I have a DMax ute and recently took it to a panelbeater to see how much it would cost to have a dent taken out of the tailgate. The dent was a "push-in" type, which had not damaged the paint and it didn't have sharp creases in the dent.
He told me one of his guys would do it at the workshop for a couple of cartons or I could do a better job myself !!
That involved getting a soccer ball and removing most of the air using a normal ball inflator needle valve. I then un-screwed the inside of the tail gate panel and pushed the deflated ball with the needle valve in it and attached to my 12v air pump hose.
Once I had it into the correct position behind the dent, I turned on the pump and watched the dent pop out. Then I took off the pump hose and just squeezed enough air out of the ball to pull it out
Took me about 30 minutes for the whole job and saved me 2 cartons of beer.
And no soccer balls were harmed in this work - it still have a very usable soccer ball :)
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Cheers Bruce
The amazing things you see when nomading Australia
youre right Gundog - the metal skins are bloody thin. I got the wife to stand by the pump to switch it off. The dent popped out within seconds - had I mucked round going to the pump to turn it off, it may have pushed the dent outwards.
I don't know how successful this would be on a dent with a "sharp" edge on it, but for the sake of a soccer ball, worth a try. Mine dent was actually on a one end of the tail gate and on the DMax it kinda curves and is on a different depth to the rest of the gate
Funny part was the "metal" DMax chrome badge was where the dent was and it was pushed in as well. It straightened out with the soccer ball and didn't fall off.
Only my wife and I know the dent was there now - you can tell when the sun shines on it at the right angle or you carefully run your hand over it, but anyone else looking at the tailgate wouldn't know
A plug for the panel beater who told me how to do this if youre in Perth - Universal Paint and Panel, near Joondalup. All our family use them for panel and paint work. The co-owner, Scott, is a great guy and really helpful.
My son just had a panel job done last week(he got shunted up the rear in his ute by someone busy on their mobile phone and couldn't stop at the red traffic lights) done by these guys. They arranged a rental car to be at their work shop (the insurance company hadn't offered this) when he dropped his ute off and then left the rental there when his panel work was finished at no cost). He had a few previous paint scratches - the shopping centre carpark syndrome banging their doors into your vehicle - which they repainted for one carton
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Cheers Bruce
The amazing things you see when nomading Australia
Bruce and Bev hi ,you have made one big mistake, you said only you and your wife know about this dent you have told all of Australia putting that on here, (only joking folks) great idea with the soccer ball cheers.
The dent above the Falcon name badge might pop out, but don't know about the other one. The rear of the vehicle is so badly damaged though, I guess the worst you can do is destroy a soccer ball lol
Why are the rego plates off it?? Been removed by the police?
Lance - now you just gotta work out which DMax towing some sort of RV in Australia is my one LOL................
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Cheers Bruce
The amazing things you see when nomading Australia
The dent above the Falcon name badge might pop out, but don't know about the other one. The rear of the vehicle is so badly damaged though, I guess the worst you can do is destroy a soccer ball lol
Why are the rego plates off it?? Been removed by the police?
Lance - now you just gotta work out which DMax towing some sort of RV in Australia is my one LOL................
Ha ha, it was bought, by an acquaintance, unlicensed for $500 from some 'horsey' people who were pretty rough & careless connecting horse floats. Maybe it was the kid's job.
A new bumper & pop the boot dent it will be like a new one!
We'll be off in our new D-Max in 2 weeks as well, see ya out there.
Hey Neil. We're leaving from Yanchep in about 2-3 weeks and heading south to Esparance then over to SA. Wife wants to go to Coober Peedy - which is a long drag north for what is now very touristy apparently, then we head back down the same road and kinda follow the coast round and then head up through VIC, NSW and if Ive got it right with the navigation, QLD. Well that's the general plan....we may stop and pick up some work along the way if we find any.
May see you out there:)
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Cheers Bruce
The amazing things you see when nomading Australia
Sounds good Bruce, if you've not been to Coober Pedy before then it is well worth the visit. To avoid going back down the same road you could, from QLD go to Darwin then down the middle & see Coober Pedy then on the way through.
Are you going through Adelaide? I recommend going from Pt Augusta via Horrocks Pass to Wilmington then south through Clare Valley. It is a much prettier drive as you may know.
<edit> whoa! I looked on here to see if I had a response to this post & it wasn't there??? Figured I must have stuffed up somehow & clicked Reply and, lo & behold there is my unfinished message waiting for me to finish it. So, here it is, a few days late.<>
