Recommendations on dent repair kits

I have a couple dents on my 2015 Tacoma and was wondering which repair kit you guys have had success with. One dent is on the tailgate and is about 1-2” wide and the other is on the roof and is about 4-6” wide. I’ve done some research but some of these repair kits only handle metal up to certain strength and can pull dents certain sizes. The metal on the roof seems thin compared to the tailgate. Attached are pics of the dents.

 

Take it to a pdr person and get it done properly

 

Agreed.

 

PDR

 

Is pricing usually reasonable to hire a pro for this type of work? Risky doing it myself?

 

well
You’re gonna have to figure out what all the tools cost. Probably a lot.

and what the job costs. How many times. Why it’s being done. If it’s covered by insurance or out of pocket.

you could try pulling the headliner and push it out with your hands and hope that doesn’t make it worse.

I had my tailgate PDRd. Around $100. Already had the panel off.
It can also make it easier, straightforward, maybe cheaper
In fact I think I took off the whole tailgate and dropped it off.

if you already have it taken apart and take on that liability of putting it back together right. Because you’re paying for PDR, not headliner removal, which they probably don’t care to do either. They just do that normally at higher cost because the average person isn’t doing that

here’s an example
Regear. Did I drop the truck off? No.
I got diffs. Then dropped the diffs off. They got regeared. Told guy no rush call when it’s done whenever. Picked em up.

and to be perfectly honest in your case if you do pull your headliner that can be justified.
1. It may give you an opportunity to get it re holstered in black suede IF you want that ($$$)
2. After the PDR you can use that time to apply sound deadening

I’m curious to know why the roof is dented. If you stood on it.
Don’t know if you need it, but there’s roof racks. Also gives you step surface. But not cheap and kinda only justifiable if you actually need a rack for multiple reasons. Which by the way would hide that.

 

Kinda depends. Pricing will vary wildly on PDR - but so will quality. Try to use someone who has really good referrals from others. Don't expect it to be cheap. The $100 quoted in the other post is crazy cheap as far as I'm concerned. That's cheaper than the hookup price I got via a friend who hooked me up with the guy that does PDR at his dealership. Of course it could be apples to oranges in terms of our two different dents.

Also, they don't always need to remove interior panels. They can often do a lot from just the exterior. The one I had done recently was a small, but DEEP ding (including minor paint chip) on the rear quarter panel of my wife's CR-V and he pulled out 100% of the dent without removing any interior panels. But I definitely agree you might be able to save money / make their job easier by removing panels if necessary - just ask them in advance in case it isn't actually helpful.

I can pretty much guarantee that you won't do a perfect job if you do this yourself. So feel free to try it DIY if you just want to learn the skill or don't care what the truck looks like when you're done. PDR isn't something you can easily DIY, it's something that takes a lot of skill and practice. But, bigger, softer, dents (kinda like what it looks like is on your roof) are definitely easier. That one looks like it might not look too bad just "popped" out. The one on your tailgate is smaller/deeper so you'll probably pull up the area around the dent while trying to pop it out, then you need to massage that back to being straight. Don't believe the miracle product informercials you see.

 

I've been a PDR tech for 28yrs. I GUARANTEE you will not fix this correctly.

 

Yeap

 

If you care about the truck and want it to look nice, another vote for a pro PDR tech. They'll have it looking like new. If you don't and you are trying to learn, those would be good dents to practice on. I don't think they'll end up looking all that good if you go this route, but everyone starts somewhere.

 

PDR = Lazy typer or paint-less dent repair

 

Thank for the responses guys! You most likely saved me a headache.

 

Yes, they did save you. Those dent removal tools that they sell on TV never work as well as they say they do. PDR is an art form. The (few) guys that really know what they're doing are well worth the money. As for the other hacks, don't get me started.

 

100%. That dent on your roof spans the raised roof rail bodyline. Those are notoriously more tricky. Had a local PDR pro (old timer) do the same when the truck was new to me; truly is an art like @Too Stroked said.