I'm thinking of getting one of these to remove a bunch of hail dings in my car (it was not insured). It would cost thousands to have them professionally removed which I can't afford, whereas for significantly less I'm thinking I could buy one of these and get most of them out myself. If I get it 80% back to normal I'll be happy.

 

Has anyone used one of these? Is it something that a novice with access to youtube could manage?

 

Anyone have any experience with these cheapie chinese ones on ebay? Or do you really need to spend $500 for it to actually work? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Paintless-Dent-Repair-PDR-Tool-Hail-Removal-Dent-Lifter-Set-24-Pieces-/331356731965?hash=item4d26667a3d&item=331356731965&vxp=mtr

The PDR guys use those all the time, except the guys I know use a slide hammer puller instead of the jack looking thing.

Kinda tricky to get right, but good results once you get used to how it works and you know how much "pull" you need.

 

Also, it usually inverts the dent into a hump which needs to be massaged back down with a special punch tool. This is where the trick of knowing how much "pull" is necessary comes in. Once you get that dialed in you minimize how far out the dent is pulled which means less massage work to get it flat again.

Edited May 14, 201510 yr by Fairtax4me

I've heard of putting a football or basketball under the dent, fill it up, and it apparently pops the dent out

Hail dings are especially tricky because they're so small.  Those pullers are more for larger dents.  Either way, be sure you do it when the metal is nice and warm, not cold.  It's much more effective that way.

I don't know man. I completely destroyed a 74 pinto trying to pull a few small dents out with one of those and a 12 pack of beer.

I don't know man. I completely destroyed a 74 pinto trying to pull a few small dents out with one of those and a 12 pack of beer.

Gas tank blow up?

Okay, thanks chaps!