Buying Salvage Cars for Rebuild: Unibody Structure & Frame Damage Explained

1. „… right here is a vent to let any sort of moisture out of the car“. Vents are there so HVAC blower can blow fresh air into the car. Would not be possible if old air could not escape. Vents also stop pressure from building up e.g. when passengers close doors. Also „crash bar… mounts… basically to the unibody“. Its actually no different to the front. There are chassis rails in the rear as well. They are just not visible. Seriously. Your repairs are horrible and you dont really have a clue what you are talking about mate.

2. great video. you are a great teacher. thanks for the video

3. I need to replace the back frame rails. My passenger side bumper Mount is pointing at the sky and the driver side bumper Mount is pointing at the ground

4. Can you send me a video on that car

5. I have a 1996 Ford Taurus and I need to replace the trunk section and the back quarter panels

6. Can you show how the unibody comes apart piece by piece so a person can save a particular car that has sentimental value

7. What about side impact

8. whats the name of the front wing frame structure as Highlighted in blue on the picture ? mine is completly crushed and I dont know what to search

9. Which one is long lasting and easy to repair? Body on frame or Unibody?

10. Does this effect the Safety of the Car? I found a car that is Salvaged title. front left end frame was push 12 inchs. They fixed it all. Carfax says no Structure damage. Which is hard to believe. I heard that like a tin can. once it crushed. It can next time be crushed more easy. making the car people inside. More prove to injury? Is this true? If not I can buy this car for $15k-20k cheaper. But not worth it at the Risk of my family.

11. are you able to replace one rail of a frame without taking the whole car apart or is that just a must?

12. What is the best and most modren equipment for structural machinery..
    I just want to put my car and then machine should do every thing ..
    And is there any training school for that…

13. Where is the best place to buy unibody frame parts? Mostly in the trunk area?👀 Mine was hit from behind and looked like a frame? Was crushed like a can. Maybe a supporter? Must look at it again. But asking where is it best to buy parts?

14. Hey great video, my son was in a collision and has some denting in the passenger side rocker area, was wondering if you thought this would result in the vehicle being deemed a salvage? Thanks!

15. Frame damage defines a weak area, if repaired incorrectly can make the vehicle unsafe in a future accident. If you have as you stated repaired the 2 chassis legs that were bent at 45 degrees, you will have compromised the vehicle to an extent that it is now unsafe. Please do not post videos to advertise repairing vehicles to a substandard. The general public are un aware of how critical crumple zones are on vehicles to save lives. Vehicles are classified as structural damage for a reason.

16. Thanks ….

17. How much does something like this cost? I have to get mine straighten, it looks like it's only the left rail. The rail it's slightly bent.

18. it's interesting video which brought me to many questions. The frame structure BIW is made of stamping parts,
    due to stamping process changes in the material mechanical properties will happen, now during the crash
    we will have high speed deformation process will accrue within 80ms, this will damage the crystal structure
    of the metal. the material is already too weak, if we deformed back to the original stamped position
    we will be adding more crack to the metal crystal structure and the frame will be not more able to absorb
    same amount of impact energy like before. Beside this if parts need to be welded, the welding adds
    weaknesses to the already weakened metal due to heat affected zone. we estimate that reduction of the
    material properties can do down to 70%.

    Did we have these consideration during repair process?
    Thank you for the interesting videos and the way how you share these information with us.

19. Have you bought cars from copart if so what's the average price you have paid for a salvage titled car?

20. Excellent information and communication style without a lot of wasted words and digression.

21. Where could I get parts for the whole front frame what website would you recommend

22. Samcrac, question for you, have you ever bought a vehicle with deployed dash airbags? If so, do you or have you replaced the dash entirely? Or do you fix it a special way?

23. This is what I need, I like watching the transformations and the work get done but I know there is so much more. I would love to get a project car and this ground level information is awesome. Hopefully on the getting it done there is more information on that too such as bag up your fasteners and label thing which is almost never shown.

24. Sam love your channel. I have a question which i find strange on the salvage listings and that's when it's reads estimate repair cost $27k and est. value $38k with damage ratio at 69%. How true is it that repair will cost 27k? It won't make sense if that's the case right?

25. Theres a lot of Grey area that is not explained. After a certain point on something like your frame rails even if its minor damage is now a weaken structure that is very important. However like for the example on his car where the frame rails were only bent towards the front where the Bumper reinforcement bolts to can be repaired only because it serves lower impact crashes. its further along the frame rail that is important for the big accidents. Quarter panels are mostly structure. while seeing a buckle can be okay. thats still a sign that something has shifted, but like he has stated can be repaired when the major part of the damage is pulled and cut out and replaced followed with the minor damage being filled with Filler.

26. Would u give me advice on a car at iaai its a 1999 VW Eurovan #: 25579647 Itss at Spokane Washingon. I have Air bags MY thought it was totaled do no vw parts anyways i would respect your oppinion i frmom h town i have not got a license but my dad use to buy also i have a body man

27. If a cars carfax says total loss but the damage doesn’t look to bad is it still fixable ?

28. Any 90 degree kink or bend either previously repaired or not anywhere on the uni frame / unibody is considered structural damage and kills the car , crash support is non structural because its bolt on any parts bolt onto the frame is not structural, only welded frame rails with tack welds , some vehicles according to each manufacturer with outer quarter damage is not considered structure damage , it varies per vehicle, on the A B C pillars any PDR holes bigger than 1/2 inch in one area is considered structure damage also , remember there are only a few unibody on ladder frame pickup trucks mainly Dodge 2005 to 2012 , those gets missed for structure alot because of the frame confusion that its only unibody or only ladder when the manufacturer and schematic shows its actually both ladder and unibody , inspect your used vehicle purchase for frame damage to the best of your ability and learn as much as you can about how to spot it , one 90 degree kink anywhere on unibody has now created a weak spot crumple zone that should not give in there and be dangerous in a collision. Be safe ..

29. The one to two year old Copart salvage seems to be overpriced hard hits. The older units seem more reasonable but impossible to resell for any profit. It is easy to overpay

30. Very helpful

31. Welp. Based on this video (Which WAS hugely informative), pretty sure my car's totalled, even though the alignment's still okay (drives straight when you take your hands off the wheel). My wife got rear-ended by a taxi at a stoplight the other day. Crunched in the trunk, pushed the bumper cover up next to the rear wheel (but not touching), so I was hoping it might have missed the frame. Then I was told it's unibody….. So much for that. Makes me want to mount something on the back that's completely separate from the car, can absorb the impact, but ensures any and all damage is suffered by the perpetrator of a rear-end collision, and not by the victim… The taxi was using a Jeep, and there didn't appear to be nearly as much damage to his Jeep as there was to our Corolla. Worst part is the Corolla was an '07 with nearly zero rust (unusual for New England), and I was hoping it would last for the next 15-20 years. Bought it used just a couple years ago. And I can guarantee the insurance will only pay for a replacement up to their perceived value of the car, and not for an actual new car, so we come off worse out of the deal for having been rear-ended.

32. Hey is it possible for you to reply to me on Instagram ? @turbosicko

33. almost most all shops wont work on salvage cars

34. Thank you. This really helped me understand what the complexity will be to repair my bent SUV Unibody frame and what the options are to repair it. I am trying to understand whether to cut out / weld in the 1 foot bent section or pay to have it "straightened". Chevy Trailblazer. If anybody has advice I would love to hear it. It is 2005 model. Nothing about the functionality of the car was damaged. It still drives. I know alignment will never be perfect I just need to drive 5 miles to home depot.

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