Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Frame dent

[John Berger]

I was under my truck yesterday and I noticed that the frame on the passenger side near the forward side of the bed looks like I had been off-roading and came down hard on a boulder. The bottom part of the frame is bent up and there is distortion as though you took the metal and banged it against something. There is no other damage and the frame is straight and true. There is no possible way that I can believe that this is a result of my accident. I never hit anything with the truck and with the way the trailer ended up I would have expected the frame to be bent in a different manner, if that makes sense. I can not recall whether this dent was there before, which would mean it came that way from the factory. I've never off-roaded and have never had anything bang the truck hard enough to cause this type of damage. If you look at the truck from the back and underneath, it is obvious that everything looks normal and lined up. Any ideas on what could have caused this? And keep in mind, there is a very noticeable "smudge" in the steel that looks like an impact point. Almost like the truck was dropped or something. The welds all look good, no noticeable cracks. The truck drives well and tracks down the road straight. My wife followed me the day we picked up the 5'ver and said it looks straight and normal. It tows the 5'ver very well, also. Has anybody else had something like this on their truck. TIA.



I finally got the hood lined up correctly. The latch mechanism needed a minor adjustment. WooHoo!!







I've pretty much come to the conclusion that somebody tried to jack the truck up in the wrong place. It must have been the body shop that did the repair.