Hail ding repair?

[kmiller8821]

Ok, so we got hit pretty hard here in the metroplex (DFW) on Tuesday night. Luckily, my place does have a carport, however, some pieces still found thier way near my hood. The two I spotted are very small (about the size of a nickel) so I came out extremely fortunate given that hail was huge during this event.

My question is:

Given the thin metal of these hoods, do you guys think that PDR (paintless dent repair) would work on this or should I go to a body shop? I'm just curious if anyone with a 5th has had this type of damage yet, and if so, what they were able to do. I know that PDR works better on thicker metals, and these hoods seem much lighter than previous gens. It's not really bad, in fact, it's hard to even see the damage unless looking at it the right way but I know it's there, and it's annoying.

Any advise/suggestions are appreciated


Oh, and here's a photo I took of me holding a piece of hail....


So glad I had covered parking!!

 

[joneseyyy]

Holy Hell! Doesn't hurt to just check with PDR, if the say they can do it, great, if not, at least you attempted the lowest cost/lowest impact solution.

 

[Ukie]

Back in March we've got hail like

and it hit :boxer: my Honda Accord pretty hard (T4R was in a safe place at that time :hiding: ).

DentWizard did an amazing job and my vehicle looks like new!
I hope you have auto insurance with a low deductible to pay for all the repairs.
Btw, DentWizard provides a lifetime warranty on their repairs.

 

[Ukie]

Forgot to add, I think metal on Honda Accord is thinner compare to T4R. It's just a guess.

 

[Turn_down]

I know it's not the hood, but I had a ding on my fender near the hood. It was there when I accepted delivery. They fixed it the next day. Can't even tell it was there. So I guess I'm saying take it to your dealer. They can probably get it fixed.

Did you see the pics of the hail in Arlington? Someone took a pic of it next to a baseball, and it was bigger! lol

 

[Glenn_Law]

Try the ice cube repair first. Park in the sun on a hot day so that your hood heats up. Put an icecube in the hail dimple. The cold of the ice cube may cause the metal to contract enough to pop the dimple out. It doesn't work every time, but it's free and it works some of the time. Never tried it on a 4R, though.

 

[Turn_down]

Be careful, though. You may get water marks on your clean hood.

Just a bit off topic, but these hoods do seem really thin. I noticed mine moving (for lack of a better term) when I was going down the tollway the other day. Freaked me out. I've never had a car with a hood this thin.

And this morning, I took it to get washed. When the blowers hit it I thought the hood was going to blow off! LOL

 

[Antman]

Be careful, though. You may get water marks on your clean hood.

Just a bit off topic, but these hoods do seem really thin. I noticed mine moving (for lack of a better term) when I was going down the tollway the other day. Freaked me out. I've never had a car with a hood this thin.

And this morning, I took it to get washed. When the blowers hit it I thought the hood was going to blow off! LOL

This has been discussed alot- check it out-

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/75326-hood-flex.html

 

[kmiller8821]

Yeah, it was pretty crazy. I'm glad my Truck was covered. I'd rather it had happened when I was at work. It would have been safe and sound in our parking garage. Oh well, at least it was very minor. I'll continue to watch for other people's input before I decide what I'm gonna do... I'm hoping the all knowing Harper will chime in.


Oh, and on a side note, I'm an I.T. Engineer so if someone local wants to trade some computer/network work for a quick repair that would be cool too...

 

[heygenius]

I had the misfortune of parking under a walnut tree when it got windy. Came back to a nice golf ball size ding in the center of the hood. I brought it to paintless dent repair (dentmasters) and $75 and an hour later you couldn't tell there was ever a problem. I highly recommend them.