I'm losing sleep over a dent in my car and it is making me sick

$192 to ship a $30 fender. Nothanks.

 

Fix it or otherwise you'll be worrying about it this time next year.

 

heck ya!
the struggles and tortured lament of almost 1/4 century of doing this is finally at last paying the big dividends here in the middle USA

 

FYI about Lunar Mist (1C8) paint:

I dropped my topper off for paint yesterday. One of my questions was how do they match the paint exactly and told him and her about how I’ve read and seen so many variations of Lunar Mist (1C8) and the colors being off etc

They go to their computer system with the code and tell me, “yup, there’s 16 variations /recommendations of this paint code.”

Then they proceeded to dial it in with 16 paint chips. They’re going to do a combo of two paints: one for the exact color and the other for the exact texture/metallic.

So going to a paint shop and having them mix you up a can/gallon of 1C8 could end up being way off in color, texture or metallic. Or all.

just a heads up.

 

Interesante. Didn't know they did auto paint same way but it makes sense.
This is how paint is matched also for repairing a wall in a home or touch up for a wall. You have to take in a paint chip or two from existing wall. They then determine actual color, not color it supposedly is, by having the paint chip scanned by a spectrometer/computer. This is much more accurate then using paint codes. Paint can vary ever so slightly batch by batch.

 

Paintless Dent Repair. Send a pictures to a reputable tech and get some quotes. My tire threw a branch in my driver’s side door and made a nice dent. The guy who fixed it did a perfect job! It cost me $300. No more sleepless nights.

 

A good old time body man could probably put that back in shape with a soft mallet and a sand bag, and it would never need to be painted. In the pictures, there are no real creases or significant dents. and it is just basically a curved surface.

 

A Dent Shop might be able to pull most of it out. I would go that route first and if it still bothers you find a bodyman that will do it on the side. Or just look for a good Bodyman that works out of the house.

 

I get what you’re feeling OP and yes to paintless dent repair. Your local new car dealers can give you the names of who they use to fix the door dings that occur on their lots. Fender flair is another story.

 

Sadly, it’s nearly impossible for us to use our tacos for what they are meant to be used for and keep them in perfect condition. Get an estimate from a good body shop. Calculate the number of days working at your own job it would take to pay for the repair. Then ask yourself, “Am I willing to trade four days’ pay for this dent to be gone?” Try not to worry about what anyone else thinks. Only you know what’s right for you.

 

For most body shops, it will be cheaper to replace the fender than to beat it out. Get it sprayed with colormatched Line-X Ultra so you don't have to worry about paint matching

 

We are not all haters, and bondo is a horrible idea. PDR can probably get 99% of that out and what it doesn’t, the flair will probably hide. Either that or a new fender (paint match will an issue). I park in BFE so I don’t get dings and I am one of the most careful people with OTHER PEOPLE’S CARS, BUT at the end of the day, it really is a truck.

I had a lady years back not paying attention back into my cobra. She dented the rear quarter panel and scratched the rear bumper. I took it to my buddy who is honestly one of the best PDR guys I have ever seen and I got him to pull the dent and told him I was gonna have the bumper painted. He told me I was crazy and that there were bigger things to worry about. He showed me how to fill the scratch and paint it with a paint pen. You couldn’t see it unless I pointed it out and I got a $1500 check.

point is....truck is going to get more dings and dents as it lives it’s life. End of the day it is a thing. Obsessing over it has it owning you. Just my 2 cents, but I am old

 

Paintless dent repair is pretty amazing. Based upon past experience, I'd bet then can fix that for a couple hun or less. I'd fix it. I don't do door dings and dents.

 

The RA was just an example of how cheap they sell.

Here, you can get one under $100, with free shipping!

https://tinyurl.com/yxtjd2mr

 

@eon_blue can attest to the quality of the cheap reproduction fenders. They don’t fit quite right.

 

Yeah the one I got was about $60 and the gap between the fender and the hood is wider than it should be, and not flush against the door either.

If I were to do an aftermarket one again I'd get a CAPA certified one

 

So they fit as well as $400 fiberglass fenders?

 

Cut the wheel wells out, mount 44’s on it.

 

Haven't tried those but I wouldn't be surprised lol. CAPA certified aftermarket ones though are used by body shops when OEM isn't available or affordable, so they'll likely fit better

The only CAPA one I could find at the time was thru through rockauto and they don't ship certain items to CA because cancer or something.

I intend to replace mine one of these days if I find a good used one in the right color but radiant red isn't the most common

 

Find a really good PDR guy it can be done.