Getting into an accident can put your car into a situation where it isn’t as fit to protect you and your family in future accidents. Aside from the secondary safety features like airbags, anti-lock breaks, and seatbelt function, the fundamental safety of your vehicle is upheld by its frame.
If your frame gets slightly bent or damaged in even a small accident, it might not be able to support you anymore. That is unless you have a professional assist you in getting things back into order.
We’re going to look at frame straightening in this article, exploring how it works and what it does to keep you and your family safe from harm in future accidents.
The Basics of Frame Straightening
To start, the general idea of frame straightening is getting the frame back into the position it was in originally when you drove the car off of the lot.
This is the position that the frame is in when it’s safety tested, so any variations to that position will put you at risk of being in an unsafe position. At the very least, you can’t be sure how safe a bent or altered frame will be because that design hasn’t been tested.
Frame straightening is carried out through the use of a machine and a mechanic who is trained on how to use it. The machine lifts the vehicle and can twist it around as needed to access the bent or damaged area of the frame.
A quick “auto shop near me” search should put you in touch with a professional who can do this work.
In most cases, the damage is corrected by a specialized mechanic who is using computer technology to manipulate the frame back into the correct state. This process is usually a combination of human and computer skill and attention, and it works in most cases where the damage isn’t too significant.
Serious Frame Damage
In cases where the frame has been damaged too significantly to repair the standard way, technicians might have to cut out a piece of the frame and get into the car, and weld the appropriate pieces back into place.
If your car is that damaged and requires that kind of work, you might wonder if the frame can be safely repaired. Interestingly, having the repairs done this way may actually be even safer as the mechanics are likely to reinforce that piece of the frame pretty intensely.
The moral of the story, though, is that even if your car’s frame has been damaged, it can be repaired back into a state where it’s just as safe as it ever was. The process of repairing might be a little costly, but it’s nothing compared to the cost of being injured in an accident with a faulty vehicle.
Need More Insight into Cars?
Frame straightening is just one piece of the fascinating puzzle of automobiles. We’re here to give you all the car information you need, from repair advice to insight into the future of the industry.
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