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Damage to the frame/unibody?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Gino Veltri, Oct 11, 2024.

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  1. Gino Veltri

    Gino Veltri Member

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    2005 Prius
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    ----USA----
    So I was involved. In a crash with a guard rail. Pushed the engine and inverter back like 6 inches. Had to replace the radiator , condenser, air box, inverter reservoir, fans, three way heat valve, and headlight. But after all that, I’ll be damned if the car doesn’t run and drive like it used to ( I should replace the upper radiator support and the headlight supports as well…and the hood/bumper) but the only problem is … the frame is very out of alignment and it kind of wobbles when driven fast. Like a cyclical flat tire sound.

    now I hear the Prius (gen 2) is a unibody meaning it doesn’t have a separate frame. So Ian I going about it wrong by trying to yank the thing back into alignment with a come alaong and chain? Can anyone look at the pics and tell me exactly how bad this damage to the “frame” is? The drivers side pointing down wards is by far my biggest concern as of now.

    cosmetics matter not to me at all

    IMG_8225.jpeg IMG_8226.jpeg IMG_8221.jpeg IMG_8223.jpeg IMG_8220.jpeg
     
    #1 Gino Veltri, Oct 11, 2024
  2. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    2009 Prius
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    Base
    Well yes all cars have been unibody construction since about the mid-70s or before especially passenger cars trucks maybe not so much until a little later. Why would you take on such a project You can make it rain this model Prius in just about any part of the country they're almost free for the taking almost so why you would try to beat the unibody car like this and pull this type of thing back into shape when you can just grab a whole another chassis rolling chassis at that probably they're sitting in people's yards for near free All you got to do is pull it out of there and give the man 50 bucks or something I seem to be all over the place well maybe not in Colorado I don't know but I have friends up in Oregon and all around those places with them sitting in their yards there's a guy here in North Carolina with like 200 of them in his yard so they're everywhere doing this kind of repair I don't think would be a thing at all personally at least to me.
     
    #2 Tombukt2, Oct 11, 2024
  3. Gino Veltri

    Gino Veltri Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    ----USA----
    yeah its kinda a stupid project just to see if i could, and ive already replaced everything so now ive only got the straightening out to do. its a logical falisie i know but ive invested this much in it already kinda thing....so could i just tie it to a tree n start yanking on it?

    ....its also got the original cat . So where could i sell that for the highest price, n just buy me a new one. They are pretty rare around colorado , people charge 3-4k for them. Where as in socal, they are like you said basically giving them away
     
    #3 Gino Veltri, Oct 11, 2024
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