i recently purchased a 1995 dakota slt 4x4 that was in fairly decent shape as far as the engine and everything goes. have done some repairs to it but the truck was rear ended. when i bought the truck it did not have the bed on it or rear bumper. got a used bed that was in good shape from the junkyard and tried attaching it but snce the frame is tweaked i am having a hard time. 4 bolts on the left frame rail and 4 on the right. i got the two front bolts on the right frame rail and only one on the left. is thee a good way to straighten left trame rail or no besides an aoutobody shop. any help appreciated. thanks

 

How far out is the frame? 1"-3"?

I would suggest not heating the frame is it will weaken the metal. May have to cut the frame and weld a new piece in. Hard to say with out knowing the damage and where its located.


When I worked on semi trucks, we would anchor the frame to the floor (using concrete Hilti anchors). Then a come-a-long in the middle where the bend was. For worse damage, we used a laser guided CNC hydraulic bending machine.

 

just chain that part of the frame to a tree and pop it in dirve and slowly go till the frame straightens out. i did it once with another truck. was almost perfect.

 

i will try the chain idea. the left frame rail just needs to come back and up a little for the bed to be attached. does not affect alignment but i do need the bed to be attached.

 

just make sure you go slowly. if you go to fast you'll end up with a diagonal frame

 

when i chain the left frame rail at the rear though is it going to be enough force to pull it backwards where it needs to go??

 

it should...i hit a brick wall with my truck at idle speed and it had enough force give me a bad case of whiplash... where exactly is the frame bent and how far?

 

took the bed off and got it straightened a little. put the bed back on and got all of the bolts for the bed in and the bed bolted down. also got the rear bumper on so everything is looking good. not to much more to go.