Hi,
A parking garage backed my 2012 Yukon XL into a cement wall. The trailer hitch is pushed back from its original position at least 3-4 inches. I took it to a dealership today and they said the frame is bent, but they could repair it. My questions are: will the car have any future problems because of this, and more importantly, will the structural integrity in a collision be diminished after having a bent frame?
Thanks!
No it will be fine. Now you will hear from all myths spreaders on here. But a good frame guy will put it back as good as new. My guess is the hitch took most of the hit. I will bet once the trailer hitch is removed the frame will spring back some if not all the away. I have seen this happen. This is a full frame vehicle. Very easy to fix. When its done drive it were its wet in parking lot. You can see how it tracks. The tracks should not over lap. I wish I sill had all the before and after pics from my shop. You would be amazed at what we could do.
@vermontster don’t get too excited just yet. A couple I knew backed into something with their Lincoln Navigator. The tow hitch was bent back and down. When I removed the hitch, the frame DID NOT SPRING BACK ONE INCH.
It takes a big impact to push back a frame mounted trailer hitch back 4 inches…Ouch! But yes, it can be repaired without any problems…The last thing they should do is a 4-wheel alignment to be sure the rear axle is still square to the frame. If you have driven the vehicle after the accident, the steering wheel should be in the exact same position it was in when you drive straight down the road as it was before the accident…That means the rear axle position has not changed and the damage is not very severe…Was there any body damage?
Once fixed I would have a different body shop confirm it was correctly straightened.
+1 for texases. All body shops are not the same.
I would be surprised if the actual main frame is bent. What usually happens is the frame extensions that the bumper mounts to bend. Those are bolted onto the main part of the frame.
Thanks everyone! It seems like one of those repairs that depends upon the skill of the mechanic and the severity of the damage. To me, (I’ve never seen a bent frame before) it looks pretty bad; the horizontal beam that runs parallel with the back bumper has a bend in it that is at about a 30 degree angle. The guy at the dealership showed me that the bolts connecting the frame to the bumper had moved. Even if the frame can be repaired, I’m concerned that the collision protection will never be the same.
Don’t worry about collision protection after the repair. This thing is a truck. Lots of metal between the passengers and the rear bumper. No affect at all.