[DavidG]

There were no bulges in the sides of the frame rails at the rear axle kick up when they left the factory. As most '32 passenger cars had a rear-mounted spare wheel and tire, add that to overhanging weight on the back end of the frame. In a severe jounce, the bottom of the frame kickup bottomed out on top of the rear axle housings with the latter then acting as a fulcrum. The problem was widespread enough to cause fractures in the lower rear corners of the quarter panels at the lower back panel on cabriolets, coupes, and roadsters plus fracturing of the seams between the upper body sides and rear panel on sedans and Victorias.

The remedial measure taken was first the addition of reinforcements on the outside of the frame rails quickly replaced with reinforcements inside the frame rails and a shortened rear cross member to accommodate the thickness of the inside reinforcements. Both types of reinforcements are shown below.

The last photo shows the revised rearmost body-to-frame attachment on cabriolets, coupes, and roadsters to compensate for the flexing of the frame which was adopted at about the same time as the addition of the reinforcements.