2018 Chevy Silverado
This vehicle came to us with a four inch dent on the tailgate- not a panel with the greatest access. My initial thought when I saw the damage was “I wonder if I could glue pull that” to save the customer some time. Upon further inspection I ultimately decided the dent was too sharp to effectively glue pull, and would need to be repaired using traditional methods- removing trim panels to gain access to the backside of the repair, using rods to push the dent out, knocking down any over pushes, and using a reflection board to ensure that every push was done accurately. Thankfully this was a steel tailgate which makes Paintless Dent Repair much easier and increases the likelihood of a successful repair. Even if a dent is sharp or deep, steel wants to work with you- some technicians describe steel as “having memory.” The steel knows the shape it was designed to be and as long as a technician takes the proper steps the steel is malleable and easy to work with
Tailgates have a removable panel on the inside of the bed, and to gain access to push this dent out it had to come off. After a quick removal, I had clean access to the dent from top to bottom. Using a double bend tool from Dent Craft and a soft tip, I was able to repair the majority of the damage in just a few minutes. However the center still had a crease running through it and the metal was too tight to continue pushing without causing damage.
When this happens, a tech has to “open the dent back up” using a hammer and knock down before they continue pushing. This process is also referred to as “resetting the dent” and had to be repeated a number of times to keep this repair clean and restore the metal to its’ factory condition. As a dent comes up from being pushed, the center of the dent tightens up and becomes resistant to repair. If a technician gets too aggressive they’ll cause tiny poke marks in the metal, and instead of getting a clean finish the panel will appear to have chew marks where the center of the dent used to be. However, this is combated by tapping the edges of the dent down again around the center. As the dent opens back up it “softens” the sharp center and another attempt to repair can be made. Ultimately this is a practice of patience- if you get too aggressive you’ll lose the panel all together and create damage that is simply unrepairable. And this back and forth of push, knockdown, reset, push again happens many times during a repair if the dent is deep enough. So after the initial knock down session I was able to switch to a more precise sharper tip and continue with the repair. And after a handful of resets we were able to achieve the results we wanted to and we reinstalled the access panel and the customer was able to go home happy.
