Whats under the nearside sill of a car?

InsideInsurance

So, was driving in the local carpark and some kind soul had evidently been having some fun as one of the kerb stones that should have been marking the edge of a sharp corner was instead sticking out into the carriage way.

I swung out wide and went to take the very sharp turn but evidently miss judged it because there as a second or two of grinding sound though neither wheel appeared to hit it

Was raining and cold so didnt fancy crawling about on the floor but the sill of the car doesnt show any damage at all so clearly it went under rather than into the side. Not sure if this is a good or a bad thing?

Whats typically under the edge of a car? Is it typically body coloured or just covered in some form of basic protective paint?

societys_child

The sill is normally just a kind of hollow box section.

Some pics

What's "under" it will depend on what vehicle it is and whether there were any subfames or ridges in the floor pan, in the area where you caught the kerb stone.

EdGasket

Usually only underseal. Have a look underneath and see what the damage is instead of asking here; probably only scraped some underseal at worst which you can just paint back on or leave as you wish.

colino

In general, nothing in the cavity, but depending on the car could be wiring loom, brake or petrol pipes. With any luck it will have been a protruding sill fold or jacking point that has caught the stone.

Babbawah

The sill area is a very strong part of a car body & can usually take a lot of abuse without worry.

I wouldn't worry too much from your description, but as you need to ask the question here on MSE I would advise you pop round to your local, friendly, TRUSTED & RESPECTED independant garage to have a little looksy.

Failing that, at least get someone confidant with cars to have a look.

InsideInsurance

EdGasket wrote: »

Usually only underseal. Have a look underneath and see what the damage is instead of asking here; probably only scraped some underseal at worst which you can just paint back on or leave as you wish.

Its a lease so leaving is probably much more expensive than fixing.

I will look at the weekend, at this time of the year its the only opportunity I get to see the sun/ light. I know how to drive, just seemingly from this incident, but know nothing about the under side of cars so unless there is something damned obvious I may not notice if something has been knocked off that should have been there etc.

forgotmyname

Admitting you made a mistake is not the dont thing on here. You should be shouting and screaming about claiming compensation

They stick all sorts of things behind the sills, Fuel pumps, filters etc...

You may have just grazed the sill and it will need pushing back or repairing. It maybe quite a bit of work though. May need a section cutting out and welding back in.

Obviously if its a lease it needs to be a proper flush weld and then painted over.

You will notice if it was anything important. Watch for any leaks.

Nearly_Old

Babbawah wrote: »

The sill area is a very strong part of a car body & can usually take a lot of abuse without worry.

Depends on the make and model as on 2 of our cars the sills are non-structural elements and on one car the sill is plastic. One of the benefits of having a separate chassis with bolt on panels.

OnanTheBarbarian

Here's the underbody of a C63, your SL is not going to be vastly dissimilar

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h219/maykel777/212656784036ed685d23da4ab20636b3.jpg

forgotmyname

Nearly_Old wrote: »

Depends on the make and model as on 2 of our cars the sills are non-structural elements and on one car the sill is plastic. One of the benefits of having a separate chassis with bolt on panels.

You will probably find thats just a skirt or cover. Unless you have an old landrover with a solid chassis.

Nearly_Old

forgotmyname wrote: »

You will probably find thats just a skirt or cover. Unless you have an old landrover with a solid chassis.

It is just a cover on the 3rd car - Citroen C5 where there is a plastic cover over a traditional sill.

The other 2 are a '99 BMW Z3 and '07 BMW Z4 and both have chassis rails from front to back connected by the floorpan and then everything else is just bolted on. The Z3's front bumper is just 2 No T50 bolts. 4 No bolts to each front wing, etc takes a day to strip, clean everything and re-assemble.