Dents on your vehicle can really make the value of your vehicle go down and just makes it look bad. Major collision damage may need to be handled by a professional but a lot of dents can be taken care of by a DIY enthusiast if you pick the best method for the job. We decided to give you our top ways for removing dents out of body panels below.
- Suction Cup- Using the power of suction can be an easy way to remove light or shallow dents in a body panel. Using suction can be a simple way to fix a dent at home and with most methods there’s little risk involved. The most simple method is trying to use a regular old plunger from your bathroom (clean it first!), but there are also suction cup kits made specifically for removing dents. For instance the Eastwood 5″ Paintless Dent Removal Suction Cup is made to remove dents in vehicles. You simply apply the suction cup to the clean, dented area and lock the lever on the bottom. You can then use the strap on the back to pull with your hands or another method to pull the dent out.
- Use Heat- Heat can be used to remove dents or stretched metal or to help relax the dent so it can be popped out easier . If you’re trying to keep the paint intact a heat gun is best to use as you can usually dial the heat in on them and get a little hotter than a hair dryer would. Once the panel has been warmed up you can then start working it to remove the dent. On bare metal or badly damaged metal heat with a torch can be used to heat the metal nearly red hot and to let it cool to tighten up oil canned areas of metal.
- Hammer The Dent Out– Some dents can’t just be pulled out with simple methods. A basic set of hammers and dollies will allow you to hammer a larger dent out. By hammering off-dolly you can reverse many large dents and correct big issues in a few minutes.
- Stud Welder- On larger and more extensive damage there may already be paint damage or you’ll be repainting the panel or car. In this instance you may want to pull the dent out in an area where you can’t get a body hammer and dolly into. This is where a stud welder and slide hammer come in handy. With a stud welder kit you install a small brass colors stud into the gun and press it against the bare metal surface and hold the trigger. What it does is resistance weld the head of the stud to the panel surface. The stud sticking off can be installed into a special slide hammer you can use to slide hammer the dents out. This may take numerous steps to pull the dent out all of the way but it is one of the most efficient if there is no access to the backside of the panel.
- Paintless Dent Removal Kit- If you only have light or shallow dents in the metal and they may be small like hail dents or door dings you can usually repair most of those with a Paintless Dent Removal Kit at home. These kits work similar to a stud welder just without heating up the metal or removing the paint. With these kits you apply a special adhesive to the cups or tabs and apply it directly over the dented area. The special puller included then attaches to the tab and you can pull lightly with it. The tabs are securely fastened with the glue for pulling but just take a little acetone or similar cleaner to soften up and allow you to remove the tabs with the glue without harming the metal. PDR kits take some practice to get glass straight panels but even a first time user can get a dent 90% of the way out with one of these kits they’re so simple!