Acorn dings

[Ed Rooney]

I went on a trip for a week and left my 4runner at my father's house. He had it parked for a day underneath a pretty substantial oak tree. The long and short of it is that I have a couple of acorn dings on my hood and roof. It's not so bad and it took me a week to even notice them, but they are there. Is there an easy way to pop them out?

 

[sharp4runr]

I've heard of paintless dent repairs. It is supposed to be cheaper than getting the panels repainted and such...

 

[Ed Rooney]

I ggogled it and all I found were pyramid schemes. Now I know where all of the real estate investors went.

 

[sharp4runr]

Hmm, that's wierd. I thought they were legit. One of my friends told me about this place after my 4Runner got dinged on the driver's door. To this day I haven't repaired it...

http://www.dentwizard.com/locationsusen

 

[jharris2]

I've heard of paintless dent repairs. It is supposed to be cheaper than getting the panels repainted and such...

I used Dent Doctor on the Camry -- where an F150 door got blown into the front fender (sudden thunderstorm, and the person who did it stayed around until I came out to see the damage).

Net -- they fixed it perfectly for $50. You can see the faint remnants of a crease if the light hits just right and you know where to look.

Suggestion: check the local yellow pages for that type of franchise that is close by and let them look at it.

 

[nated05]

I went on a trip for a week and left my 4runner at my father's house. He had it parked for a day underneath a pretty substantial oak tree. The long and short of it is that I have a couple of acorn dings on my hood and roof. It's not so bad and it took me a week to even notice them, but they are there. Is there an easy way to pop them out?

I had some hail damage from a storm earlier this year. When i went to get an estimate the guy said I might want to wait through the summer and see if the heat of the sun doesnt pop out the dents. Most of the dent were pretty minor I would think about the same as an acorn. Looking at my truck now it does look a little better, however i can still see some larger dents.

Maybe park your truck in the sun for a few days, worth a shot before you spend any money.

 

[Ed Rooney]

I think the hot days are pretty much done. it was 85 yesterday, and 65 today. I can still look out my office window and see 2 on my hood.

This is a big freakin oak tree with the biggest, roundest acorns I have ever seen. They are like 1" radius minimum.

Maybe I need a new sport hood, or possibly an '07 4runner Sport.

 

[jharris2]

Maybe I need a new sport hood, or possibly an '07 4runner Sport.

 

[shotking4]

that sucks bro. the same thing happened to me except it was for about a month til i noticed. IMO, the dents are too small for anything like a dent doctor to pull. Luckly some kid hit my car so i got a new hood for free. The shop i bring my crashed cars to said he would have to mud the whole roof but he could get me a new trunk. He said he had no interest in doing the work since it would be a major PITA and not worth it since the labor charges would be ridiculous.

 

[wolfgang]

So is using dry ice followed by a hair blower an urban legend --- or does it work? Dry ice shrinks the metal and hair dryer expands it - metal supposdly has a memory if the ding is caught soon enough. Sounds plausible. Where are the Myth Busters when ya need them.

 

[NoLimitSoldier]

So is using dry ice followed by a hair blower an urban legend --- or does it work? Dry ice shrinks the metal and hair dryer expands it - metal supposdly has a memory if the ding is caught soon enough. Sounds plausible. Where are the Myth Busters when ya need them.

I've heard of this too and I believe the premise is that when the expansion occurs if it happens rapidly enough it will actually over expand the metal from it's previous state therefore when the 'dent' pops out fast enough it will go back to it's original state. And what's interesting is there are certain metals out there that can be shaped in to whatever shape you want it and then when it is subjected to heat it will go back to it's original shape when it was first made. I don't know the name of any of them but I saw a guy on TV once who though you could build entire buildings out of this stuff and then fold it up take it where you want it and "deploy" it and have your freestanding building instantly. Anyway I've never seen the dryice+heat thing in action but have heard about it over and over for a few years now.

 

[Atomic 4Runner]

I just checked with my dealership for the very same problem, one GIANT acorn, about the size of a quarter, landed on the hood 6" from one of the windshield washer nozzles. They use a company called "Dent Wizard" that comes to the dealership one day a week. I'll be taking my truck to them either this Wed. or the next. I'll report back as soon as I talk to them.

My salesman said he has seen similar minor dings from hail repaired so well you couldn't find the original spot. Keep your fingers crossed!