How to repair hail damage on my trucks

[AirSpeed]

My ins co wants to give me $1200 for each of my trucks for hail damage, unfortunately I raised my deduct to $500 not long ago. That's not going to leave enough to buy the supplies I need to repaint the hood and roof on my trucks so I'm going to try paintlessly tapping them out myself. Any experience with this? What method works and what tools should I buy?
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[AirSpeed]

I tried convincing the ins that its going to cost more than $1200 each to fix my trucks, one has a broken windshield, they seem to think its not!
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[Lou Boffa]

Originally Posted by AirSpeed

I tried convincing the ins that its going to cost more than $1200 each to fix my trucks, one has a broken windshield, they seem to think its not!
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That's why they call them "adjustors." In reality, they are bookies. Every payment we make is a bet. We are betting something will happen and they are betting something won't. They have all the data. As in Vegas--the house always wins!

[egaray281]

last night i was watching fast n loud on discovery channel and they bought a car with a lot of hail damage and the person doing the body work said he was gonna do an old technique which was heating the dents with a small propane torch and i guess he was tapping them out and that supposdly it works cause metal has a memory to go back to its form? not sure if i made any since but you might want to look into that might be some thing you can do yourself and save some money?

[Madtat]

^^^ kinda sorta, I have heard the same thing but...after heating the area an ice cube was placed in the heated area and the cold causes the metal to constrict and pop up back into shape. - I don'no, it's what I heard.
Please post what works for you.
Maybe you could get more info in the bodywork/welding thread?
Good luck, sorry to hear about your truck.

[DGulliver]

Originally Posted by egaray281

last night i was watching fast n loud on discovery channel and they bought a car with a lot of hail damage and the person doing the body work said he was gonna do an old technique which was heating the dents with a small propane torch and i guess he was tapping them out and that supposdly it works cause metal has a memory to go back to its form? not sure if i made any since but you might want to look into that might be some thing you can do yourself and save some money?

I have seen this method used with success. The "circle" right around the dent is warmed and tapped to shrink the metal, it's a little tedious. You need an old school guy. Most current "body men" simply replace plastic bumpers for a living.

[Mister-B]

You may just need to get a different hood from the junk yard. As for tapping them out of the roof, how would you do that, where the interior has the metal roof liner?
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[k_n_browning]

Ok the torch will work but not a propane one.you you will need a standard welding torch.If you never gone this before JUST STOP and back away from the truck.You can and will warp that sheet metal.Now that said go find an old hood and try it.Don't try body filer to fill the hole.They have been known to pop out in the summer time.Now there are two ways to go at it.The way on fast and loud works.And then you you heat the dent and use a body file and slide it over the hot spot untell cools.

[Sillyoldman]

Go get some repair estimates and present them to your insurance company. They should work with you. If so take the hit on the deductible and get some pros on it.

[Tinkermc]

fixing hail damage is very time consumming and a real PITA. I,ve been a body and paint man for more than 50 years, most ins. compaines replace hoods and deck lids to save money. The heat and ice work on newer cars since the metal is so thin but on older metal you could make dents you will never get out.Good Luck!!! If the hail was enough to break the Windshield 12hundred would not fix. Have a shop fix and get a supplement from the ins. co.

[DUD2STUD]

I have done the heat and ice trick before but if you have never done it you will definitely want to get something to practice on there is a lot that can go wrong quickly.
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[67ChevyRedneck]

Have you looked at paintless dent repair yet? A lot of them travel between car dealerships and body shops on certain days. If you do it "through" the dealer or body shop they usually charge double or triple. Find the guy that does the traveling and see if he'll do a job on the side. They guy I used used to work at BMW and he's very good at it. I had over 30 removed from my wife's mustang for $350. "Shops" wanted $800-1K, insurance paid right around $850 so after my deductible I broke even.

[kevmic28]

Another trick is dry ice and a hot summer day.

[wgr2112]

Get a written estimate from a Paintless Dent Repair company.

Many times if you show them your insurance paperwork, they will do if for that price.

Another option is to submit a couple of estimates to your insurance company and offer to pay the dent repair place in ca$h. Will help with your deductible.

I did that with my Tahoe a few years ago and came out way ahead!

[Chrome8]

I have worked at a GM dealership for 15 years (old man owns it) and have experience with fixing all kinds of hail and door dings in the late model stuff. Walk into the nearest dealership you can and ask for the used car manager. Ask him if he would give you the name and number of the guy that does PDR for him. As long as he's not a prick he'll give you the guys name, the sales manager has no interest in making any money off your dents at all. He's a busy guy so if he blows you off ask to talk to the controller or the person that does accounts payable they will have his contact info. Anyway, the best PDR guys use a hot glue and a mini slide hammer to pull the dents from areas they cannot push dents from i.e. roof on our trucks. Glue poppin is what I call it and after they pop the dent they use small hammers to pound it flat and make it perfect. I have seen some of these guys fix hoods and roofs this way that my insurance company paid to replace, no joke. The only potential problem I can see is if the dents are too deep (stretches the metal) or if the metal on our trucks is just too thick to PDR. It's worth a try man, have a very good PDR guy look at it. He'll probably want to try one or two before he can commit to fixing it if he hasn't had experience with older iron. Good luck and please don't take a propane torch to your truck before talking to a pro.

[dirish]

Try dry ice. Let sit till frozen/ frost ring (on dent) remove, let warm back up.
U may get lucky.
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