Acceptable Alignment?

[rsarge267]

Hi All!

I have a 2020 Ram 1500, that was in an accident is just returning from the body shop. During the accident my wife hydroplaned and struck a jersey barrier with the front driver side tire and to a lesser extent the bumper (minor body damage) The force of the tire impacting the barrier was enough to crack the radiator, and damage the suspension, steering track, etc. while doing relatively minor exterior damage. There was minor frame damage that the shop claims to have corrected as well.

The body shop is telling me the thrust angle cannot be corrected and this is a common issue on Ram 1500's. Is this an acceptable thrust angle? Does it pose any safety risks beyond unusual tire wear? Photos attached.

Thanks in advance!

 

[06 Dodge]

IMHO something sounds a tad bit fishy to me....

 

[BuschLatte420]

I would not accept that

 

[brian42]

I had a 2019 1500 and all my measurements were in the green each time when I left the alignment shop.

 

[CanuckRam1313]

I agree with those above. Not acceptable.

I'm on the ridiculous side of maintenance and get my alignment checked on my 19' every season (since new) when my summers go on, and adjusted if necessary. All my specs are always in the green, and my steering wheel is dead nuts bang on straight, too.

If Stevie Wonder or Hellen Keller were driving with specs like that, and excuses given with those indications being that it's a common issue and nothing can be done, I'm sure it would be okay for them, but for the rest of us, not so much!

Perhaps you may want to take your truck to a top tier body shop that specializes in frame alignment and have an independent check done to see what the frame is like now vs. what the factory spec says it should be for that make/model/year and compare to the report you currently have from the shop that did the work.

Yes, it will cost you out of pocket. But, if it comes back that something just isn't kosher with the repairs just done, then you have grounds to contest the repair with your insurance company and can escalate accordingly to a proper and favorable resolution.

The way I would do it though is tell this other body shop that you purchased the truck out of state (or area & don't volunteer specifics) and was told it was in an accident and some frame work was done. And that you just don't feel something is right, and you would like an independent impartial / unbiased assessment. Better still is to also source one out of the area from where the work was just done.

Quite often local body shops know one another quite well, and either collude and/or work with one another. So you don't want to go and muddy the water with saying that Shop A just did some work and I'm not satisfied, so I'd like Shop B to check it

These are just my opinions though. Good luck with getting it sorted to your satisfaction.