Toyota Ke-70 'unibody' structure compromised?

[ClareQuilty]

About nine months ago I had an accident in which a motorbike smashed into my left front bumper rather high speed, destroying the bumper... the left front wheel was knocked slightly out of alignment, but after realignment its driven straight and true with no vibration ever since. I never bothered to fix the bumper or bodywork.

So, the problem now is that the drivers door - on the right side - is making a lot of rattling noises whenever I hit even small bumps in the road.. I'm wondering if it might be that the structure of the unibody of the car is compromised from the accident. Any opinions? Back in the USA I only ever owned 'full perimeter frame' cars, not unibodies, so they were pretty much impervious to any accidents. So I'm not so sure about how delicate these unibodies are.

[WarpSpeed]

Unibodies aren't delicate necessarily they're just built for light weight and ease of manufacture among several different models, they are built to 'give' a certain amount in a crash to absorb energy but what you're describing doesn't sound like it has anything to do with the unibody frame.

[Spoonman]

A KE 70 Corolla at its youngest is atleast 26 years old.

If the door is rattling (you say drivers door which endures the most openings/closings) I would suggest the hinge bushes and/or the stiker & latch have flogged out.

[arthurwait]

Could be anything without looking at it.

As posted above or rust on the door hinge mounts, rust behind the striker plate, spot welds failing around the area, rusted suspension mount pulling bodywork around it out of alignment.

Edited September 16, 2013 by arthurwait

[mogandave]

This is a good place to point out that if you have not lubricated your door hinges this year, get on it. Much like a woman, once they start squeaking it's too late!

[ClareQuilty]

Thanks all. I agree its just as likely if not more likely just some issue with the door itself - hinges or latch. I'm going to try to take it to a 'body-shop' one of these days and ask for an opinion.