once you're happy with the offer, you can request to move forward with the process and schedule a pickup time and location. Luckily, our company picks up your vehicle within one to three days and is willing to come to your house or office or any different place you are preferred to meet at.
We will inspect the car at the pickup time, get it removed, and hand with the cash payment right on the spot!
Conclusion
Your vehicle's frame is one of the most important safety features that protect passengers and reduce the chances of major injuries in car accidents.
It's very important to familiarize yourself with frame damage and how you can deal with it if needed.
The frame damage has to do with any problem in the structure of your vehicle. These damages could be minor and can be repairable. They can also be major and not repairable.
Dealing with minor frame damages can be straight forward using parts replacements. However, with major frame damages, you might end up selling your vehicle as parts.
Luckily, our company buys vehicles despite their condition and whether the frame is in good shape or not. Get in touch with our team today and receive your instant offer!
The process is very straightforward, and it should take you a lot of time. Give it a try and receive your offer within a couple of seconds from your phone call!