Wierd Dent

opsbear7 · May 23, 2006

Alright...apparently the bimbo up at the shopping center didnt happen to realize that she slammed her door into the side of my truck...anyways I just noticed it and it is a really strange dent. It is on the side of the bed lower down....it is really easy to access the back of that side panel of sheet metal...so i went back there and took a couple whacks, but nothing happen. I then got a flashlight and really looked hard and realized that their was no dent on the inside....so i double checked this dent that i thought i saw and felt it on the outside and IT is there....haha....anyways it is a dent that distorts the reflection so it is annoying as hell to look at and just pisses me off becuase i am ocd on my truck. Anyways i was wondering if anyone knew how to fix this. I know i could take it to a body shop and have them do somehting with it but dont want to spend $100+ on a little dent. Any advice?

Nash · May 23, 2006

A friend of mine had something similar happen. He called one of those paintless dent repair places. They came to his house put some kind of suction cup with a slide hammer attached over the dent, and popped it a few times with the slide hammer. Now you can't tell he had anything wrong. He didn't tell me how much it cost, and I don't know if it will work on very small dents. It may be worth a phone call to one of the vendors though.

firefighteremt3100 · May 23, 2006

A friend of mine had something similar happen. He called one of those paintless dent repair places. They came to his house put some kind of suction cup with a slide hammer attached over the dent, and popped it a few times with the slide hammer. Now you can't tell he had anything wrong. He didn't tell me how much it cost, and I don't know if it will work on very small dents. It may be worth a phone call to one of the vendors though.

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Paintless Dent Removal....at least in this area....they usually charge like 80-90 bucks for the first dent...then usually 20/25 bucks each additional dent....what a rough job hehe. Find a guy who will do a cash job on the side and you can probably cut this amount in half.

mmmikkke · May 23, 2006

Yeah, don't try it yourself, it's easy to make a small dent into a bigger one with just one tap.

opsbear7 · May 23, 2006

Thanks guys...i will give the body shop a call and see what they offer for this...if it is much more than $75 i probably am gonna just leave it.

Sleepytime · May 23, 2006

Since your truck is black, you might try parking it in the sun so it heats up nicely, then stick some dry ice on the dent. Sometimes the sudden change in temperature will cause the dent to pop back out to the original shape. I did this with some small hail dents on one of my trucks a few years ago, and it worked pretty well.

P.S. Be sure you wear gloves and/or use pliers to hold the dry ice cause it will burn the crap out of bare skin.

firefighteremt3100 · May 23, 2006

Since your truck is black, you might try parking it in the sun so it heats up nicely, then stick some dry ice on the dent. Sometimes the sudden change in temperature will cause the dent to pop back out to the original shape. I did this with some small hail dents on one of my trucks a few years ago, and it worked pretty well.

P.S. Be sure you wear gloves and/or use pliers to hold the dry ice cause it will burn the crap out of bare skin.

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Yeah. I've watched some of the dent doctors work. All they do is heat up the area with a hairdryer more or less and the smaller dents pop out quite nicely.

chevy_dadof2 · May 23, 2006

wow... alot of good advise, i find it easier to park further out in the lot... i don't mind the walk... a few more steps is better then a lifelong dent!!

pm26 · May 23, 2006

wow... alot of good advise, i find it easier to park further out in the lot... i don't mind the walk... a few more steps is better then a lifelong dent!!

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Excellent advice. If you insist on parking among other vehicles all the time, they will find a way to dent yours - even if it was armor plated.

Shaners · May 23, 2006

If you are in good standing with your dealer, then see if you can't work your truck in when the dent wizard stops by the lot to fix little dings on the used car lot.

opsbear7 · May 24, 2006

WOW>...i am gonna definatly try the heat/cool method....(I have a heat gun for two peice hockey sticks that will blow 400+ degrees)

I always park way the hell away and i still manage to get these freken dings

Sleepytime · May 24, 2006

WOW>...i am gonna definatly try the heat/cool method....(I have a heat gun for two peice hockey sticks that will blow 400+ degrees)

I always park way the hell away and i still manage to get these freken dings

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Just don't get it too hot with the heat gun, you can screw up the paint with too much direct heat that way. Hold it back a ways, and when the metal feels pretty warm, apply the ice.

dewfpo · May 25, 2006

When I got my new truck it had a weird dent as well. An 'outtie' on the passenger's side rear door. Looked like someone at the factory hit the inside of the outer door panel with something. The dent repair guy heated it up and banged it "in", didn't like how it looked, banged it back 'Out' and then banged it back 'IN' again. He used some polishing compound on the paint but you can still see a change in the paint if you look real hard.

DEWFPO