Car Fix DIY Videos

@freakyflow says:

Thanks for the video I have a question maybe you can help me with : 2004 Chevy Blazer 2 door (It's a sentimental value) Problem : was hit before i owned it I want to say Drivers side at the angle of the driver's side bumper And fender area : Bumper has a gap over it at the grille Two small tow hooks (Driver side higher And angled at say 9:30 instead of 9:00 o'clock position) ……..The question I know i need to get it on a rack …I have a very limited amount of money What would i need to remove to help save on labor charges So they can look And access/pull the frame? Bumper fender inner fender……The issues i am dealing with his bad alingnment warping rotor every 5 to 6 months Slop in steering ……Hey i know it was alot to read ..Any help is much needed And Thanks in advance

@mattchewynichols5217 says:

YouTube suggested your first video !!!

@pavassharma4507 says:

Hey
My cars frame from front has tilted a bit downwards can i do it with truck jack?

@kojomensah7474 says:

Thanks for sharing

@Mudbuttmoody says:

How much would a shop charge to do something like this?

@FilmJunkieOutdoors says:

what state are you in??

@valeriajaime4393 says:

Hello, can youuoad avideo for a Nissan versa 2015 l

@andrewhigdon8346 says:

I’ve watched dozens and dozens of videos on this subject and read myriad articles and papers form the manufacturers and comprehensive studies on the metallurgy going on here. Truly incredible what they are doing today with ultra high strength steel. I really dug in when I went to level a dimple on the frame rail of my daughter’s Magnum. I’m a pretty big guy, and known to “make” things submit to my will, strength, and most of all, thorough understanding of leverage and physics. I used to only drive cars made before 1972, and have plenty of experience straightening out “mistakes”. My best friend totaled my 1968 Country Squire, and although he hit a tree at only 35ish MPH, the damage was astonishing, with the right headlight pushed back, massive steel bumper folded in, fender folded in, the works. I took a 28oz Estwing framing hammer and out of anger and curiosity to see what it took to bend that steel, did an overhand swing on a smooth section of that fender. On a modern car that hammer would go through that sheet metal. On this fender, it barely left the waffle pattern of the fresh hammer. Anyway, I used a hand sledge to massage that slight wrinkle, maybe 3/8” tall, where the steel is layered/laminated, and bent just like the vehicle in your video, it made the inner layer wrinkle back towards the point of impact. I don’t know the gauge, but that layer was maybe 1/8” thick. Annnnnnd. Nothing. It was near the brand new strut I had installed, as I replaced the entire front end suspension parts. But I didn’t want to scratch it. So to hit that point from afar I used a tire spoon, about three feet long, round butt end, flat spoon on the end against the rail. I wailed on that thing for three hours. My wife told me the “CHING” got ALMOST therapeutic for HER! Easily over a thousand very hard hit, leaving the end of the spoon mushroomed over. It left marks in the steel, but did not bend it. So I applied some MAP gas torch to it until it got a cherry glow in that area and that helped. That just blew my mind. That’s what led me to learn about the steel used, and found out that section used DP 590, dual phase, two different types bonded together, and the metallurgy used to create each type is incredible. They have figured out how to make relatively light weight steel also ultra strong, hence the name. I have a tow car garage with a support post in the middle. I used that, big ass eyebolts into the far wall, and some floor anchors to keep the car from moving towards the drivers side, all anchored just act of the cowl, under the car and on the pinch welds I used some beam clamps which worked great. On the impact side to pull the apron and rail, I used a two ton electric winch with a pulley to get close to four tons, but not really, plus a come-along, plus two large 2” wide ratchet straps, all progressively attached from behind the strut halfway to the cowl, then at the strut below on the rail, and then two more points along the rail to the bumper mount, of course the bumper was removed, and the headlight support, which is the main cross support framing the top of the radiator, headlights, and binds the fenders together, with the radiator support below that. It was bent slightly annd I fixed that in five minutes. In fact, I really didn’t think the frame was bent, initall, that’s how subtle it was. The hood was saved and the drivers door, with all the impact being at the knuckle and strut zone. The knuckle was bent over and pinched the tire. The upper A arm broke, as well as tie rod end. That headlight got cracked, but almost spared. So it was concentrated. So I rebuilt the front end, all good, easy, took maybe 6-8 hours, doing both sides since she had already been prepping for a front end upgrade before the accident, she already had the parts even before insurance did their thing. On that note, they wanted to total it, of course, but it’s was in the ragged edge. She loves the car which is not replaceable, kinda, and the damage honestly didn’t look too bad. We ordered a new painted fender and bumper cover, easy bolt ons. Surprisingly, the fender bolted right up with perfect gap to the door, and the mount holes on the apron lined up perfectly too. Hmmm. Still not sure why. Cause the hood on these cars has no adjustment, and did show a gap on the passenger side and a little overlap on the drivers new fender. And when I loosened the bumper and the cross support, the drivers side rail snapped back about 3/4”. Everything seemed to line up, except the hood. But I was wrong. BOTH fenders/aprons were pushed to the passenger side about 1”. And hence this story and why I’m watching these videos. I have pulled, and pulled some more, and I can see everything moving, A LOT! Easily more than the 1” needed. But when I release the tension it always goes back to about 1”2 shy of where it should be now. I even had plumb bobs up and down the chassis, and the shop manual has spec measurements in it, so I made a grid under the car to keep track. The grid is worthless if the car moves at ALL, and it always does. Hence your frame rack. I know I can get this right. Question is, how do YOU measure the big picture to make sure everything is where it should be. These pints are so far apart and measuring is so difficult, I even made a tram gauge, but even then, 1/8” here and there is 1/4”, and then combine that with imperfections in measuring a diagonal from one corner to the other, it will never be precise enough to be right. I’ve measured on this car maybe 20+ times. But I am determined. This is my daughter’s baby, and of course I got one new in 2006, and she’s always loved my hot rod wagon, mine is black, she bought a nice cherry one in Inferno Red, Flowmasters, and of course both are RT Hemi cars, cause, why breathe otherwise? I’ve even used my car for reference. Some parts are dead on. But how do you know that your reference points are even correct. At one point I got a perfect isosceles triangle from tow rear corner points to the center front of the engine cradle and was convinced it was square. Went to do toe-in, with a laser down the side of the car referenced off the rear rotors, and even accounting for their own toe-in, and got the same thing as the hood. One inch, on the nose, was how much the drivers side rotor was closer to the rail than the passenger side was. Ugh! It almost like I bend it, maybe three or five inches last where it should be, release the tension, take measurements, and then over several hours or days it returns to near where it started. I have moved it, and of course the whole rail and apron didn’t move proportionally, but it’s still off by about 1/2” in some places to 3/4” in others and it turned out that the passenger side apron was harder to pull than the drivers side. Maybe stress hardening? Help. Just as a point of reference in a pull just like you did in the video, how far PAST the point of being square did you need to pull to leave it correct? I feel like I’m going to rip something apart if I keep pulling so hard. Of course I’ve had bungee cords and heavy blankets strategically placed to prevent any failures from becoming more damaging than needed. What is normal. Also, the papers said that on DP590, heat was not a good idea, but very localized and short term heat could be used to relived shallow wrinkles. Otherwise, it can make the steel more brittle, or more soft, depending on lots of factors.

@danielclark8578 says:

Is this a unibody? How are truck/jeep frame rails different?

@honeycandy5741 says:

Just got my car from the bodyshop, and came out with damage from the crossmember, they pulled from there dumb idiots and made a hole

@temirtaragay8932 says:

Meaningful and logical. Not like some fake macho who says he will cut the frame and put straight pipe in it and then weld it which is stupid idea.

@patricklefevere6154 says:

i like to follow your examples, and explanations,

@todddenenR5 says:

Cool video and explanation. Thanks