Thanks for the reply guys. Baldy got it right - it is a bent frame. But I don't think all is lost, because after just now spending half an hour looking it over and everything "clicked" (I think). Here's what happened.
About 4 years ago I hit a deer (not a very large one, about 100-150 lb doe). But I hit this deer at about 55 mph. And while the 'X' brace behind the front grille took most of the impact, after looking at an old picture I took immediately after the accident, the sag is noticeable in this picture.
I measured from the ground up to the portion of the frame where the bumper mounts, and sure enough the side that sags sits about an inch and a quarter lower than the other side. Looking from the side underneath the truck surely enough the sagging side does droop lower.
It APPEARS that just the front part of the frame is bent downward - and the sag is evident on the passenger side because the front clip mounts on this portion of the frame. The effect of this bending of the frame extends to the front fender and has pushed the lower fender rearward to the point of impacting the opening and closing of the passenger side door. The passenger side front fender had bowed enough to accomodate the door opening. But I put a fresh unbent fender on yesterday and can't even get it to mount at the bottom rear, due to overlap with the door.
The good thing is that the rest of the frame (from about 4 inches from the front bumper on back) is nearly level all the way back. Just the front 3 or 4 inches of the passenger side (forward of the suspension) appears to be
My only question at this point is - Is this an easy fix at a collision shop? What should fixing something like this cost? Surely no more than $200-$250. This frame is probably 80-85% rust free - I'd hate to part with it because of something like this.
-ftyler
Oh, one more thing. If anyone's interested, I have pics of the truck post-accident. Thanks!!
