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Dent Pulling expertise needed

10K views 38 replies 13 participants last post by  vanib 
#1 ·
My wife parked the RAV for 1 hour at the dentist.

When she came back, there was this dent :wall

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.
 

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#2 ·
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
 
#10 ·
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?
 
#3 ·
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.
 
#4 ·
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.
 
#9 ·
Yeah, that concludes with it not working and "don't try it." That was fun! :rolleyes:

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.
 
#7 ·
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.
 
#8 ·
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
 
#11 ·
A new fender will add up with the paint and matching is always an issue. I would definitely try the painless dent guy. They do some excellent work. They travel around to the dealers doing work for them all the time. I have had a couple done on different vehicles. Yours looks like its in the crease on the fender so it may not come out perfect. I think the price was around $75 for the first dent and then down from there.
 
#20 ·
#13 ·
I am not sure about Ottawa. Yellow pages I guess or call a couple dealers they should know who is good. They are so busy doing work for the dealers its hard to get a time to get them to see yours. I got mine done in Kingston at Dent Master I think.
 
#14 ·
Van, I was always under the impression that a dent on a crease, like you seem to have, is pretty much a no-go for a "paintless dent guy". I've had parking lot dings taken out by these guys over the years and have always been impressed by the results, but it's always been on a flat surface, like doors.
 
#16 ·
#18 · (Edited)
Unless there is a high deductible I would have my insurance people have a look at it, otherwise I would take it to a body repair shop with a reputation for doing quality work. If you buy a fender it probably will need to be painted and it should meet any replacement part quality requirements. Paintless dent removal might work but the dent is a difficult to repair situation without body shop work.
 
#21 ·
I called DentTec but he was not convinced that it could be repaired fully. Also gor another quote for ""$250 for 90% dent removal"!!!". I decided to do a fix myself until I ge the fender changed ... if I get it changed. I just used a dolly and hammer. As I worked on it, 6 spots showed cracked paint! I used touch-up paint and clear coat.

Not the greatest job but it is less of an eyesore right now.
 

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#25 ·
I'm 99% sure it's just bolted on but I might be wrong. Maybe JB might know?

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#26 ·
Yeah, I don't think any welding is involved, but I can't swear to it!
 
#28 ·
OK, So I checked the fender and the only place that I thought might be welded is at the bottom.
So took my wrench and tried to see if the bolt comes out. I was ready to use my newly acquired impact wrench for this job. But that bolt came out so easily, easier than taking a oil drain bolt out!!! I thought it would be rusted on, especially that I have salt on the road 5 months in a year.

With the tip of my finger i was able to move the fender panel :)

So I might jump the gun and order one of those prepainted fenders, especially the one that is baked in the oven. It is more expensive (about $50 more, but @ $240 it is still a deal, in my opinion)
 

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#29 ·
That's great news, now we know how easy it is to remove an old banged up fender and no more wasting money in dent pulling :D
 
#31 ·
I did check the diagrams but I tried to have a visual too.


There is the one that I have shown in the diagram, 2 near the top of the fender (easy), one near the mirror (easy) and 4 or 5 more near the headlights and front bumper.

Not sure if the front bumper has to come off; I know that many have done this without too much difficulty; for me taking off the bumper is the most difficult task.


So for those who have taken the bumper off before it's a Level 1 task :)
 
#32 ·
Yes, unfortunately the front bumper would need to be removed because the bumper is held on by a retainer which is attached to the fender. In any case it would be a 1 hour job to replace a fender and an additional 15-20 minutes for a second fender. This is really great news because now we can buy some fenders, bumper, hood, and headlights from a 2012 Euro model and completely transform our Rav4's :D
I'll probably do this in a year or two, I'm still enjoying my jdm headlights ;)

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#33 ·
#36 ·
Yes, you just pull it it out from the location of the retainer, pull out gently towards you, then the bumper will be detached. Yes you can just do the one side but be carefully not to wap the plastic. Also don't forget that you'll need to remove one bolt/screw with a m10 wrench which can only be accessed once you remove/loosen the plastic from the wheel well, that bolt holds the bumper to the fender.

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#37 · (Edited)
Plastic wheel well was taken out yesterday itself to ... look around:)
I took that 10 mm bolt out yesterday and I was trying to find out if I could remove the fender without taking off the bumper. That's when I stumbled upon that retainer thingy.

Thanks for your input.

The colour of the new fender is a little different from that that is on the car actually. :(but I want to install it to see if I can live with it, especially that it is only costing me $160 with the $75 discount. I am also hoping the gap between hood, bumper and driver door is acceptable. Otherwise, it goes back to the seller next week and I lose $50 in return shipping.

I even got some custom paint mixed at CMAX. There are 4 shades of 6T6 colour.
I chose the closest match for my RAV and even that paint looks different when I painted my hood deflector. Getting a paint match seems almost impossible with a light metallic colour. Of course, blending is required but that's best left to the pros .. which cost an arm and leg in Ottawa.
 
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