mudz5.3

Well truck went into the body shop this past wednesday. Frame is going to be straightened. Since I wasn't paying attention one time I was driving and I hit a big orange barrel (tree branch from the tree I ran over ) The left front fender, bumper, grille and headlight are all being replaced. Also a new paint job is being thrown in, since its the same body shop we use at my dealership. I have also decided to remove the 4x4 stickers and eventually put 3stage bags on it and 20's. Since I compete stereo wise with this truck, its time to start showing like it. They say it should be about 2 weeks for all of this. Oh and get this, my rental, paid for by my insurance: 03' Z71!! Not too keen on the grille but love the ride. Thanks, and I'll keep all yall informed.

quiksilverz71

Hey Mudz5.3 what kind of bag set-up are u going with? I have a 4x4 and would love to have it bagged! On a side note I was thinking maybe I could do a frame & suspension swap for a 2wd, how much do you guys think it would cost to do that? If I got a frame from salvage yard or something.

Yelo

getting a frame froma salvage yard will be the hardest part of that swap (seriously), most yeards refuse to sell a frame because it IS the core component of the vehicle and if the vehicle it came from is totaled or scrapped the frame MUST me totaled or permanently scrapped as well and is considered unsaleable by law in most states

mudz5.3

I will check on the bags. Looking at 3 stage bags, no mods to frame. Not interested in touching the ground, keep the functionality. I'll get back to ya.

quiksilverz71

Cool thanks, ya thats all I want too!

aslongasitsclean

No Insurance company will pay to have a fram straightened because of the liability. I rebuild these trucks and if the frame is bent they will replace it or total it. I have change 4 new chevy frames this year. The frames are cheap but the labor will be high. My last frame was a 200 gmc 4x2 short bed regular cab and it was 1315.00 but this is a slightly discounted figure. JUST MY 2 PENNIES

aslongasitsclean

must have been minor bend sorry I should have read the entir thing

mudz5.3

It was a minor bend. I did call the local Chevy body shop just to confirm and they said that now they are allowed to straighten by GM if they can. So they are going to get back to me on the final say as far as straighten or replace. They said that it should straighten out because its not that bad, but I'll keep ya informed.

Scooter

Just to let everyone know, (I'm an appraiser for a major insurance company)the only reason to do a full frame replacement is if there is a kink, tear or if the crumple zones have been damaged. A frame replacement is not that big of a deal but is time consuming. Most of the time we can find a used frame for 1200-1500 so the part itself is not that expensive of an item.

marc_w

My Avalanche got hit last spring. I was rear ended by a guy who lost his brakes at about 30mph. I was pushed into a car in front of me.

My front end was wiped out, and my frame was severely tweaked out back. I had a ball and shank in the hitch, and I think that's what really f'd things up - my bumper, hitch, and all the brackets were nice and straight. My frame kinked just in front of the body mounts, and had everything hanging down about 45-degree's.

The shop went back and forth with the insurance company for a while, whether or not to put a new frame under it. It was my understanding that this was a very common practice. I was surprised. A frame for an Avalanche/Suburban runs about $1,200. Turns out, even with that bad of a kink in the frame rails - the pulled it, reinforced it, and undercoated it. It's hard to tell anything's been done.

The truck runs and drives perfectly fine. No problems at all. I was damn nervous when they told me what they did, but it's really THAT well fixed.

Total damage came to 9-something-thousand.