Having dents in your car can be very frustrating, especially if they’re not your fault.
Thankfully, there are ways that you can fix these unsightly dents without breaking the bank.
There is numerous DIY dent pulling kits available to buy. Many of which look like cheap plastic and may break at the slightest attempt of pulling a dent.
Believe it or not, some of these tools are actually useful and can when used right, remove dents from your car.
So, if you want to learn how to pull a dent, what types of dent pullers are available and which ones are the best to buy, keep reading!
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Do DIY Paintless Dent Removal kits work?
Many people believe that paintless dent repair is easy and why wouldn’t they?
You can buy a simple glue puller that you attach to a vehicle, one quick pull and your dent pops back into place, right?
Wrong. Beginner PDR Tools and kits can be effective on smaller dents. They can pull out small hail damage and trolley dents but the fix will be far from perfect.
Cheap PDR Kits are often a waste of time and inexperienced car enthusiasts are at risk of wasting their money and increasing the damage to their car. This is one of the main paintless dent repair disadvantages.
There’s a reason why Paintless Dent Removal costs what it does. It takes many years of experience and frustration to fix a dent as well as a professional can.
How To Use Dent Pullers
Before you even think about attempting to pull out a dent there is one thing you need to do first.
Washing the area will remove contaminants and allow the glue tab to stick evenly to the surface of the car. Cleaning and preparing the surface area is key to a good pull.
Glue Puller
- Find a glue tab that mirrors the size of the chosen dent
- Heat the glue gun and apply a pea-sized blob to your selected pulling tab
- Attach the tab to the dent but don’t press too hard, the glue tab should be touching only the glue, not the panel.
- Next, attach the pulling fixture to the tab, make sure the feet are flush to the panel otherwise it could create more dents.
- Finally, make the pull. If it doesn’t completely pull the dent out, clean the adhesive off and try again.
- If you have made a highspot or two you’ll need a rubber hammer to tap them back down and may have to pull smaller surrounding dents out.
Check out my recommended glue pulling kit:
This PowPDR PDR kit is a 56 Piece set that comes with a bridge puller, gold dent lifter, and hot glue gun.
Suction Puller
- Use a little bit of water to moisten the suction surface. This improves the strength of the suction
- Smaller dents are harder to repair with a suction cup, most will be too big, but if you have one the right size place it centered over the dent.
- Larger dents are more suited to suction cups as they’re bigger, you’re better off working inwards from the outside of dent as it will prevent creating excessive highspots.
- Once attached, pull towards your body and hope the dent comes out nicely.
I’m not a fan of suction cups, I struggle to accept they have enough suction to pull any solid panel. With that being said, they can be effective and you could always heat up the panel before you try pulls.
Slide Hammer Puller
There are a couple of variations of Slide Hammer pullers, I’d personally opt for a glue pulling slide hammer over a suction cup one for reasons mentioned above.
You can buy a DIY Dent repair kit that comes with a slide hammer or invest in a standalone slide hammer kit
Manelord sells a Slide Hammer T-Bar kit that comes with 21 glue tabs, 10 glue sticks and a tap down kit.
Sealey has come up with an interesting concept that I’m interested in trying out. It’s a suction cup puller that is connected to your air compressor. The puller looks to be more effective than any other suction cup available on the market.
DIY PDR Risks & Advice
DIY Pulling kits aren’t really the best things money can buy. Sure, you could make a car that looks 50% factory condition look closer to 80%, however, you could also add more dents into the vehicle.
If you’re seriously interested in learning Paintless Dent Repair it’s best you buy the correct dent removal tools and a scrap non-runner car to practice on.
Looking for a cheap fix to remove that ugly dent in the side of your car? I’d leave it to the professionals.
Auto body repairs can be costly, but if you value your car it will be worth it.