The chassis is the base frame for your car and bears most of the vehicle's weight. As the underbelly, it’s susceptible to getting bent out of shape by impacts from road debris, potholes, and other hazards. A bent or damaged chassis undermines the quality and safety of your ride and requires prompt auto body repair. Here’s what you should know about this issue.

How to Identify a Bent Chassis

A misshapen chassis is often imperceptible to the naked eye upon quick inspection. However, there are other ways you can spot the problem.

If you notice uncontrollable pulling to one side while driving, your wheel alignment may be off-kilter or the tread wear on your tires is uneven. A tire rotation can sometimes address this problem. Otherwise, a bent chassis might be the source of the issue.

Structural damage to the vehicle’s frame will lead to uneven weight distribution that causes the suspension to wear out faster on one side. You’ll also notice a decline in ride quality because of the failing shocks and struts.

Other red flags include creaking or squeaking noises coming from the vehicle. Or, you might notice the doors, windows, bolts, and mounts have loosened. If any of these issues arise, the problem could be due to a misshapen chassis, especially if you spot signs of rusting or creasing in the frame.

What to Do if the Chassis Is Bent

Although you can still drive a vehicle with a compromised frame, it’s harder to control and offers less protection during an accident, even at low speeds. Your best move is to bring the vehicle to a shop for a diagnosis. Extensive damage often requires frame straightening using advanced auto body repair tools and equipment to push the damaged portions back into place.

If you suspect your car has a bent frame, take the vehicle in for quality auto body repairs at Valiante Auto Body in Norwalk, CT. Since 1976, they’ve offered top-notch repairs, such as car body painting and dent removal, to drivers throughout the Fairfield County area. Call (203) 847-3043 for auto body repair estimates or visit their website to learn more about their services.