Rant: A guy at a parts store in Toledo told me my dent puller method was wrong

I used to always use a slide hammer on quarter panels, thinking it was the fastest way. This older guy, Frank, saw me buying a new one and said, 'Kid, you're just stretching the metal and making more filler work for yourself.' He showed me how he uses a low-heat spot welder with a pull tab system, which I tried on a 2018 Civic last week. It took a bit longer to set up, but the metal came back so much cleaner. Anyone else switch from slide hammers to something else for bigger dents?

2 comments

2 Comments

sanchez.sean2d ago

Man, Frank's totally right. Slide hammers are brutal on thin modern sheet metal. I learned the hard way on a Ford door, ended up with a wavy mess that needed way too much mud. That spot welder method is a game changer for bigger stuff, it pulls from multiple points so it doesn't distort. Still keep my slide hammer for little stuff behind a trim panel, but for a quarter panel? Never again.

the_hannah2d ago

Yeah @sanchez.sean, my first slide hammer attempt looked like I was trying to make a metal pretzel.