Under Body Damage

[cycoxtr]

I rolled over this huge speed bump in a parking lot today. I'm not even sure if it was a speed bump, it was more like a curb. It was this long ridge that was supposed to keep cars out, I think. Anyway it was the same color as the pavement so I could not see it at all. my car rolled over a corner and slammed on top of it, scraping the rockers. It also deformed the metal side rails a little. Most of the damage was done to the plastic skirts so I'm not too concerned with that since plastic doesn't rust. I'm not sure if I should be concerned about the metal side rail. It's the metal ridge that sticks below the car about the same height as the plastic siding, and is about a quarter of an inch thick. I don't have a digital camera, but the silverish coating is scrapped off the tip, and there are some dents in it. The overall frame rail is still fine. Should I take it to a body shop and fix it? If so, how much would you think that would cost?

[Terry F]

I am not a body repairman, but I really doubt there will be any problem with leaving it as is. It is just where the metal is stamped together, like if you wrapped something around a tube or post and then stapled the edges together. At worst you might get rust depending on what the metal is. It could probably be fixed by someone just grabbing it with vice grips and bending it straight again. Only other problem would be is if it is at one of the reinforced points where the jack is placed.

[koolkevin1107]

naw don't worry so much about it. I actually did about the same thing and bent my side "rail" as u call it about 2 inches, but i never really worried about it. 1 its not visible, 2 it doesn't reinforce much its just a location where the sheetmetal meet. As for the paint coming off, that would be up 2 u about spraying it w/ something 2 prevent it. I would recommend some vehicle undercoat or the bed lining material for trucks. Other then that, don't worry too much.