Ford F-150 grocery cart dent removal
We recently removed two dents from a Ford F-150 in Arlington, Virginia. The body damage occurred at the grocery store, when a runaway grocery cart hit the vehicle at a high rate of speed. Luckily there was no paint damage on the truck, and Dent Hero was able to remove the door dents utilizing the paintless dent repair technique.
Starting in 2015, all of the body panels on the Ford F-150 were made of aluminum, which is lighter than steel and resists rust. Ford saved 750 pounds by switching from steel to aluminum body panels. Aluminum is a stiffer material than steel, and much more challenging to manipulate with paintless dent repair techniques. PDR technicians often have to apply heat and use very sharp tools in order to remove dents from aluminum body panels. Aluminum PDR definitely requires more expertise, patience and experience to work on, compared to paintless dent repair conducted on steel body panels. Dent Hero has be fixing dents in aluminum cars since 2003. Luxury vehicles have been using aluminum body panels to reduce weight since the 1950’s.
This F-150 dent removal consisted of two dents. The first dent on the upper section of the door was much easier to fix than the dent on the lower section, due to depth and location. We were able to access the upper dent through the window opening at the top of the door and gain great leverage and power to slowly and methodically push the dent out from the inside of the panel. Because the dent on the lower section was deeper and close to a body curve, much more force was required to move the metal. Body panels tend to be stiffer/stronger near a bend or curve. When a dent has some depth, the metal is “work hardened.” This is why deep dents in aluminum can be some of the most challenging types of dents to fix with paintless dent repair. The entire dent removal process on this Ford F-150 required about 3 hours. No body filler or repainting required. The Ford OEM paint finish was retained and there is no record of damage or repair associated with this truck.