tow guy bent my car, is this a problem?

[zvm77us]

Hi,
Got a flat and didn't have my jack on me, so called AAA. They send down a guy who doesn't know his rear from his front. He jacks up my 99 cherokee XJ, I tell him not to put the jack under the door since its not a jackpoint, but he knows better, guess what he does, he lifts it from under the door. Now he can't get it the jeep hi enough but ripped off the old tire since it was flat, but brainless didn't think about how to get the new tire on.
So now he takes the mini spare puts it under the brake drum and drops the car on it and lifts it up at the proper place. So 2 questions:
1) Did he damage anything by dropping it on the drum which he put the spare under (the rim on it)
2) Is the damage in the pics serious, is it frame damage or nothing?

 

[Chris B.]

Looks like sheet metal damage to me and not frame damage. I would ask the tow company to pay to have it fixed.

 

[zvm77us]

Originally Posted By: Chris B.
Looks like sheet metal damage to me and not frame damage. I would ask the tow company to pay to have it fixed.


What if I leave it like that, any ramifications (rust or wheels wearing out faster)?

 

[Mopar618]

No frame damage from what I see, just body damage.

But as for not having standard knowledge or a standard jack, or anything that is useful to change a single tire....I don't know. As for lowering it on a spare tire, just inspect it for general wear and tear from what was performed.

 

[zvm77us]

Originally Posted By: Mopar618
No frame damage from what I see, just body damage.

But as for not having standard knowledge or a standard jack, or anything that is useful to change a single tire....I don't know. As for lowering it on a spare tire, just inspect it for general wear and tear from what was performed.


I had the jack. Just I couldn't get the [censored] wing nut to budge as funny and dumb as it seems, even the service guy couldn't get it to budge with big pliers. Should I worry that the axle or drum was damaged when he put it down on the drum (with the spare tire flat under it to hold it while he put the jack in the correct position?

 

[Mopar618]

Well now I'm a bit confused due to the fact that you said you didn't have a jack, so you called AAA to begin with. Now you've said you had the jack. Regardless, a floor jack would've allowed anyone to change a flat on any vehicle by jacking it up on the frame.

As for the damage to the spare tire, if you don't see any immediate damage to it, it should be fine. That is, if it wasn't slammed down on to the tire.

Edit:

As for the drum assembly that was dropped on the spare tire, it should be fine as well as long as it wasn't slammed on to the ground as I stated before.

 

[eljefino]

This happens a lot to unibody cars where the pinch weld is the preferred lift point. Consider it a battle scar.

AAA uses independent contractor tow drivers. Someone should have insurance if you want to pursue it.

Stuff like this happens a lot when you get service, BTW, as the lift pads aren't always kind to lift points or what they substitute for them.

 

[LeakySeals]

You could bend it back, but let AAA handle this. What you pay them for, competence. Call corporate and show them, let us know what they say.

 

[GreeCguy]

You should have gotten a little more insistent about where the jack is suppose to go, but it's water under the bridge now. Even if you did complain, the driver could say, "Hey, it was like that already." Personally, I wouldn't worry about it. If you're afraid of it rusting, grab a can of spray paint and paint it. It's beneath the car so no one will see it. You might could even take some channel locks and try to bend it back straight before you paint it.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

I would call and complain about the tow drive and DEMAND that they replace your rocker panel. It's just sheet metal, not structural. Actually, the fact that your jeep still has that is pretty amazing.

I can't imagine a two truck driver NOT knowing that you jack under the AXLE on a solid axle vehicle. The jack point (per both common sense and the owners manual) is the axle.

 

[KitaCam]

I had a tow truck put the hooks in holes NOT INTENDED FOR THEM...and it ripped 2 foot-long gashes in the unibody's U-beams on each side as a result of pulling it up to the inclined bed...I noticed a few days later...

I had the insurance company make the claim against the tow firm and I had the 2 U-beams replaced at no cost...

 

[Mr Nice]

Originally Posted By: KitaCam
I had a tow truck put the hooks in holes NOT INTENDED FOR THEM...and it ripped 2 foot-long gashes in the unibody's U-beams on each side as a result of pulling it up to the inclined bed...I noticed a few days later...

I had the insurance company make the claim against the tow firm and I had the 2 U-beams replaced at no cost...


I would have been seriously [censored] about that damage to my car !!!

 

[spackard]

I think if you try bending it back into shape yourself you'll pop paint. Leave it as is, and in a year a little paint will have cracked (it doesn't crack for several weeks at least). You have to cover the crack with something.

 

[Doog]

Take a pair of flat channel locks and bend it back. Then mask off the bottom 2" of painted area where the bends are and spray with rustoleum undercoating ($4 can at Walmart) all the way down both rocker panels. Spray both areas where the jack contacts the body as well. Done and it won't rust.

 

[HerrStig]

Sooooo, we are turning out "future leaders of tomorrow" who know all about everything but can't jack a car...even when working for "roadside service". Why do you pay AAA for such talent.

 

[crazyoildude]

there is no problem with that but i would call them and AAA AS SOON AS POSSIBLE! They will pay for it but if you wait to long you are beat!
That could be a few hundred dollars worth of damage

 

[Kool1]

It looks like a compromised seam and a buckled floorboard. The compromised seam could eventually allow moisture to access and rust to develop while the buckled floorboard does affect the integrity of the chassis.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: HerrStig
Sooooo, we are turning out "future leaders of tomorrow" who know all about everything but can't jack a car...even when working for "roadside service". Why do you pay AAA for such talent.


I had to call AAA early 2012 when my cherokee blew a brake line in the parking lot where I live. The tow guy had the tow cable fall off and it rolled backwards almost into a building ...

Some tow truck drivers are just there for a paycheck and do not care about doing their job well. That is the case with any job.

 

[stephen9666]

That sucks.

If it was just a privately hired tow company, I really doubt they would do anything to fix it. Maybe they will if AAA puts pressure on them, but I don't know.

I suspect you'd have a tough time getting it fixed either way. I don't even really know what a body shop would do. Would they just bend it back by hand and respray?

 

[antiqueshell]

Originally Posted By: Kool1
It looks like a compromised seam and a buckled floorboard. The compromised seam could eventually allow moisture to access and rust to develop while the buckled floorboard does affect the integrity of the chassis.



Actually as long as you lift a car on the designated areas on the pinch weld there should be NO problem with damage. That is what those little arrows are for, they indicate reinforced areas on the weld.

The problem is when these arsehats refuse to pay attention and do it CORRECTLY!

I'm also so sick and tired of careless thoughtless morons who actually get paid decently to do a [censored] job. Part of it is laziness as well they don't want to spend the extra 30 seconds to bother looking for the arrow marks.

I've gone to Sears Auto Center numerous times for tires and never had a problem until one genius didn't bother to look for the reinforced area on the pinch weld and proceeded to crush the weld and slightly damage the floorboard the damage wasn't serious but bad enough. At least I got 4 new tires and a battery out of it.

I would NOT touch the damage until you call AAA and report it to them. I personally would NOT bend the weld back since doing this will further weaken it and like another person said pop the paint off. If it were me I would take the money they give you for the damage and just make sure no rust occurs on the weld.