pineapple_picka Posted September 14, 2006 Share Posted September 14, 2006 It's been a long hot summer in Vegas and now the weather is cooling down. I had plans to fix up my rig, but I got stupid and decided to drive home from a bachelor party in March. I spun out on the freeway (luckily no injuries and no cars) and hit the passenger side of my truck on the freeway barrier. I've been ordering parts here and there, but I'm not sure if I should fix it myslef; with the help of friends OR take it to a body shop. The inner fender well and radiator support is bent and creased. Some say it can be fixed with the proper tools and other's say I may need to cut & weld. Has anyone done such a task in the worse case scenario?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdhicks99 Posted September 14, 2006 Share Posted September 14, 2006 Easy fix, but harder to make it look like new. You can bend and stretch everything back into place with common hand tools, but if you want it to look like factory new it will take some grinding, welding, bondo, and alot of patience. Good luck and we're always here for support nearly 24/7. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pineapple_picka Posted September 14, 2006 Author Share Posted September 14, 2006 Thanks cdhicks....I'm not looking for it to be like brand new but somewhat decent enough. I tried attaching a picture, but it's not showing up..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sw Posted September 14, 2006 Share Posted September 14, 2006 photos would help do you have a website to put the photos on or do as most others do, put them on photo bucket then link. as for fixing the car, get those photos up... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pineapple_picka Posted September 14, 2006 Author Share Posted September 14, 2006 Here it is: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mws Posted September 15, 2006 Share Posted September 15, 2006 The substructure damage looks a little worse than my '87 was, but it still looks quite hammerable - assuming you're not looking for perfection. Here's the before: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mws Posted September 15, 2006 Share Posted September 15, 2006 And the after: I started with a comealong to pull out the sheet metal that was folded around on itself, then a sledgehammer for the crude alignment (get the body mount pointing up and down again), and then some ball peen hammers and a body dolly to get the metal straight enough to line up. I even saved the fender. New lights was all I purchased. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mws Posted September 15, 2006 Share Posted September 15, 2006 (edited) And after the new lights were in, some epoxy work on the grill, and a serious sledghammering of the bumper, she looks like this: Get any closer, and you'll notice things are not quite straight and that parts of the grill are missing. But I chose not to care. In fact, it's kind of cool to NOT care about denting that corner of the truck... Hey, it's a PATHfinder, not a SHOWfinder... Edited September 15, 2006 by mws Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unccpathfinder Posted September 15, 2006 Share Posted September 15, 2006 that doesnt look too bad...i think that is repairable ureself if u have the time patients and mechanical skills... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordsho90 Posted September 15, 2006 Share Posted September 15, 2006 BFH AND HAVE AT IT :cool2: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pineapple_picka Posted September 15, 2006 Author Share Posted September 15, 2006 And the after: I started with a comealong to pull out the sheet metal that was folded around on itself, then a sledgehammer for the crude alignment (get the body mount pointing up and down again), and then some ball peen hammers and a body dolly to get the metal straight enough to line up. I even saved the fender. New lights was all I purchased. Thanks.....mws, the after picture looks like it wasn't damage at all! The only problem I'm concerned about is the inner fender well. Notice in the 2nd & 3rd picture, it looks kinked. The battery sit's higher than the top of the fender well and not allowing my hood to close. I'll see what I can do..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sw Posted September 15, 2006 Share Posted September 15, 2006 (edited) with a bit of effort and persistance youll be able to straightn her out you may find as you pull the front out the battery area may come back down, if not i would tend to think mr hammer might fix things. as stated above its a PATHfinder not a SHOWfinder thats not to say we all dont like nice cars, just at the end of the day its a 4wd made for 4wding. Edited September 15, 2006 by sw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrimGreg Posted September 16, 2006 Share Posted September 16, 2006 Yeah, as you pull the front back into position it should pull that well area back. There will probably still be a crease, but that is where the hammer and dolly come in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mws Posted September 18, 2006 Share Posted September 18, 2006 Yup. I would start the unkrinkling process by attaching a come along to the front and gently pulling straight forward while sledhammering on top of the crease in the battery area. One click of hoist tension, one whack of hammer, one click, one whack. I can see the body mount is bent back - mine was as well. It may come out as you pull from the front, but you will likely need to encourage it a bit from the rear with your friend. (That would be the 20 pound sledge) WHAM! So maybe your starting sequence will be click, whack, wham; click, whack, wham. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mws Posted September 18, 2006 Share Posted September 18, 2006 Listening to the music Greg's avatar kitties are listening to may put you in the right frame of mind! Just be persistent and patient. You want to eeeeease the metal back into position. I spent several evenings on mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pineapple_picka Posted September 18, 2006 Author Share Posted September 18, 2006 Yup. I would start the unkrinkling process by attaching a come along to the front and gently pulling straight forward while sledhammering on top of the crease in the battery area. One click of hoist tension, one whack of hammer, one click, one whack. I can see the body mount is bent back - mine was as well. It may come out as you pull from the front, but you will likely need to encourage it a bit from the rear with your friend. (That would be the 20 pound sledge) WHAM! So maybe your starting sequence will be click, whack, wham; click, whack, wham. Hey what did you use for support for the come along? One of my friend's say that I can attach it to the tow hitch on my other vehicle, but that's kind of risky if something so happens to give. I looked at the damge once again and it does looks more repairable then I imagine. I was thinking of replacing the entire radiator support, so that it'll be easier to work on the inner fender well. I think my ac condesor and my raditor got cracked in the accident. The only concern is that I dont know if he support is spot welded on, I do have the tools to remove the welds, but I'm no welder. In the AC forum, someone mentioned they used self tapping screws instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mws Posted September 18, 2006 Share Posted September 18, 2006 I initially hooked the come along to the Class IV receiver on my tow van. Actually, the hook of the come along was attached to a piece of my recovery chain wrapped around the main bar of the receiver. This chain was rated at 8000 lbs. DO NOT take the perceived easy route and wrap the comealong cable around the bar and hook it to itself. And do not hook to the ball itself. You probably won't be exceeding 2000 pounds or so of pull (more than that will start tearing sheet metal). Just apply enough force to start pulling the metal and then assist it by pushing with the hammer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unccpathfinder Posted September 18, 2006 Share Posted September 18, 2006 Hey what did you use for support for the come along? One of my friend's say that I can attach it to the tow hitch on my other vehicle, but that's kind of risky if something so happens to give a big ole pine tree...or wait...do yall have those out there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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