Chassis Measurements Off. Important?

[Nunapitchuk]

So I am tearing down the '95 sidekick 4-door and noticed that the frame is sitting on 3 jack stands, but not touching the 4th.

I found that the measurements in the shop manual diagonal between the front body mount bolt and the one just behind the opposite front wheel is suppose to be 137.9 cm. Mine measures 137.3 one way and 137.5 the other. Very close (my measuring can be off by +/- 2 mm, but both significantly less than what the manual says they should be. Weird!

The book says the diagonal between the middle two body mount bolts should be 179.3 cm. Mine measure 179.2 cm and the other pair measure 178.4 cm. So one side of the X is almost right on, but the other side is a centimeter short!

I repeated the measurements. I measured by holding a plumb line to the center of the mounting bold an marking the shop floor before measuring between the marks. I did the whole process twice with similar results.

MY QUESTION:

How important is this crookedness in my frame?
Is this a "Throw it out and find another vehicle" situation?
Is this a "Don't worry about it -- just adjust the alignment" situation?
Is this a "It can be fixed" situation?

Patiently waiting for your advice.

[fixkick]

WELCOME !
it will steer funny. and braking might be a horror.
and alignment shop , might be able to hide some symptoms.
there are shops that can straighten real frame easy, unlike un-bodies.
so can you ,with portapower tools.

this is the clone of "Portapower"

http://www.harborfreight.com/4-ton-heavy...44899.html

no lie, it's fun watching folks do this, a real art form....

[Nunapitchuk]

I had no idea. I am going to research it. I will post my results later on. Thanks.

[fixkick]

1/2" may be ok 10cm
kinda marginal on that.... but is collision damage.

[Nunapitchuk]

Follow Up:

The long bolts that connect the body to the frame are not perfectly up and down, they are a little bit sideways. When I measured to the corners of the frame they came out exactly the same and correct on the front end and in the middle section. The back end is off by a half centimeter so I looked closer and discovered that the frame was crushed in slightly directly above the left rear wheel. I spent a lot of time trying to straighten it, but my efforts made very little difference.

I have decided to leave it because the damage is very small and located aft of the suspension connection points so I am thinking that it will not effect the alignment of the wheels.

[fixkick]

above left rear wheel. wonder how that happened...
the side kick has track rods.
and the keep the axle square to the frame just in front of the rear wheels, so if that POINT is squared up, the then rear axle runs true to the front.
your bend is above the rear coils, so my guess is the coil twists a bit , only. no issues.
good luck and happy holidays.

and cheers.

[Nunapitchuk]

    I agree. Here is a photo showing the location of the damage. Next to the spring mount. I got most of the dent pounded and pulled out, but from that point and back it is about 1/2 cm short and low compared to the other side. It is not noticeable by just looking at it.