getting a frame pulled

[CheeseSteakJim]

That's a REALLY good price. Congrats on getting your car pulled. Too bad you didn't get to see it. It's a really cool (and somewhat frightening) process to see thick steel such as that used in a frame being bent as easily as you bend a piece of wire with your hands. I pulled two cars (a '97 F-150 and a '96 Plymouth Breeze) this week. It's really an interesting thing to see a car being pulled back into its original shape... it's like seeing the accident happen in reverse.

Keep us updated.

EDIT: Wow, looking at the alignment specs, that thing was fucked. Did you ever notice any unusual tire wear on that damaged side, particularly on the inside of the tread?

[Cable Guys FGMQ]

Wow thats heavy Monty & thx for your link........

[monterey1962]

EDIT: Wow, looking at the alignment specs, that thing was fucked. Did you ever notice any unusual tire wear on that damaged side, particularly on the inside of the tread?

I'll check the tires next chance I get and get back to you on that. Btw, what is the Kpi about? I understand Toe, Camber, and Caster, but Kpi is new to me.

[CheeseSteakJim]

Kingpin inclination. It's one of the things you use to determine if a spindle, knuckle, or axle is bent. It and caster sort of go together. Technically speaking it's used to refer to vehicles with a solid axle (trucks) and the term for anything else (anything else utilizing a ball-joint design at least) is steering axis inclination, but they both mean the same thing. Yours was definitely pretty f'd up, and it looks to me like they did their best in putting it back to factory. I'm not sure what the allowed deviation is on a Panther as far as KpI/SAI goes, but they got it pretty close.

The fact that they went as far as to check and fix that, with the price they charged you, is impressive to say the least. I gotta remember never to get an autobody job in North Dakota - I'd make too little money!

[monterey1962]

Thanks for the info, man.

Kpi Specification Range (as listed on the sheet for my CV). For Left and Right: +9 to +13 deg. Both final Kpi numbers are above the "specification" of +13 deg (as listed above).

[gadget73]

I could be way off on this, but wouldn't the rear spring height play into the KPI figure?

[CheeseSteakJim]

I could be way off on this, but wouldn't the rear spring height play into the KPI figure?

I suppose so, but your rear height would have to be WAY off in order for it to make much of a difference... and either way while the numbers will show the difference, chances are you wouldn't notice anything as far as handling/performance is concerned.

[monterey1962]

Did you ever notice any unusual tire wear on that damaged side, particularly on the inside of the tread?

Tire looked alright when I checked today. Then again, I haven't driven the car much at all since I bought it over two years ago ... *looks at records* ... about 7K miles (not all on the same set of tires, either). Only 1,600 miles drivin' in the last 13 months.