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  1. Gino Veltri

    Gino Veltri Member

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    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
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    ----USA----
    So I hit a guard rail on the freeway, and pretty hard to. I replaced the AC, radiator, 3 way valve, the air cleaner box, and the inverter coolant tank. And I’ll be damned if the thing still runs like it used to ! Even with the engine and inverter (everything) pushed back about a foot.
    Now that the cars cooling system is back to functioning I need to pull out the body damage or adjust the struts/tires/whatever is making the cyclical bumping sounds as I drive .
    Now I know, insurance calls this a total loss but I took it as a fun project to attempt the repair .Does anyone see an obvious crease in the frame rails? Or notice why the tires don’t line up correctly? I don’t wanna pull on the wrong spot and make things worse.
    Let me know what y’all think!
    IMG_8406.jpeg IMG_8403.jpeg IMG_8408.jpeg IMG_8409.jpeg IMG_8221.jpeg IMG_8225.jpeg
     
  2. Kenny94945

    Kenny94945 Active Member

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    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Four
    FWIW... from photos I can't offer any insights.
    But, I would start by measuring your frame to see if the suspension mountings are in the correct spot.
    If you are "lucky", only the crash zones got bent and the damage is limited to the area in front of the suspension and shock tower.
    As if you did not consider, I'd say a highway speed guard rail impact damaged the suspension and wheel components and bent the frame to the firewall.
    So, start with measuring.
    A frame pull, even precise measuring, is a bit serious for DIY at-home garages and tools.

    Good luck :)
     
  3. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Base
    Usually you're alignment guy can tell you pretty quickly The guy who's going to set your wheels to the back wheels and to the ground He can generally tell you very quickly that you've got some issues that need to be pulled or what have you then again if you're used to looking at these cars but you kind of have to be there there are creases and all this kind of stuff that are built into the unit construction so direct bins and crushes generally look pretty bad as a whole The members as their Preston bent and production look pretty clean and normal when you bend this stuff by smacking in the guardrails it doesn't look so good doesn't look like it came from the factory usually when people do this with a car this age their guys like me that have a spare car or whatever or know where to go get a rolling chassis reasonably and expensive is like everywhere but California or California is just don't know where to go look and probably have no interest be better than them just acquire another car
     
  4. Gino Veltri

    Gino Veltri Member

    Joined:
    Dec 25, 2020
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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    ----USA----
    Oh trust, I’ve got another car and will even buy another gen 2 but I’m amazed it still runs with everything under the hood shifted so far back, so that initially got me thinking it’d be fun to repair at least to drivable. If I could find a cheap donor and an obvious point of bending I’d cut it off n just weld on a front end.
     
  5. Gino Veltri

    Gino Veltri Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    ----USA----
    Any idea how I’d go about measuring this? Measure another gen2 center of back wheel to center of front ? It still drives it just wears the tires and makes a cyclical thumping sound
     
  6. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    No if you can get the body shop section of some of the manual the factory manual maybe even going to the Toyota dealer and they'll print it for you there is a measurement section for all Toyota unit construction vehicles that you can generally do with a tape measure if you do it carefully there are points on the car or you can grab it with this metal rod that's like got a turnbuckle in the middle and you can adjust it and then you measure that and there's a bunch of ways to do it You can use a string like you do on a construction site for concrete and all of that but I do know in the manual there are these points that you can quickly measure generally speaking to figure out if there's any real funny business If those points measure out the rest of it is pretty simple stuff I've had to come along attached to a tree before and use the car's weight rolling slightly backward to pull on unit construction material to get it back to where I need it to be Will it ever be as strong as it was before that nonsense absolutely not and my neck of the woods not generally is not a big issue
     
  7. Kenny94945

    Kenny94945 Active Member

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    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius v wagon
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    Four
    "... get the body shop section of some of the manual (the factory manual) ....there is a measurement section for all Toyota unit construction vehicles that you can generally do with a tape measure if you do it carefully there are points on the car..."

    Trying this as a DIY is "high skill", but as our co-member above describes, there are indicated points on the undercarriage where one can measure with a tape measure point to point.

    But, accuracy is key. This DIY may not give you the millimeter precision needed, but a tape measure would certainly indicate if something is out of alignment by a big amount.

    Your tire wear comment and thumping noise is disconcerting.
    Thumping implies as you go over bumps, something is not straight in the suspension or wheel. The wheel hub could be suspect. I guess the thumps are also possible from the wheel hitting the chassis as you steer left and right or bottom out the suspension.
    So, you may have bent suspension components or a bent hub or strut, which will not be evident if the frame measured in spec.
    Also look at all the suspension rubber bushings for damage.

    In the case of bent hub/suspension/ strut, if DIYing, remove parts and inspect.

    I have to think an alignment shop could identify bent suspension, perhaps 1-2 hours at your local labor rate to check alignment.
    A frame shop would tie the vehicle to a specific floor/ frame jig and measure, perhaps 4-6 hours at your local labor rate.
    Neither may find a bent rim or hub though; unless you point those possibilities out.

    Thinking outside the box, the steering rack or tie rods may also be damaged.
    I could see a ball joint or tie rod end as a source of a thump, from binding.

    Crashing sucks :)
     
  8. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    2009 Prius
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    Base
    I know frame shop guys that can walk around the car and look at the tires and come back to you and tell you that there is a serious problem directly or that there's not and they can fix it pretty much fairly easily with this this or that there are people out there that can look at the tires where the rubber meets the road and pretty much tell reasonably quickly there's a huge problem or a very little problem.