Guys I have a wounded f150. Saturday, My wife was driving it and went into the ditch, and now I've got problems. She did almost a full 360 sliding towards the drivers side and ended up facing the road in the ditch. The drivers rear tire came of the rim, my cab and bed dont line-up(about 1" off) the whole truck leans toward the drivers side, and when the stering wheel is held straight it goes left and if you let go of the wheel it pulls right. She didnt hit anything, just whet into some snow that was about 1 1/2 feet deep. Does it sound like a bent frame?

2001 F150
5.4
ext. cab
4x4 off road pkg

 

Yes. Sounds like a bent frame. Possibly some steering linkage damage as well.

Good luck.

 

Even though the body didn't hit anything, sounds like the wheels/ tires did. Otherwise the rear tire wouldn't have come off. Sorry to verify it, but sounds like a bent frame. Some good body shops have frame straighteners, so you should be able to fix this. If you have comprehesive insurance on it, they should pick up the cost. Shop around, but be careful to get a reputable shop to do the work. Straightening the frames on these trucks is not an easy task. Best of luck with your repairs.

 

if the rear wheel hit hard enough to take it off the rim it may have only pushed the rear end down the springs..look at where the springs meet the rear end and see if you dont see any fresh metal ...let the shop determine if the frames bent BUT DON'T SAY YOU THINK IT IS if you do you might as well go swimming with a open wound in a tank of sharks because it will be the same

 

As was already said take it to a body shop and have them determine if its bent or not. Most quality shops have equipment that can tell if a frame is bent even slightly. The other thing to keep in mind is that you need to check your states laws on frame straightening. Some states it's illegal for a frame to be straightened. In these cases usually they require that the vehicle be totaled out.

 

I checked with my insurance and they are covering the repairs. I also asked a few people where to have the repairs done and they all told me the same place. I have an appt. with the Insurance company to have them look it over on Thursday. Anything I should or should not tell them? Should I tell them I suspect the frame is bent? I've never had to do anything like this so your advice is appreciated.

 

Well, anytime the bed is moved out of phase with the cab and no work has been doen the the truck and the body has not been smashed, its a good bet the frame is bent. But Texford has a good point, do not "guess-timate". I would have a couple reputable shops give me quotes on fixing the truck. Tell them exactly what happened. Tell the insurance company exactly what happened. Basically you want this done right, so cost should not be much of an issue. The insurance people will give you a check for the esimated cost, you have it fixed by a good shop (do your homework here) and f there is a price difference, send the invoice to your insurance provider. The insurance company will have a list of shops that they deal with, so this is a good starting point, but don't stop there. Get some quotes, talk to friends, relatives and co-workers. See who they have used in the past. Doing your homework here will avoid possible problems with the truck in the future. A really good body shop will fix the truck properly and bring it to like new condition. A profitable shop will make the truck look new, but cut corners, rip you off, use generic parts, and your truck will be a peice of junk. Oh and make sure that they use factory FORD parts if they replace anything! Good luck!

 

I thought these were built Ford tough? I brought the truck into the shop 1 week ago and it's still not fixed (which I am glad they are thoroughly inspecting the vehicle). The insurance adjuster looked at it and he estimated just over $500 dollars worth of damage. Well, the shop I brought it to is the best one in the area (I did my research) and so far they have fixed the little body damage it had. The frame was bent they fixed that, the rear drivers side leaf spring was bent, replaced that. And now after trying to do the alignment they found the rear axle is bent. My question is how much do you think all of this will cost? And anyone know about axles that could tell me a litle about them?

 

You have already gotten plenty of good advice here so I would suspect that the only cost to you would be your deductible as far as all the damage is concerned and like I say don't tell them what you think is wrong just what the symptoms are then let them figure out what is wrong otherwise they will say well you were right this and that were broke so we had to fix that but we also found this which is what the problem was to begin with. As far as the axle goes I would ask that a brand new one be put in not a repair to the old since that probable involves more labor anyway and more than likely is not feasiable.

Richard D.

 

Bent axles are never cheaper to repair than to replace. You're talking big bucks to straighten the axle, and even then it will never be completely true. Besdies its not like a 9.75 axle is hard to come by. Anyhow since it was caused in the accident and since the insurance covered everything else, they should cover it at no additional cost to you.

 

Which is why I suggested he get NEW not repaired since that probably isnt even possible due to liek you pointed out Cost prohibitive.

Richard D.

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https://www.f150online.com/galleries....cfm?gnum=2479

 

I agree with Richard and powerstroke. Have a new axle put in, its covered. If they say they'll straighten the existing one, be firm about a replacement. A bent axle is like a broken back, once damaged it will never be right.

Is it $500 for your deductable or for the whole repair? $500 for the whole repair seems really cheap considering the extent of damage. Make sure your shop is in contact with the adjuster and try to have him look at the truck with the shop inspector. We pay a huge premium for full coverage insurance, least they could do is their jobs.

 

Well I got it back yesterday. Overall I think they did a good job. But I have to bring it back and have them look at the Four wheel drive. It seems loud when in 4x4. When replacing the axel do you have to drain any fluid? Thats all I can think of is that they didnt replace or fill it back up. Also their is a plastic peice that goes between the cab and the bed that covers the hindges and bolt heads(four door supercab) and is not there. The damage came to just over $1,700. That is including my $500. Thanks for the advice and help everyone.

 

I'd drive it right back there and tell them to get that piece back in. No excuse for sloppy work like that. They were probably hoping you'd never notice it missing. I've worked in several bodyshops, and have seen them try to pull off things like that all the time. I think I know the piece you're talking about. Can't help you on the axle problem, as I was only on the body/paint end of the industry.,,,,98

 

That is exacty what I did. I called them the next day and he said it was on back order and would call me when it came in. (it was cracked) Well, I spoke with them again Monday and was told it will be here friday. So Friday I will bring it in for that and for them to do another alignment (sp). I was not happy with that either.