hail damage?

[88KansasS15]

hey guys i got a quick question. first off i have very little painting experience, just enough to know the process. now my question is can you use body filler to fill in hail dents? my truck has hail damage on the roof, hood, and one small dent on the drivers door body line. all dents are about pea size except for one on the roof on the passenger back side of the cab on top, its the size of a golf ball. i want to paint the truck soon. any input on hail repair or cover up with pros and cons?

[88KansasS15]

also theres only about 15-20 dents total on the truck

[Rickracer]

I've heard of people using a soldering iron (the kind you heat up with a torch), to heat up and then shrink those spots, never tried any of that myself, I isn't a body man at all, probly never will be, :D

[xten]

You can use filler if the metal isn't stretched and heaved up around the dent. Maybe try to find a reputable paintless dent repair guy. There are some good ones out there, and they aren't real expensive. Could save you some grief in the long run. Any dealership should be able to stear you in the right direction.

[88KansasS15]

how much are we talking for a paintless repair? i thought about trying the tack on weld thing but idk i wanna go the best yet cheapest way

[xten]

how much are we talking for a paintless repair? i thought about trying the tack on weld thing but idk i wanna go the best yet cheapest way

Best and cheapest rarely are the same.Stud gun does an excelent job, but that involves grinding to bare metal,and if there's a galvanized coating on the metal, that has to come off too, or the pins won't stick right. So now you're into pulling, etch priming, filling, fill priming and painting labor, plus the materials and equipment you need to do this. Can't speak for what they (PDR) charge where you are, but around here the maximum is $100 per panel. Can't buy a decent pin welder for that much. You might want to give the glue-on pullers a shot. They're pretty cheap, and all the auto parts stores around here carry them. Should work pretty good on hail dents. Let us know what route you take!

[88KansasS15]

i filled in the dents with bondo and body fill that were tiny and got a glue on dent puller to pull out the bigger dents and it all worked great