So driving home from work the other day and someone pulled out in front of me and I rear ended him. The way his truck was lifted and my car sits so low his bumper hit my hood/ head lights. It taco'd my hood pretty good which straightened out some what nicely. And the headlights and the mounts or cradle that hold them in place are F.u.b.a.r. But that's all pretty fixable. My problem is that the hood latch and radiator guard it's attached to bend in pretty good (luckily the radiator seems fine). Don't really have the money to spend on a body shop plus the car is a 96 so don't want to invest too much. But I have seen people bend a lot of things back using truck chains and come alongs. Just looking for some people that have first hand experience with these things or any advice at all I guess? Please and thank you

I think I attached a picture let me know if it's not on here or you want to see more.

First time poster
- D

 

How much chassis work do you want to do?

You can buy the complete radiator support frame, see link below:

http://www.carparts.com/details/Toyo...FYqPfgodsZwAuw

This would need some kind of welder to connect to chassis. You need not install the complete frame, just the sections you need. The chassis is spot welded, you can drill out the spot welds to end up with sections you need.

Suggest removing the front bumper cover for better access. Then do a complete inspect.

The A/C condenser is in front of the radiator, check for A/C pipes that may have been broken open. Check for broken welds and severely bent metal. If a section is now crimped it is going to resist being pulled back into shape. If a section of frame is channel shaped, the channel will make it more difficult to straighten out. You can unbolt the A/C condenser to prevent damage when pulling and gain access. If the A/C system still has Freon (no leaks), don't disconnect any tubes or pipes.

Determine exactly where and how the upper part of the support is bent by comparing one side with the other. Then think about how the frame was bent by the truck as you want to apply the pulling force in the same areas as how the frame was pushed in.

Use good sized tie down straps to distribute the force rather then the hook of the chain host. Then start pulling and see what happens.

Given the frame is compressed against the engine, you can't take off fan system or radiator. You may want to do this later if you need better access. But both will keep the frame in shape around them, just don't stress the radiator too much.

If you are going to banging on the frame, disconnect battery and wait 90 seconds to disarm the airbag system.

Have used Crescent and pipe wrench of various sizes to bend sheet metal.

Determine your "set" locations you want certain items to end up at such as the hood latch. Make sure both primary hood and safety latch engage as have experienced repairs when primary engages but safety does not. Needed to shim the safety to get it to latch. You don't want the hood to pop open.

Work slowly as easy to pull something too far or in the wrong direction.

If you have the time, a welder and a few dollars, you best bet may be buying a replacement support.

From the photo, baring other damage, seems reasonable you can with some care, pull it back.