Does Paintless Dent Repair Work?

[roegs]

After washing my truck today, I noticed my first parking ramp ding. The parking spot next to me was labled 'compact', and a guy in a Lincoln squeezed in, leaving 6 inches between him and I. I did not see the damage to my rear fender until today. The sheet metal is pushed in between the bumper and rear wheel. Damage is about 2 inches wide and 12 inches long. I was able to push much of it out but just reaching behind and pushing out, and there is no damage to the paint. I've seen a number of local ads for paintless dent repair where they are able to work the metal back into shape without painting. Does it really work?

[SoMnDMAX]

Yep, as long as the person knows what they are doing and the damage isn't too severe.

Where in MN are you? A friend of mine's father does PDR work.

[roegs]

SoMnDMAX..I live in Plymouth, just west of Mpls. How about you?

[SoMnDMAX]

New Ulm area....

[dmaxalliTech]

Scott, just find the right guy, we have a guy here locally that does better work then our body shop!

[JimWilson]

I had it done on a door ding about the size of a quarter that the dealers apes put in my DS door. :mad: It came out okay, but I can see where the paint was "stretched", so it's no longer smooth. It's better, but not what I would consider good. I used to detail vehicles for a few years, so perhaps my judgement is a bit more harsh them others might be -- or maybe the guy who did the work was a chump -- but I'm only slightly satisfied with the outcome. Good luck with yours...

[hoot]

Can they fix bumper dings?

[sdaver]

only if you get them ramming a zo6 :D

[JimWilson]

Originally posted by hoot:
Can they fix bumper dings? No, the metal is too thick.

[roegs]

Thanks for the replies on this. I spent a morning this week going to body shops and paintless shops. All the body shops wanted to paint the whole rear quarter for between $625 to $850. Both paintless shops said they could remove 90-95% of the damage for $250. The mark is quite low on the panel, running between the bumper and wheel (just behing the mud flap). I'd really like to keep the factory paint, so I'm going the paintless route tomorrow afternoon. :rolleyes:

[jesshd]

$250 seems like way too much money. I had a fist sized ding in my Dodge driver's door that took them all day to fix and was only $100.

Jess

[Silver Bullet]

Hoot,
I disagree with JimWilson...I think they can fix bumper dings. Our stock bumpers are pretty thin compared to something made in 1970! One of my neighbors does PDR and was just telling me a couple months ago he just had some training on repairing bumper dings. I have a small bumper ding and told him if he wanted some practice he could fix mine! :D

[JimWilson]

Originally posted by Silver Bullet:
I disagree with JimWilson...I think they can fix bumper dings.The people who did my truck have a list of what they can and can't fix, and bumpers were on the can't list. Logically that makes sense, but perhaps there are companies that actually can. Having seen the process myself I don't see how it's possible though.

[hoot]

What is the "process"?

[roegs]

I just picked up my truck, and am extremly thankful for a wonderful job! You can't even tell the crease was there. How do they do it?? The guy told me his partner did it, as he was a little more experianced. I spoke with his partner, and he just said he really enjoys making something look new again for someone that appreciates it. Took him around 4 hours to do it. They had a couple of Porsche's in there, so I imagine they have a pretty good reputation. :D

http://www.dentkraftplus.com

[Silver Bullet]

JimWilson,
I just talked to my neighbor to verify and he said it can be done. The process is the same as removing hail/door dings, but it requires more muscle. He did say there are not too many PDR places doing it that he is aware of...

Hoot,
If you have a bumper ding you need fixed go talk to some of your local PDR shops and if someone in town or close by is doing someone should know about it. If you can't find anyone shoot me an e-mail and I'll see if my neighbor knows anyone up your way that does it.

[David Utz]

I just had a baseball ding removed from the rear pillar. The foul ball from a little league game had left a 2.5" by 0.5" deep divot between the rear window and the right rear door about 8" above the bed rail. They worked on it for 1.5 hours and removed about 95%. If you know where to look, you can still find it. If you didn't know where to look, you probably could not find it. With no way to push from the inside, the glued on puller was the only option to pop it back out. On the tight radius of the pillar, they ran out of pulling power just short of perfect.

[hoot]

Thanks Silver Bullet.

I'm in SE Pa.
It might be close to the cost of a bumper?

[Silver Bullet]

You are probably right. You might check with Diva...I think she has her's laying around since she put on Ranch Hands...

[Idle_Chatter]

Think they can fix this?
http://us.f1.yahoofs.com/users/ad2c085f/bc/2001+2500HD+D-A/Dr+Denton+Fender%232.jpg?BCNcoK_An31jv71R

[Silver Bullet]

Idle - Where's the pic???

Hoot - I had another idea for cheap replacement...try calling around to shops that mount aftermarket bumpers...they have to do something with the bumpers they are taking off. I stoped by a local shop (Texas Customs) here in Sachse today and Jasun told me he would give me a bumper that he takes off if the customer doesn't take it with 'em (most don't want 'em). Let me know what year models will work for your truck and I'll have him keep an eye out.

[Idle_Chatter]

Silver, you're not seeing the pic? It's plain as day in my view of the forum. Hmmmm :confused:

[Silver Bullet]

I am dialed into an ISP...50K if I am lucky...then VPN into work...then back out to the internet...I'll try again when I have a faster connection.

[2K2AD]

I have also had it done a couple of times with great results. In addition to the glue on pullers, they also use a series of different sized pnuematic balloons to free the dents up. Don't think that would work on your bumper, Mike.

Kevin

[Silver Bullet]

Idle,
I still can't see the pic...I just get the white box with a red X in it. What is the URL to the pic? Thanks.

[ 08-04-2003, 07:10 AM: Message edited by: Silver Bullet ]

[Idle_Chatter]

Hmmm, I've got the same thing for the first time today too, Silver. The pic and a second one are in the 2001HD folder in my PICS link below. :confused:

[Silver Bullet]

I got it now...IMHO...that one might be beyond PDR...but I am not a PDR preofessional!!!

[JimWilson]

Originally posted by hoot:
What is the "process"? On my truck the ding was almost dead center in my drivers door. The guy took a shim and inserted it between the window and the molding (to keep it expanded while he works). He then inserted some type of probing tool down into the door to "find" where the ding was, and to be certain he had an unobstructed path to it (no door handle or lock mechanisms, no hitting the window motor, etc). After he was able to determine if he could reach it he then removed the probing tool and used what looked like two tools to actually remove the dent; one that was able to push the metal back out from the inside, and another that appeared to be a brace so he could get some leverage. He worked rather slowly too -- took more then a half hour for a ding the size of a quarter.

In my case I'd say the repair doesn't suk, but it's still noticeable to a greater degree then I'd like.

[Idle_Chatter]

Thanks for the input, Silver Bullet. It was kind of a rhetorical question, I knew it wasn't in PDR territory because I've split the paint in the crease (jackknifed a borrowed lawnmower trailer when trying to get out of a cul-de-sac - DOAH!) It was on my "Objects in Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear" side, too! :mad:

[Silver Bullet]

At least it is on the passenger side and you don't have to see it everytime you get in/out of your truck!!! :D

[Idle_Chatter]

You don't know the half of it, Silver... I did it on Saturday afternoon, didn't have any reason to walk on the passenger side until the following TUESDAY! At first I was totally miffed that some no-good sonuva birch had hit and run me. Then I looked closely at how square the dent is and how it's so neatly pushed in between the bumper corner and the flair and the lightbulb lit. I am my own worst enemy. :rolleyes: