Frame Work in St. Louis, Missouri

Almost every car on the road today is unibody. There is no separate ladder frame underneath; the shell itself is the structure, built from a mix of mild steel, high-strength steel, boron, and aluminum, each placed deliberately so that some zones crush and others do not move at all.

Measurement, not guesswork

Structural work starts on a measuring system that compares your vehicle against the manufacturer's dimensional data, point by point. Millimeters matter. A rail that sits a few millimeters off will still bolt together and still look fine in the parking lot, while quietly changing how the vehicle steers, how the doors seal, and how the next impact is absorbed.

We measure before, during, and after. The final printout is part of your file, and it is the difference between an auto body shop that guessed and one that can prove where your vehicle ended up.

Sectioning where the automaker allows it

Manufacturers publish exactly where a structural component may be sectioned, what weld type is required, and where the answer is full replacement only. Those instructions are not suggestions, and they differ by model. Heating a boron member to make it easier to pull can destroy its engineered strength permanently. Our I-CAR Platinum and Gold technicians work to the published procedure for the vehicle in front of them, using OEM structural parts.

What we will tell you honestly

Sometimes measurement shows damage that cannot be brought back within tolerance safely, and the correct answer is that the vehicle should be totaled rather than repaired. We will say so. A shop that repairs a car it should have declined is not doing you a favor, and it is not a repair we could put a lifetime warranty behind.

If your vehicle took a hard hit, call (314) 353-3122 and let us put it on the measuring system before anyone guesses.