Bent Frames/chassis

[Mummert]

Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed high amount of vehicles especially trucks going down the road with bent frame these days. Are body shops doing that bad of work or are people picking the worst options they can get?
Its bad enough, that I feel like making a sign that says "your frame is bent" that I can hold up as I drive by.

[frnkeore]

Geoff, what makes you think the frame is bent?

[Mummert]

When you drive behind them the rear wheels are not following the fronts. Dog tracking is what most people refer to it as. You can sight down the body and see the doors on one side of the car, and then you veer to the other side and you all see is the rear corner.

[BCjohnny]

'Crabbing' can have many causes, not just bent rails ....... common one being not having the rear axle square on the perches

[frnkeore]

There are locating pins, on the leaf springs, that go into the holes on the mounting pads, of the axles. They can shear and cause that. It happened to my 65 1/2 K-code Mustang. It's a quick fix but, driving it, you can't usually tell. The steering wheel, will give you a clue though.

If you know about about it, you can tell. I didn't know, I had Stock Car tires on 10" wheels, on that car, I drove from Orange to Oceanside, one time and the tires were hot and graining. Shortly after that, my wife was behind me and said the car was running crooked. I took it to a alignment shop and that's how I found out about it.