undercarriage dents

[Dxc545]

I've been under my car a couple times but I'm realizing the rails under the car are really F'd up. Its like a forklift picked up the side of the car. Could it be from towing or maybe the rails at a car wash? I'm really thinking a forklift because the stock exhaust never was hit.

 

[2gNickTSi]

Could've gone in a ditch

 

[Dxc545]

Dang hope not, but you'd think their would be more damage. Nothing else out of the ordinary under there, and I have the original rims and their perfect.

 

[Batman272]

i got my car as a rescue car (saved from some one ricing it out) and mine looks worst than that. same thing the stock pipe on it was fine. theres a lot of speed bumps and pot holes by the place i bought it so it prob hit a lot of that along with the rail road tracks he bragged about jumping....... but yours looks like it has been dinged up from being mounted on lifts wrong. a lot of people dont close the scissor lifts when they pull your car in to work on it and some times it gets dinged up.

 

[2gNickTSi]

Mine's a little banged up. And it's a little warped where the holes are that I'm assuming are from a tow truck pulling it out. Car drive's straight and it's one of the cleanest DSM's I've seen stock wise. Mine pretty similar to yours. I personally didn't really worry about it much.

 

[Dxc545]

That makes sense. ya Im the only one who see's it anyway

 

[vingasoline]

Mine has the same damage. Caused by a forklift. Sometimes people jack their car up with those rails and it causes that kind of damage

 

[curt-s]

My subframe had that sort of damage, in the rear behind the drivers seat but before the back seats. Scrapes underneath look like it was a rock or something.

We had to cut open the floor from the inside of the car to pound it straight for safety inspection prior to registration a while ago then weld up the floor. Not fun.

 

[Dxc545]

wow why such a thorough inspection?

 

[Jesse2012]

I might be looking at the wrong spot, but I believe it's from being on a lift. That metal isn't the hardest material, all of my dsm's have been bent a little in the four spots it sits on a lift

 

[curt-s]

wow why such a thorough inspection?

They call it a "safety" up here, accompanied by a "Certificate of Inspection (COI)". It's like a generalized inspection that the vehicle is road worthy and minimally safe, and includes subframe elements. Shops are accredited all over the city to do them, though they've had a semi-recent crack-down on "one-eyed" safeties. With only one vehicle insurance provider up here (public insurance), they call the shots, and the damn COI costs $55 at minimum with the shop being free to charge whatever they want. However, they always want to remain competitive.

Anyway, I fixed it and I definitely agree that it could also be from a lift. Many shops are retarded and don't know where to lift a vehicle from so they do it on the subframe in that spot in the rear and the flat spots in the front just behind the front wheel and front of the footwell. That part I routinely see crumpled inwards.

 

[blindboarder_02]

Some of the dents you see are there from the manufacturer. Its designed that way to take impact. If you take your fenders off, you'll see denting on the rails as well.

If the metal was completely straight, an impact would send collision energy through the rest of the car. The dents provide a type of crush effect to save passengers and further damage from happening. This denting also provides structural integrity. Flat steel likes to bend on impact. With these dents, it takes some of the lateral force out of the equation.

 

[Jon91TSi]

Some of the dents you see are there from the manufacturer. Its designed that way to take impact. If you take your fenders off, you'll see denting on the rails as well.

If the metal was completely straight, an impact would send collision energy through the rest of the car. The dents provide a type of crush effect to save passengers and further damage from happening. This denting also provides structural integrity. Flat steel likes to bend on impact. With these dents, it takes some of the lateral force out of the equation.

^^ Dead on. Both of my 1g's have these same "indentations" in the subframe. See the video below as to why unibody cars are superior to full frame cars during impact.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJrXViFfMGk]Crash test 1959 Chevy Bel Air collision with Chevy Malibu Car Crashes - YouTube[/ame]