Ok, so I was pulling into my spot today, and I was being dumb and not paying attention to the passenger side. I turned into a pole and put a big *** dent into the bed of the truck, right behind the cab in front of the rear wheel. What's the best way to go about fixing this? I was thinking just reaching up with a dead blow or rubber mallet and hammering it out. It looks like I have a clear path to reach almost all the way to the top of the dent.

 

Do you collision insurance..? I don't think you think you will be happy unless it is repaired by a expert.. Repainting is a possibly too.. You might get lucky though.. it might just pop out..

 

The problem with a dent is you stretch the steel. When you pound it back you're likely stretching it more. What you need is a good hammer and dolly man who has "shrinking hammers" and the right tools. A shrinking hammer (not sure if that's the right word) has a waffle face similar to a framing hammer. It creates a waffle like texture as it takes the metal which is too big in 2 dimensions and tries to bring it to the right size by adding depth.

Try beating it with a rubber or leather mallet. Maybe a dead blow. Maybe pry on a 2x4 and try to push it?

 

If it's a shallow, broad dent, you may be able to pop it out with your fist or a rubber mallet. If it's a deeper dent with a hard kink in the metal, you can use 2x4s and a small jack and slowly jack it out. You'll always be able to see where it was dented, but how bad it is and how much it bothers you will dictate what to do next.

 

Yea, I figured as much with the size of it. It's not very deep, and there aren't any hard creases in the metal. I think with a little bit of force it'll pop right back into shape, no harm, no foul. Any one ever use one of those suction cup dent pullers?

 

Have you ever seen these guys work? Jim
DentWizard.com : Welcome

 

You could try using a small inner tube put "perpendicular" to the space behind the dent. Put a board on the back side so you don't bend what you don't want to, line the tube up with the center of the dent and slowly add air. Trying to keep the tube from rolling may be a problem. The tube would be softer than a hammer and shouldn't add any more to the dent. I wonder if parking the dent in the sun so the metal would be warmer would help any?

 

Got a pic of it?

This is what I do for a living .....

Don't pound on it yet...

 

Yup, here's a few pictures. Hopefully you can see what it really is like from these pics. If not, let me know.
Oh, and that's just paint from the pole. It mostly comes off with water.

 

I did about the same thing years ago.I replaced the quarter panel

 

That is too big for a Pop job.. IMO..Don't you agree Rick..?

 

IMO, you can try to hit it with a mallet, but you will still have damage showing. You will need to replace that bedside with a new one. Just my .02.

 

It won't pop out completely , pretty badly creased .. it can be repaired though .. I just did this one :



I pressed most of it out with a porta power , & finished the rest of the dent with paintless dent tool's & a little filler...

 

PDR (paintless dent removal) is amazing. I had it done to my truck a while back. A few smaller dents in various locations. Can't tell it was ever dented.
That one does look like a challenge beyond PDR though

 

I did this one with PDR & a suction Cup :