Hit deer, bent front left frame rail inward 75 GMC C15 stepside

[hillytim69]

So my son removed the entire front clip thinking he would then have frame pulled but now they say he should've left it intact. Now we are wondering what the heck to do, it would be next to impossible to put the bent fender and core support back on. Is it true the body shop needs it together to be able to pull the frame back out? I've never heard this before but don't know much about bodywork. Any advice would be appreciated. I'm hoping we can fix this especially since I was the one who hit the deer with my son's truck.

[mongocanfly]

I'd find a diff body shop.. I've seen whole trucks and bare frames on a frame jig
Not sure why they'd need bent parts on the truck to pull the frame

[hillytim69]

Agreed, never heard of such a thing before. Will call around. Thanks!
.

[72c20customcamper]

They should have access to the frame dimensions that’s all they would need I’d be wary of a shop that does frame repairs by eye with panels . My uncles shop we had a Car-o-liner and a couple of books with frame dimensions years before the internet

Took me 2 minutes to get these

[Louisvillekytruck]

Originally Posted by 72c20customcamper

they should have access to the frame dimensions that’s all they would need i’d be wary of a shop that does frame repairs by eye with panels . My uncles shop we had a car-o-liner and a couple of books with frame dimensions years before the internet

took me 2 minutes to get these

x2

[hillytim69]

The frame guy my son talked to was a one man show small country kind of place so maybe that's how he does things. Will keep looking, thanks guys.

[Dead Parrot]

Not an expert but have twice replaced the passenger side fender + bumper and related hardware due to two separate collisions.

The bumper looks fairly straight for the damage done to the grill area. The bottom center bolts on the bumper are directly bolted to the end of the frame. The top bolts attach via a pair of easy to replace steel brackets. If the center of the bumper is still straight and level, the frame should be pretty good. May need new core support brackets if they got bent.

Looks like the body of the deer was at grill height. It did a good job on the entire front clip. Might have to realign the doors if the cab got tweaked a bit.

[hugger6933]

I would say IF there is any frame damage you can move the rail your self. Of course I'd like to have you down the street we could pull whatever on my machine in short order. I just dont think there is frame damage. Go ahead and get your new core support and fender and see whats up . You son did fine taking off the front cause it sure dont have to be there. Jim [building wrecks since 1987]

[hillytim69]

It was more apparent when the motor was still in there but if you look at the steering gear and arm you can see the frame and steering gear are pushed inward some. Motor was cockeyed and steering gear is pushed in. Kind of looks like the bumper held the frame up front and it got bent inward at the steering gear/motor mount area. Thanks for all the replies and ideas, sorry I didn't get back sooner- been dealing with a sick dog for a couple weeks. Thankfully he is getting better.

[hugger6933]

Too bad your not close, I could fix that on my machine or I have one of those sitting out back I got for I dont even remember why. Jim