http://i496.photobucket.com/albums/r...212/fixed1.jpg

Hey, so I have a 2012 Mustang GT with the aftermarket Raxiom tail lights from American Muscle. A few months ago I got into a minor accident where I backed up into my father's truck at about 8-9 mph. As a result my OEM left tail light cracked, the bumper was dented, 1 rear sonar is broken, and the part that comes down on the trunk (think its called the deck lid) is a little bent. All this happened on the left rear. You can see according to the picture everything is fixed for the most part. My concern now is the gap where the trunk meets the body. It's hard to explain but according to the picture, do you see the gap just above the tail light....that gap the trunk creates when it's closed on the left and right side. So the problem is the gap on the left side is wider than the right side. Anyone know how I can fix this? Like maybe I can tweak the screws that open and close the trunk?

 

Id take the car back to whover fixed it and have them do it. Its there responsibility to put it back to new. I had to have a new hood put on my and before i signed off on anything I saw that it was misaligned and had them fix it.

 

I actually had it repaired a few months back and they're not available anymore unfortunately.

 

If I see that right, the lid is lifted up, so that the trunk lip that's above your light is higher, as well as the alignment of the leftmost corner of the trunk lip is not aligned with the bumper's corner. I.E., the left side of the trunk is actually higher than the right side.

This is consistent with your little accident on that side, and it means the entire trunk is 'sprung' from the hinges to the light, having been pushed in (according to your before pictures... I looked at your album, and you should post those directly for comparison.)

Being clear here: It's not misaligned. It's a sprung lid, or slightly bent in the middle, if you will. Evidence is here:
http://i496.photobucket.com/albums/r.../accident2.jpg

This clearly shows the middle of the lid being bent upwards from the incident. For reference:
http://i496.photobucket.com/albums/r...ustang2012.jpg

Shows how it's supposed to be flat.

The only fix is to either unspring it, or replace it. Or have a reputable shop fix it the way it should have been done, which has been said by Praetorian, in effect, with the 'send it back.'

The other method, and I'm not sayin' do this, is to, well, sit on the trunk, or jump up and down on it or something, trying to 'squish' it into the proper shape, until it bends back into place. But you could overbend it, and is why I don't recommend it.

Also, that looks more a structural problem, as in... look at the underside of the trunk and be sure there's not a kink somewhere in the backside structural metal of the trunk. If it's just the skin top, it might be easy, if it's the structure... yep, go to a shop.

And after sayin' all that... I could very probably be wrong, I ain't there to personally inspect it, so grain of salt, dude.

I say take it somewhere. Whichever, whatever you decide, good luck!

 

alright when you say "unspring it" do you mean tweak the hinges that are holding the trunk on the left side and try to lower the left side of the trunk so that it's more properly aligned?

 

This looks like a rather small gap, that you may be able to fix yourself. Pop the trunk and check out the springs and hinges, make sure everything is equal on either side and aligned etc...

If everything looks good, to the standard eye. I'd recommend taking your Stang into a shop and getting a quote/have her looked at! This is probably the best and safest way to figured out what's going on with your trunk lid.

I wish I could be more help here to you, but without the car in front of me, it's pretty difficult to say much. I really like your Raxiom lights though, great choice there!

-Dan

 

Ask your local dealer when they expect the local dent wizard guy to stop by, or if they can give you his phone number. Dealers always get those guys to tweak the dents out of cars they take on trade. The DW guy might be able to handle it for you, probably cheaper than a body shop.