Use of Heat During Repair

Use of Heat During Repair

Chrysler engineering's position on the use of heat during collision repair is as follows:

- Any body panel or frame component damaged which is to be repaired and reused, must be repaired using the "cold straightening" method. No heat may be used during the straightening process.

- During rough straightening prior to panel replacement, damaged panels or frame components may be heated to assist in body/frame realignment. The application of heat must be constrained to the parts which will be replaced and not allowed to affect any other components.

- This "no heat" recommendation is due to the extensive use of high strength and advanced high strength steels in Chrysler products. High-strength materials can be substantially and negatively affected from heat input which will not be obviously known to the repairer or consumer.

- Ignoring these recommendations may lead to serious compromises in the ability to protect occupants in a future collision event, reduce the engineered qualities and attributes, or decrease the durability and reliability of the vehicle.

This statement supersedes any previously released information by Chrysler.