Today we are working on this all aluminum 2017 Ford F-250 Tailgate. One unknown fact to most people is aluminumisrepairable using paintless dent repair. One thing most people don’t know is that it is much HARDER to not only repair but to also dent as well. When compared to the same dent in steel vs aluminum the damage will be extremely different from the same impact.
In order to gain access to this damage we pulled the top tailgate cap off. This is the upper black trim pad on the top of the tailgate. We also had to pull the inner tailgate trim piece for access as well. After these items are out of the way we then have very good access to push this damage out with our tools.
Can damage in body lines be fixed using the Paintless Dent Repair method?
The answer to that question is, Yes.
Today we are working on this 2017 Chevy Camaro. There are multiple extra special steps we have to take when repairing body line damage. So just because one technician or company says it cannot be done is not necessarily always the case. The damage here is an example of extreme damage on a body line. Here is what the damage looks like under a paintless dent repair light.
Here is some footage mid way through the repair. As you can see we’ve got the body line generally back up into its original spot here. We’ve got a bunch of crown work. It’s a very slow process but we are getting it out. Now for access we are actually fortunate enough to where there is a factory access hole here. We removed a small cover and gain all of the access we need with our tools to push this damage out.
The Grand Finale
We were able to get that body line back out to its original shape without damaging the paint. Luckily this car had absolutely awesome access for where this damage was with the big factory hole we showed you earlier. The majority of this damage, was actually removed by glue pulling. For this we are actually gluing a tab onto the vehicle and pulling the damage out.
Here is a look at the finished results with a paintless dent repair light, it shows a little bit more detail. You can see we were able to get all of that damage out very nicely. Stay tuned in just a second here we’ve got the customers reaction to the repair.
“So this is my Camaro I brought into Jack, had a horrible dent in the rear quarter. This is actually the third car I’ve had Jack fix for me. A lot of people said that there was no way anyone could even get this out, I’d have to go to a body shop to get repainted, I didn’t want to do that. Jack of course he is a magician with this stuff, he got it out and you cannot even tell at all that there was ever a dent there whatsoever. The other two cars I had, same thing, I brought them here and they look like they had just rolled off the showroom floor. I would highly recommend Jack, I would never take my car anywhere else but him if I have a dent in it. He’s great at what he does and I highly recommend him.”
If you’ve got damage in your vehicle give us a call CLICK HERE to call
“Your damage cannot be fixed with Paintless Dent Repair, Your damage is too severe, you need to go to a body shop and have your car repainted.”
Have you heard something like this from a friend, family member or maybe you yourself thought this? Well this customer took his 2013 Ford Mustang to a local body shop, that told him it could not be repaired with paintless dent repair. Also that his car needed to be taken apart and part of his vehicle needed to be completely repainted. Luckily this customer contacted us to come look at some other damage on his vehicle prior to scheduling it with the body shop. After looking the customers vehicle over for damage, we took note of the left quarter panel that had the damage seen in this video. We started talking with the customer and he mentioned you can’t fix that can you? After some inspection we determined that we could repair his damage using Paintless Dent Repair. The customer had previous paint experience and knew that keeping the factory paint finish was far superior to any body shop paint job, from miss matched colors, to diminished resale value, the list goes on and on. He was excited to learn we were able to fix the damage and scheduled the repair with us.
During the repair process we use multiply tricks of the trade, from glue pulling on the metal to pull the damage out, to using specialized tools to move the metal back into its original shape. The repair process as you can see is very time consuming and very repetitive but we knew we were able to remove this damage with the right amount of work in the right places.
The damage was removed and the customer was very happy with the finished results. Here is what the customer thought of his repair:
“Just picking up my car today from Jack today, he just finished up the quarter panel repair that I was told from the body shop that couldn’t be done. He did an awesome job, you can’t tell nothing has been fixed. I had a small one down in the door here that’s completely gone. I think I would do Paintless Dent way before I would do body work, if you can do it. Jack did a great job!”
If you have damage on your vehicle be sure to check with at Sioux Falls Dent Repair to see if your damage can be repaired using Paintless Dent Repair!
Have you ever wondered how a hail estimate on your vehicle is written? How do body shops and paintless dent repair technicians come up with the numbers that they do? Here’s a short video on a couple of very common questions and just a basic example of how we go about pricing hail damage repairs! The vehicle used in this example was a 2017 Ford F-150 with only 1,700 miles in it! This vehicle is made completely out of aluminum and we have part of it taken apart already for this example.
First off we start by bringing the damaged vehicle inside our shop for inspection. Next we clean the vehicle of any debris and dirt, a clean surface insures us the best possible reflection, this allows us to see every minor detail of the damage. After the vehicle is cleaned off we bring out a specialized Paintless Dent Repair style light to see a high definition reflection of the damage, you can see quite a bit in the natural shop lighting but nothing compares to a professional paintless dent repair light! The damage is then scanned over with the light from multiply angles by the estimator or technician to insure every possible angle is seen and inspected for damage, this insures a proper estimate! After a dent is discovered it is then inspected for the correct size by a sizing magnetic coin or a regular coin will work, the sizing is dime, nickel, quarter, half dollar and any dent that is bigger than a half dollar is marked as an Oversized dent. This probably one of the most over looked issue is sizing in the estimate, some estimators or Technicians will just guess on size and you would be surprised at how inaccurate that is, so make sure the technician uses sizing coins to insure proper size for your estimate! Any damage over a half dollar in size is then marked out as an “OS” or oversized dent on the panel, for the rest the average size of the dents is taken then the panel is then categorized as being that specific size overall. Next the number of dents is then added up along with the specific size of oversized dents is then calculated to figure out a number for the cost of the repairs. Panels of the vehicle require access to push the damage out, we do this by removing certain pieces of trim to access the backside of the damage, the hood insulator was removed prior to the video, it is a pad that protects the hood from heat and offers a form of sound deadening to dampen the sound of the engine, this is installed on the underside of the hood with specialized retaining clips. Also in the video the headlight and headlight trim pieces were previously removed from both fenders to allow the technician access to the fenders to push out the damage. Access is then shown for both the fenders and the bottom side of the hood to give you a little idea of how the technician pushes the damage out.
If you have any questions regarding damage to your vehicle or have damage yourself that you would like repaired please give us a call at: (605) 595-4061
Did you recently receive hail damage to your vehicle? Do the hail dents stand out like a sore thumb every time you approach your vehicle you just stare at them in shock and disbelief? Well if so, we are here to help! From dealing with your insurance company directly, to handling the paperwork and estimating process, as well as the repair process itself, Sioux Falls Dent Repair is here to make your hail damage experience a hassle free and most importantly, a dent free experience!
I have hail damage, where do I start?
Great question! First off contact your insurance company and notify them you have hail damage to your vehicle then you will receive a claim number.
Will a hail damage claim make my rates go up?
Hail damage is classified under your comprehensive section of your insurance. Since claims made under the comprehensive section are referred to as “acts of god” this should not affect your rates. Comprehensive claims are focused on natural items damaging your car, such as the wind blowing an item into the vehicle, trees falling on your vehicle or hail damage.
I have a claim number, now what?
Here comes the easy part! Drop your vehicle off at Sioux Falls Dent Repair, and we will handle everything from there, from the paperwork, to dealing with your insurance company and repairing your damage!
This seems so simple, what’s the catch?
There is no catch, we are here to service you and to make this as pain free as possible, let us handle all of the hard parts so you can get on with your life, dent free again!
Do you have any other questions regarding hail damage? Maybe you want to know about how we calculate the damage and severity, or maybe you don’t think your damage is not that bad, should you even file a claim? These are all great questions that we are happy to answer for you. Just give us a call and we’d be happy to discuss all of your questions!
