Dent Pulling expertise needed

[vanib]

My wife parked the RAV for 1 hour at the dentist.

When she came back, there was this dent

She was facing a wall with a path in between the RAV and the wall. Seems like someone might have stumbled and taken support on the fender on the driver side.

I got a dent puller but I am not sure which technique will give the best results.

1. Moisten the surface of the fender and use the dent puller, starting from the middle where the create is deepest?
2. pull out the fender liner and push with my hands, starting furthest from the crease?

I actually have 2 dents,
.first is wide and shallow
.the other is deeper and about 2 inches long.

I think I might even have to use a hammer to attack the vent from below. This had to happen when it's start getting cold outside!

I welcome your suggestions.

[veliksam]

I can give you advise on how to repair the dent, however if this happened to my fender I would just buy a new one. They are available on eBay for around $50. Also I think on that type of dent your paint might crack of you pull it out. Good luck.

Sent from my HTC ONE X

[JPL]

This might sound silly, but have you tried heating up the dented surface, and then rapidly cool the surface using a compressed air can? In materials engineering, this is called the quenching process (heating/rapid cooling). By heating the metal, you're making it softer. Then the rapid cooling might cause the metal to "pop" back out, as the atoms within the metal try to return to their original arrangement. There are plenty of youtube videos on this (search removing dent with compressed air and hair dryer). It wouldn't hurt to give this a shot but the chances that this will work are relatively slim.

However from your suggestions, I would say pull out the fender liner and push with hands/dent puller. I would still heat up the surface first, as this makes it easier to work the metal.

[dtalk]

I agree with JPL, this is how these fly by night dent places work, they heat it up (one guy use one of those heavy duty handheld heaters ) and got it soft enough to pull out the dent.

[dtalk]

Here is a video about it.

Dent Repair with a Hair Dryer - YouTube

Dent Repair with a Hair Dryer - YouTube

[Carbon]

I suggest you consider a "paintless dent removal" place. I am thinking that experience is probably a real asset in this case. There is a time for do it yourself. This does not seem like one of them.

[Legion]

Originally Posted by Carbon

I suggest you consider a "paintless dent removal" place. I am thinking that experience is probably a real asset in this case. There is a time for do it yourself. This does not seem like one of them.

I have some experience from pulling easy (round and symmetrical) dents with glue and based on that I would definitely agree with Carbon.

Your dent looks like a difficult one to repair and therefore I would not start practicing paintless dent repair with it but take it to an expert.

[vanib]

Guess what I already started practising dentless repair and I can say that I am planning to take it to a pro. I did the heat trick on the rear bumper and worked pretty well.

Although it does not seem that the fender took a very hard hit, it's more the location of it that sucks.

If the price is "high", I might look in replacing the fender some time in the summer - 6 months from now.

Thanks for your input

[Dr. Dyno]

Originally Posted by dtalk

Here is a video about it.

Yeah, that concludes with it not working and "don't try it." That was fun!

I had hail dents taken out of my 2001 F-250 by a paintless dent guy in Daytona a few years ago. Came out unbelievable, the same comment he had after I tuned his Indian. We're both still impressed and pleased years later.

But you have to get an expert. A local dent guy in CT wouldn't even attempt it.

[vanib]

Originally Posted by veliksam

I can give you advise on how to repair the dent, however if this happened to my fender I would just buy a new one. They are available on eBay for around $50. Also I think on that type of dent your paint might crack of you pull it out. Good luck.

Sent from my HTC ONE X

My paint is not cracked but I am thinking of getting a new fender is the price is right. I can't seem to find a fender for $50 anywhere. With shipping to NY or Ottawa, ON, the cheapest I have found (unpainted) is $130. Any suggestions?