So hit one of Reading PA's notorious manhole covers on the way home from work. Penn Dot stinks!





Bent up #11, the drivers side 90 degree extension where its connects to the tranny mount. Right above the # 25 bolt. It seems like its all one piece - which is not what I was hoping that's 700 bucks new.

Its not bent too bad, but bad enough id prob want to replace. Is there anyway to just replace that bend piece??? Thanks.

 

Should have got a police report and made the city pay for it. You bent the sub frame and you can get a used one from a junkyard

 

if you arent going to raise the car up and it isnt broken nor it doesnt effect the alignment, I say leave it.

 

I took the splash guard off and its not too bad at all, im just going to paint it and leave it. It did not bend the whole member, just the bottom part of it. Its a hollow piece. Ill post a better picture in a little bit.

 

The cross member seems to be sound







What I will do is just pull that out from the little hole that is there and then sand/paint. The rest of the cross member is still structurally sound. I more worried about that rusting from the road salt.



Ill post a pic when I have it all repaired.

 

when i first saw the thread i thought a manhole cover broke another oil pan lol. i would try a junk yard. i know someone is selling a rolling chassis here in south Florida for $1500. you could probably get away with getting it for a couple hundred or less depending on your negotiating skills

 

My sister lived in Pittsburgh. Not fun driving there. Bad roads and tons of hills. Milwaukee has terrible roads too. That's why I won't lower till I move outta this city.

 

looks like the TL won this round, barely. i'd hit it with some simple green and a wire brush then finish up with 2-3 coats of undercoating if you're worried about rust, and with it being a structural member, I would be.

 

GET an alignment. If the specs are fine after the alignment leave it. I doubt anything is in need of replacement though, but i still recommend an alignment. A impact big enough to do that could easily have thrown off the toe slightly.

 

It appears to be only superficial, but $50 for an alignment check would be money well spent for your peace of mind. Consider yourself very lucky that it didn't do any more damage than what was done !

 

+1 on getting the alignment measured out. that dent doesnt seem to have bent the subframe but I do believe that you may have compromised the structural rigidity of the member. It may align fine and drive fine and who knows, you may not even be able to tell the difference. BUT the subframe is a boxed frame. the strength of the structure is created by the box design. So by having that dent in the lower side of the box, you allow some very minimal flex in the member.
You mentioned pulling it out but I would leave it alone. the lower subframe is a THICK walled piece. You will not be able to pull it out without using a slide hammer and some amount of force. Not to mention you will have to put it on a lift just to do so.

So all in all i would just leave it alone. File a police report and tell them it just happened. Get it documented as it is perfectly legal to file an "after the fact" police report. hopefully the city will come through and pay you out, although here in Hawaii this takes several months at least. You probably wont notice any difference in handling as long as the alignment checks out.