Charger unibody twist while jacking

Maxrat · Jun 21, 2019

The 66 Charger is in the body shop -- the body man had it jacked up on the front passenger side to work the front fender and I noticed the passenger door didn't shut like it normally does. Do these unibodies twist a lot if jacked up on one side?

toolmanmike · Jun 21, 2019

Yes Unibodies will do that. Especially with old cars. Subframe ties will minimize that.

Cranky · Jun 21, 2019

No frame or body rot in it? Steel is flexible though and they to twist but it's not 'a lot'.....

gkent · Jun 21, 2019

But it IS enough for the doors to not close freely !!

Cranky · Jun 21, 2019

How high was it jacked up on that corner? Never have liked jacking up just one corner unless I had too like changing a tire on the side of the road. I remember my dad's 56 Belvedere being jacked up on one corner and you couldn't open the doors at all but that was a body on frame design and those are more flexible.

Maxrat · Jun 21, 2019

Cranky said:
No frame or body rot in it? Steel is flexible though and they to twist but it's not 'a lot'.....

The only body rot it had was around the bottom of the back window and a small area under the drivers rocker panel trim. Both areas were cut out and replaced with metal.

Maxrat · Jun 21, 2019

Cranky said:
How high was it jacked up on that corner? Never have liked jacking up just one corner unless I had too like changing a tire on the side of the road. I remember my dad's 56 Belvedere being jacked up on one corner and you couldn't open the doors at all but that was a body on frame design and those are more flexible.

Tire was about a foot off the ground.

Islandkent · Jun 22, 2019

Yes they all sag and stretch a little.

ODZKing · Jun 22, 2019

Yep, my 67 does that too, so does my 73

TN Mopar · Jun 24, 2019

yes they will twist some
I don't think its anything to worry about
You have a 53 year old body and most likely 53 year old door hinges. It adds up

When I had my interior out I noticed a small wave in the driver's side inner metal panels along the floor
I attribute it to years of twist and a few hard launches that I can neither confirm nor deny
I put frame connectors on mine

Also double check your floor pan just under where the gas pedal would go
A huge number of our cars are soft there
It may look good but push on it and make sure its not soft

dadsbee · Jun 24, 2019

Bird on the 2 post hoist.. top of the door is 30% wider than the bottom. My Bee, post car, didn't do that! Also why I CRINGE every time I see someone doing metal work (replacing frame rails and pans) without a car on a jig frame!

Charger unibody twist while jacking

Maxrat

Well-Known Member

toolmanmike

Henchman #2

Cranky

Banned Henchman #27

gkent

FBBO Gold Member

Cranky

Banned Henchman #27

Maxrat

Well-Known Member

Maxrat

Well-Known Member

Islandkent

FBBO Gold Member

ODZKing

Well-Known Member

TN Mopar

Well-Known Member

dadsbee

FBBO Gold Member

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