How Body Damage Can Affect Other Parts Of Your Vehicle

Maintaining the body of your car or truck is essential and can play a role not only in how the vehicle looks but in how it drives as well. Areas that are dented or damaged can impact many other parts of the car or truck, but an auto body repair service can help replace parts and restore the panels when necessary.

Aerodynamics And Your Car Body

When your car was manufactured, the body design ensured that it cut through the air in a specific way. However, when the airflow changes, it can impact how the car drives. The handling characteristics of a vehicle based on aerodynamics are more critical at high speeds, but a panel that is crushed or damaged can contact parts of the vehicle at low speeds as well.

Auto body repair services can replace or repair the panels for you, and when done correctly, you will have a hard time seeing any repair. While some repairs require more work than others, even minor dents need repairing correctly for the best results. Restoring the airflow around the vehicle and ensuring everything fits correctly is critical. It is essential to find a shop with the tools and knowledge to work on your car or truck and do the job right the first time.

Frame Damage

Cars with damage to the frame have bigger issues than how they look. A frame that is damaged can cause other parts to become misaligned and cause parts to wear prematurely, allowing handling to diminish and causing the vehicle to be unsafe to drive. The auto body repair shop should have a frame rack that can realign the frame, and once everything is back to its original location, suspension, steering, and other components must be checked to ensure they are still in good condition. 

The frame rack works by applying a pulling force on different parts of the car to correct unwanted bends and angles. Most modern racks use a computer system and laser beams to check the tolerances and dictate where to pull and how much pressure to apply for the best repair. 

The frame straightening process can take some time to do correctly. Often the car or truck will spend several hours or even a couple of days on the rack to ensure the auto body repair tech gets the frame straight and true before any other repairs are attempted. If your car is handling or riding differently after a collision, it may need to go onto the frame machine to verify the condition of the frame and body and assess the need for repairs.  

Contact an auto tech for more information about auto body repair


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