Although a seemingly insignificant fender bender may only leave your car with a small scratch on the bumper, there can be severe damage to the internal components despite its clean appearance. Modern-day vehicles are designed with flexibility and the ability to crush in order to withstand impact energy from the collision.
Finding an auto collision repair near me right after experiencing a minor car accident is the best thing to do in order to prevent further structural damage. The experts at Relux Collision have modern equipment that will help to find invisible structural problems and repair your car according to the original specifications.
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Distortion of Unibody Structure
Modern cars are made with a unibody structure, in which floor pans, roof, and other parts are welded into one integral frame structure in contrast to older cars constructed of heavy steel frames. The unibody of the car has specific parts with engineered folds known as crumple zones.
Even though the bumper pops back into place, the metal crumple zones behind it may be partially flattened, rendering them ineffective and thus greatly lowering the safety level of your car in case of another crash.
Moreover, the energy of the impact does not always go in a straight line, which means a frontal impact at a corner may send the torque all around the car, affecting its frame and its center of gravity.
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Crumpled Shock Towers and Strut Mounts
Shock towers contain the top suspension mounts and are attached directly to the unibody of the car right in the engine compartment. The reason why they are prone to damage in a collision is that they are located near impact points and hence absorb a huge shock from the impact.
As soon as a shock tower is moved by a mere inch as a result of a structural damage of the frame, it changes the vehicle’s camber and caster angles, thus creating a problem with the steering alignment that cannot be adjusted using regular tire alignment equipment unless the frame is pulled.
B-Pillar Misalignment and Door Frame Shift
The upright metal supports of your automobile surrounding the side windows known as B-pillars between the front and back doors serve to strengthen the roof and protect passengers from side impact collisions.
An impact at the bumper front or rear end causes stress waves to be transferred down the sides of the car, thereby causing the door frames to become misaligned and therefore causing doors to lock improperly or to show misaligned body panels.
If any of the B-pillars or door jambs get twisted or fractured inside, their resistance to intrusion from side impacts is greatly diminished, placing the passenger compartment under extreme risk during a side impact accident.
Subframe Twisting and Engine Mounts Shift
A subframe is a large metal piece that is bolted to the bottom of the chassis and carries the engine, transmission and front end suspension assembly. When the subframe twists, the entire assembly moves with the subframe, resulting in lateral forces being exerted on the drive shafts, CV joints and transaxles leading to driveline vibrations.
When looking for an auto collision repair near me, technicians will be able to put the car onto a lift and perform measurements of subframe alignment compared to the factory datums.
Also, due to the sudden impact, the engine mounts attached to the subframe may become detached, resulting in a poorly aligned engine and poor idling performance or dangerous engine displacement when the accelerator pedal is pressed abruptly.
Bumper Reinforcement Bar and Crash Box Deformation
Under the bumper cover that consists of flexible plastic, there is the real part of the car that protects you: reinforcement bar made of aluminum or steel and attached to crushable energy-absorbing crash boxes.
The flexibility of the plastic bumper cover makes it stretch in case of impact and return to its initial position, while the metal crash box will be completely crushed. Besides, this bar contains highly sensitive crash sensors, which are responsible for airbag deployment after severe accidents.
In case the metal bar is crushed or bent, these sensors will be incorrectly positioned and cannot initiate timely airbags deployment or even not activate them in a serious crash situation.
How Do Specialized Instruments Uncover Hidden Structural Damage?
Just visual inspection is not sufficient to identify any microscopic distortion of a modern vehicle frame and, therefore, a professional auto body shop uses highly advanced technology to measure the structural distortions in millimeters. This will eliminate any guessing and assure that your car structure is safe before you leave a shop.
Computerized 3D Laser Scanning
Targets are affixed to the important reference points of a vehicle undercarriage. The computerized 3D laser scanner scans the vehicle continuously, identifying the exact coordinates of the chassis in relation to a database of digital images provided by the manufacturer.
If a certain frame rail is distorted by just two millimeters, the scanner will highlight it and the invisible crumple zone or unibody shift will be detected.
Ultrasound and Sonic Measurement
With the help of ultrasonic transducers, the speed of sound waves passing through hidden cavities of pillars, assemblies, or box frame rails can be measured. This will enable technicians to analyze the thickness of the internal metal and detect any micro-fractures, internal cracks, and inner reinforcements being crushed.
Hydraulic Frame Benches and Multi-Vector Pulling
Laser-based spatial measuring systems allow the application of multi-vector forces in precise counter-vector to the direction of initial impact through the use of precision hydraulic towers.
Such an approach to correction ensures a controlled manipulation of the deformed metal structure returning it to original factory tolerances. Working with a company which provides auto collision repair near me ensures such precise correction.
Conclusion
A fender-bender accident is not as straightforward as a paint chip. As modern cars have unibody construction where the whole structure functions as one unit, a slight collision can damage parts such as crash boxes, frame rails, shock towers, and even the safety pillars without any visible damage to the paintwork. It is dangerous to drive such a car, and its resale value will be greatly reduced.
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