Frame straightening???

Had a Jeep cherokee roll down a hill and hit a tree yesterday. :eek:

front bumper bent into the shape of a V, grill busted, hood mangled, radiator bent and leaking, and frame toed in on both sides an inch or two.

I can fix all of this stuff, but the frame is the biggest problem.

This is a uni-body vehicle, so I'm not sure if the frame could be straightened.

If any body has had any experience with a bent frame, I'd like to know if it's more cost effective to fix it, or buy another vehicle.

Thanks fellas,

Adam

I can't say anything about unibody but my experience on tweaked regular chassis will say it'll cost you about $1,000 for frame straightening from a competent shop.

Bring it on up my shop, I'll fix it :d

Since estimating over the internet is impossible (especially with no pictures) and prices varying according to shops (even within a given town), why dont you simply take the vehicle to a shop and get an estimate? .... or, if you can, have them come to you? At the worst, it costs the tow charges. Then, you have a real number to work with on your comparison. Anyone on this forum can give you a number but it is worthless at best without actually being in front of the vehicle.

IF all the damage is infront of the suspension,you could just jack the frame horns apart untill they are correct,I have 30 years ex. at this,easier said than done,you need to first determine where it is bent before you can fix it,if only bent in front you can fix it ,if bent behind suspension,much more difficult,lets see a pic:cool:

I have owned, built, and beat up several Cherokees. If the Unibody is tweaked, then it is a loss. Part it out and get as much as possible. You didn't give much info, but if it has a a 4.0 straight six then there are plenty of places to sell it. If it has the old 2.8 v-6, then good luck. I would just call it a boat anchor. For much more information about the XJ (Cherokee) try North American XJ Association

Only way to know for sure it to get it on to a frame alignment rack and have a competant technician pull the alignment points on it. To do it right will take about 2-3 hours and if it is tweaked it will then take time to pull it back into shape.

Call a local good body shop and ask how much to at least get it on the rack and tell you what you have so you can make a decision from there.

Don

UniBody vehicles can be re-paired just like a frame car can .
I see my body men do it every day :) It may require cutting off the damaged rails and stuff and welding new rails , Core support and any thing else that can not be repaired to OEM specs !

But it requires a frame rack to pull everything out as close to specs before the cutting process is started ;)

I would take some pictures of the damage ( if it is'nt drivable ) to a body shop and see if you could get a guesstimate to see if its in your budget to fix it or use that money to get another project .

I Have fixed some bad one's . I used a chain come-a-long and chained the truck down . Make some measurements from the good side and start pulling . Just don't over pull or you will tear the un-frame . A big hammer also helps :LOL: . The last frame I straitened was on a E250 Bread truck 12/07 it also needed a new flip front end . It may not be 100% but you will have a usable truck when your done . At work we have sent some out to frame shops ? :HMMM: Looks like we do better work in-house .

Most anything can be repaired,but it might be cheaper to find one that needs drivetrain and transfer yours over. It depends a lot on how extensive your damage is. If nothing is bent in your front suspension,and its still in alignment with the rear axle,you might get away with just jacking out the frame horns,replace the rad support,and hang a new grill and bumper. I've been driving a totalled 96 olds for years,just replaced hood,header panel,grill and lights.Sometimes you can get lucky. Hank