Hey guys, newbie here.
I bought my '94 3/4ton 2wd extended cab short bed chevy a couple years ago when I didn't know how to change oil. I did not spot the damage from a side impact and so I bought it not knowing about the damage, which the PO conveniently didn't mention the extent of.
I fixed it up and drove it for a few years, but recently drove it into a small tree after pulling a late night in the shop and driving too tired and fast.
So now it's got front end and side impact damage and I'm wondering how I can fix it. I spoke to a few local frame repair shops and they said they generally only straighten frames for unibody cars as they pull out more easily. They said they generally just replace ladder frames on trucks when they are bent.
The side impact damage was partiallly repaired and covered up when the PO owned it and it has driven well enough afterwards while I have owned it.
The front 10" of the passenger frame rail is bent in towards the middle of the truck. The tree hit the front of the grille dead on at the passenger headlight area.
The passenger front wheel is bent from hitting the curb in front of the tree and the passenger front fender, core support, and suspension is probably junk too. The driver upper control arm is also pretzel'ed.
Should I cut my losses and part the thing? The motor had been well taken care for (I've got two inches of service records from my own keeping and the care of the previous two owners) and has 196k and the trans is a brand new, 6 month old GM crate tranny with less than 4-5k on it and a factory warranty that I put in myself.
I'd say the truck's got some sentimental value, so I'm inclined to fix it even a little past the point of normal "is this worth it."
I'm thinking of cutt out the front bent part of the frame and fab'ing a tube bumper and grill. Just hammer out the fender and pull the core support out. Junkyard control arms and see if it will roll. The cab body mounts were broken in the previous side impact. Only five of them are connected (there's a seriously stuck, sheared off bolt in the sixth due to the side swipe accident) and two of them are pushed up into the cab's sheet metal.
I bought my '94 3/4ton 2wd extended cab short bed chevy a couple years ago when I didn't know how to change oil. I did not spot the damage from a side impact and so I bought it not knowing about the damage, which the PO conveniently didn't mention the extent of.
I fixed it up and drove it for a few years, but recently drove it into a small tree after pulling a late night in the shop and driving too tired and fast.
So now it's got front end and side impact damage and I'm wondering how I can fix it. I spoke to a few local frame repair shops and they said they generally only straighten frames for unibody cars as they pull out more easily. They said they generally just replace ladder frames on trucks when they are bent.
The side impact damage was partiallly repaired and covered up when the PO owned it and it has driven well enough afterwards while I have owned it.
The front 10" of the passenger frame rail is bent in towards the middle of the truck. The tree hit the front of the grille dead on at the passenger headlight area.
The passenger front wheel is bent from hitting the curb in front of the tree and the passenger front fender, core support, and suspension is probably junk too. The driver upper control arm is also pretzel'ed.
Should I cut my losses and part the thing? The motor had been well taken care for (I've got two inches of service records from my own keeping and the care of the previous two owners) and has 196k and the trans is a brand new, 6 month old GM crate tranny with less than 4-5k on it and a factory warranty that I put in myself.
I'd say the truck's got some sentimental value, so I'm inclined to fix it even a little past the point of normal "is this worth it."
I'm thinking of cutt out the front bent part of the frame and fab'ing a tube bumper and grill. Just hammer out the fender and pull the core support out. Junkyard control arms and see if it will roll. The cab body mounts were broken in the previous side impact. Only five of them are connected (there's a seriously stuck, sheared off bolt in the sixth due to the side swipe accident) and two of them are pushed up into the cab's sheet metal.
