Fixing Hail Damage on a Car Yourself
If you leave your car outdoors and exposed to Mother Nature, there is always a chance that it will sustain hail damage. Fixing hair damage on your car becomes a costly endeavor at an auto-body shop. Typically, your insurance will cover the cost of fixing hail damage, however, there are also do-it-yourself options if the dents and dings are not too severe.
Heat Can Help
The metal of your car expands when it gets hot so sometimes parking your car in the hot sunlight will encourage tiny dents to pop back out. Remember, this fix is not instant. It depends on the weather and the length of time the car sits in the sunlight. Ideally, leave your car a few hours in the sunshine to encourage the dents to hail damage to pop out. This is unlikely to work and if it does, it would only be smaller dents that are already nearly invisible.
Cold to Pop Dents
Just like heat will pop out the hail damage the other extreme also helps. Don a pair of gloves and apply dry ice to the area of worst damage. The sudden cooling of the dry ice on the metal causes the dent to spring out. Again, this can absolutely work but results are mixed and depends on a number of factors.
Invest in a Dent Puller
Dent pullers come in a few shapes and sizes and can be purchased at an auto parts stores or online. The dent puller itself is a mechanical device which sits on the car and grabs a small puck which is hot glued to the dent. There are a number of different shapes and sizes of puck and the person doing the repair has to have a “feel” for when to use the right one. You essentially glue them to the car then use the dent puller to bend the metal back. One big pull will yank the glue right off the vehicle surface without damaging the paint or leaving residue behind (if done right). This is a solution that many “paintless dent repair” outfits use to fix dings and dents from hail or otherwise without requiring a costly repaint.
Forensic Engineering Specialists
Engineering Specialists Inc. has nearly 30 years of field experience in analyzing the damage to all types of vehicles. We can work on any project in any state, nationwide. When you or your business needs to confirm the extent of damage or how to correct a problem, email us at office@esinationwide.com or call us, toll-free, at (877) 559-4010.
