Paintless dent repair

[4x4mike]

Doesn't have to be one of the paint less places but dent repair in general. What do all think about it. Is it a waste of time?

We bought a new washing machine and as I was wheeling it into the house tonight I hit my wifes car with the corner of the machine :chair:. She was pissed which surprised the fk out of me. Usually she doesn't care about little things like that and thinks people that are obsessed with things like changing the oil and washing their car is ridiculous. I was pissed, hell bird poop on any of our cars freaks me out.

Anyways what are my options? It's not a big dent and it doesn't really look like it broke the paint. The door gave really easily which makes be believe it's pretty thin. I see dent pro repair people driving around all the time and wonder if it's worth my time. Can someone who doesn't know what they're doing make things worse? I'm kind of glad she cares but she's a little pissed (deep down that makes me happy). One thing she said is that I'd never do that to the 4runner. I told her I didn't do it on purpose. She said she knew that but if it were the 4runner that could possibly, remotely by some freak of nature get hit I would flip. She's right, that's why it was parked in the driveway.

I'll try to snap some pics after I finish making her dinner.

[CJM]

I used a plunger to pop out dents before and even that dent king thing on tv works (well something similar to it we used at work).

The dent can be popped out easily if you havent creased the metal, if you have have someone do it. Never used those mobile dent repair guys, but they do guarantee work I assume.

I will say that my moms car was crushed a bit up front from some moron driving an isuzu with a tire on the back. took it in, they didnt even repaint it and fixed it near 85-90%. You can still see a small dent but its not that noticeable.

[Bob98SR5]

mike,

when i worked on the corporate side of things at toyota, their certified used vehicle program used those paintless dent removal services. toyota paid approximately $75 per panel. not all areas can be reached, especially where there are side impact beams where the rods cannot get behind. they do a good job and it does work.

as CJM said, if the metal is not creased, you might be able to push it out from the inside

[CJM]

I have used the body repair tools to get form the insides. Like Bob said, it can be a crapshoot b/c if the metals creased or its a hard spot forget about it.

[4x4mike]

I was able to take a few pictures this morning. It's hard to see and hard to take the picture with out the flash washing the image out. It's not all that bad, small in size but it pulls the panel so you can see it at a distance.


http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e13/mezamichael82/DSC06726.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e13/mezamichael82/DSC06727.jpg

Maybe I'll call around on Monday.

[CJM]

Creased, I would take it to a pro.

[Bob98SR5]

agree with cjm. but it does look like it can be undented

[4x4mike]

Yesterday I spent 30 minutes looking online for different dent removal proceses. I'm going to take it to someone, just need to find out who.

[CJM]

Usually its worth it to take it to the best, try and find out who is the best in your area from people.

I only use 1 body shop: they repainted my corvette exceptionally, fixed my dads old buick regal and you couldnt tell the front had been totaled, did my moms car and didnt even paint and there is a small dent left (hey what you want for $500) they did my camry when the pass fender and half of the bumper was torn off. In all cases you couldnt tell at all really save for my moms car.

[slosurfer]

You could always just wait for these guys to show up:

http://home.off-road.com/~cruiserhead/panbeaters/panbeaters.htm

This is from PismoJim, who puts on the Pismo Surf N Turf every year. You should see "Knuckles" now though. :laugh:

[CJM]

You could always just wait for these guys to show up:

http://home.off-road.com/~cruiserhead/panbeaters/panbeaters.htm

This is from PismoJim, who puts on the Pismo Surf N Turf every year. You should see "Knuckles" now though. :laugh:


Oh heck if you dont care to much about the panels you can do that pretty easy. But its best to have a set of body tools. It does require two people tho. One to push and one to hammer.

Shoot, my old work van I backed into something and smashed into the rear corner near the tailight. We hammered it back into shape and honestly I wish I took before and after pics-just like those guys. And it was on a curve, which is harder.

But your type of dent could be worse if you attempt this, if it was a beater or older car I would try-but its not.

[Bob98SR5]

mike,

call the used car dept at toyota in your neck of the woods. ask them who they use for their dent removals and see if you can stop by the same day that the dent removers come to fix up their new batch of certified used vehicles. you might get lucky and get a break on the pricing since they wont have to visit you

[4x4mike]

You could always just wait for these guys to show up:

http://home.off-road.com/~cruiserhead/panbeaters/panbeaters.htm

This is from PismoJim, who puts on the Pismo Surf N Turf every year. You should see "Knuckles" now though. :laugh:


I remember seeing that Landcruiser at Pismo 2 years ago. The guy was following us and stopped when we stopped. His junk was making all kinds of noise so he shut it off. He had broken a motor mount. Next thing I knew he was on foot running down a dune to look for it. IIRC he had an on board shower.



mike,

call the used car dept at toyota in your neck of the woods. ask them who they use for their dent removals and see if you can stop by the same day that the dent removers come to fix up their new batch of certified used vehicles. you might get lucky and get a break on the pricing since they wont have to visit you


That is my next move, I just need to find time to do all of this.

Thanks guys.

[slosurfer]

Mike, that's right he did show up for a little while. He busted a motor mount launching it off a dune. That was after I ended up loseing you guys and had to get April's tacoma back before she woke up. :laugh:

Hey, I just found out I have mad bodyshop skillz. Check out my work, no paint needed. I think I could do yours next. :laugh:

Bumper before (tailgate would only open halfway before hitting bumper)
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e113/slosurfer27/Trips/Shaver%20Lake%20Dec08/IMG_8210.jpg

Bumper after (tailgate is useable now)
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e113/slosurfer27/Trips/Shaver%20Lake%20Dec08/IMG_8373.jpg

Only tools needed, a sawsall and my boot and heavy ass. :laugh:
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e113/slosurfer27/Trips/Shaver%20Lake%20Dec08/IMG_8372.jpg

I feel totally confident, I could easily make your dent look that good. Let me know when you want me to come up and fix it. :D

[CJM]

If you take some chain, hook it to a sturdy tree or other vehicle and attach it to where the bumper is bent you can pull it out even better.

A come along will do it too (but get a good one). Ive done it before..

Picture this: I crashed my Econoline work van about a year ago. I smashed into the back of a sporttruck exploder ont he corner of my drivers side and his. The metal was pushed up to the front pretty well in that corner.

We took some chains and hooked them to the towtruck, then used some more chains and come alongs and moving the van and pulled it all out. Got new fender, got new hood and frontend fascia and you cant really notice. The horn (or what they call the front clip area) was creased pretty bad. I mean its not 100% perfect but it line sup nicely. All we paid for was the paint and the parts. Sadly the idiot used chevy white, not for white and you can tell.

[slosurfer]

Yeah, the hard part was that it needed to be pulled down, which is harder to rig up with some chains etc.... I just wanted to make it so that the tailgate could be used till we get it to the shop. It was supposed to be a joke, since I cut it with a sawsall. :laugh:

[CJM]

Hey at least all of you guys didnt mean to do the stuff.

My buddy and I thought we could lift the cab enough to swap out the body mounts if we removed only the 2 fronts. I bent the pinch weld a wee bit now.

[CJM]

Assumption of risk implies it's always the man's fault. :rofl:


This is why I am not married and not currently dating. Work, sleep, rinse and repeat. I dont have these issues you guys talk about.