Body and Frame: Description and Operation

HISTORY OF COLLISION REPAIR

Time was, if you had an accident, the call went out to the insurance company - to the collision shop - or several shops - get the lowest bid and in no time at all, the vehicle was repaired.

The facilities, training, and equipment were simple. Use a torch to cut, shape, and bend. Use something substantial as an anchoring point - maybe a tree and then just pull.

Use plenty of solder or body putty to make it look good. With the frame and body vehicle, the job was easy; first straighten the frame - then fix the mechanical components and the body work was cosmetic. This was all well and good until the mid - '70s.

Then, the designers, engineers, and manufacturers had to find ways to make the vehicles energy efficient - and that meant unibody cars. The unibody concept wasn't new - back in the '30s the Chrysler Air Flow had it - race cars have it �and now the driving public worldwide has it.

The change came quickly. Manufacturers devoted time, money, and talent to develop the unibody car. The public was ready to buy and did.

But then came the problem. The collision repair industry wasn't given the luxury of taking their time to train people in the new technology - or take time to plan for new equipment.

The collision happened and the vehicle had to be fixed. Cars that were repairable were being totalled.

Cars that were repaired were not repaired correctly. Everybody was in a quandary - auto manufacturer - insurance company - repair equipment people - body shops - and repair technicians.

The problem started in the early '70s and body shops are still catching up today. Yesterday's "ding" is today's "crash". It takes trained technicians and sophisticated equipment to do the repair today.

That's why DaimlerChrysler is taking the time and effort to get the right information into the hands of the people that handle the repair job.