Help! Dent in the lift gate
05-21-2008, 09:22 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: 03-30-2008
Location: New Salem ND
Posts: 2
Help! Dent in the lift gate
Hello everyone
I was in Sams Club parking lot on a very windy day (50 plus MPH).
I parked carefully, out of the way of door bangers, and low and
behold 2 shopping carts hit the back of my ss and put a big dent
in the lift gate.
To make a long and sad story short, Sams Club said they wouldn't
take responsibilty for it even tho the security cams showed the
mishap. The repair shops want to replace the whole door and
repaint it or some other crap. My insurance company said it was
a collision and I have a thousand deductable (ouch!)
All I want to do is pop it out, but I need to know how to take the
rear inside cover off so I can get at the dent from the inside.
If there is anybody out there that can help me out, I sure would
appreciate it.
Thanks in advance
I was in Sams Club parking lot on a very windy day (50 plus MPH).
I parked carefully, out of the way of door bangers, and low and
behold 2 shopping carts hit the back of my ss and put a big dent
in the lift gate.
To make a long and sad story short, Sams Club said they wouldn't
take responsibilty for it even tho the security cams showed the
mishap. The repair shops want to replace the whole door and
repaint it or some other crap. My insurance company said it was
a collision and I have a thousand deductable (ouch!)
All I want to do is pop it out, but I need to know how to take the
rear inside cover off so I can get at the dent from the inside.
If there is anybody out there that can help me out, I sure would
appreciate it.
Thanks in advance
05-21-2008, 09:25 PM
#2
Senior Member
Join Date: 01-02-2008
Location: Nashville, TN
Posts: 1,529
Paintless dent removal services can do some pretty amazing things these days. I think I would check into one of those and see what they could do. As long as the paint isn't compromised, that is. I think that would be my next step. A whole lot less expensive than a full-on body shop.
05-21-2008, 10:33 PM
#3
Senior Member
Join Date: 09-06-2006
Location: St. Louis, MO
Posts: 1,222
Paintless dent removal services can do some pretty amazing things these days. I think I would check into one of those and see what they could do. As long as the paint isn't compromised, that is. I think that would be my next step. A whole lot less expensive than a full-on body shop.
I had the exact same identical incident occured to my "other vehicle" Ford Pickup a couple months ago...
I parked a million miles from anyone and when I came out of the store and sat in my truck, a massive wind blew a shopping cart over 50 feet away into the side of my truck leaving a very deep golf ball sized dent in the center of my door.
Stopped by a guy at a paintless dent repair facility and for $75 and 30 minutes later, you would never know there was ever a dent there...
I highly recommend a reliable paintless dent facility. Ask around people at work or around town and I'm sure you'll find some good referrals for a good shop in your town.
Good luck...
05-22-2008, 11:10 AM
#5
Senior Member
Join Date: 05-17-2008
Location: Indiana
Posts: 350
Ditto on the paintless dent dudes
I think you will very pleased at what they can do for you.
I had a dent in the dogleg of the cab of a '94 Silverado i had (dogleg is no pun, the dent came from a poor pooch that was wandering in the road while i was whiteknuckling in a dense fog.White dog/thick white fog , doing 15mph inna 55mph zone. Poor fella never had a chance
)
My body guy used heat/cold on it, and i watched it "pop" back into place, w/ no signs of previous damage.
I think you will very pleased at what they can do for you.
I had a dent in the dogleg of the cab of a '94 Silverado i had (dogleg is no pun, the dent came from a poor pooch that was wandering in the road while i was whiteknuckling in a dense fog.White dog/thick white fog , doing 15mph inna 55mph zone. Poor fella never had a chance
)My body guy used heat/cold on it, and i watched it "pop" back into place, w/ no signs of previous damage.
05-22-2008, 11:20 AM
#6
Senior Member
Join Date: 07-17-2006
Location: Dallas, GA
Posts: 6,050
05-22-2008, 11:48 AM
#7
Senior Member
Join Date: 04-03-2008
Location: A state of L N F Performance
Posts: 1,434
Paintless dent removal can take care of it and you will never know you had a dent. I have a friend in the business and he can do some amazing things.
You should not have to replace the gate, or paint anything. I have personally seen a PDR tech remove some rather large dents from a fender due to a hit and run that left the fender in poor shape. After about an hour or so of work, you would never know the fender was ever damaged. Take it to a PDR place and stay away from the body shop for this one.
You should not have to replace the gate, or paint anything. I have personally seen a PDR tech remove some rather large dents from a fender due to a hit and run that left the fender in poor shape. After about an hour or so of work, you would never know the fender was ever damaged. Take it to a PDR place and stay away from the body shop for this one.
05-22-2008, 12:38 PM
#8
Senior Member
Join Date: 04-10-2006
Location: Simi Valley, CA
Posts: 195
These PDR guys can really save you $$. To give you an indication of how widely they are accepted....GM has given their blessing in alot of instances to use these guys rather than grind, straighten, bondo and paint. Here at the Dealership we have a guy that comes around once a week.
05-22-2008, 08:23 PM
#9
Senior Member
Join Date: 01-28-2008
Location: INDIANA
Posts: 355
Sorry for you misfortune.
However it reminds me to warn people to ONLY close the lift gate by the bottom, and never by the middle, where the unlatch is. The metal on the liftgate is very thin, and the rental I had for a while had all four corners of the area around the license plate bent in, from people pushing there to close the liftgate.
However it reminds me to warn people to ONLY close the lift gate by the bottom, and never by the middle, where the unlatch is. The metal on the liftgate is very thin, and the rental I had for a while had all four corners of the area around the license plate bent in, from people pushing there to close the liftgate.
05-22-2008, 09:27 PM
#10
Senior Member
Join Date: 04-12-2008
Location: Cedarburg, WI
Posts: 527
Ouch!! 
Sorry to hear about that Raps... I know that feeling, not with this SS yet (knock on wood), but a new Pontiac T/A I had when an old guy slammed into me in the parking lot... I couldn't believe it!
I hope the paintless dent removal works for you. It worked great on my Tahoe door when a kid chucked a huge black walnut against it. The dent was at least 1/4" deep and they pulled it right out!
Sorry to hear about that Raps... I know that feeling, not with this SS yet (knock on wood), but a new Pontiac T/A I had when an old guy slammed into me in the parking lot... I couldn't believe it! I hope the paintless dent removal works for you. It worked great on my Tahoe door when a kid chucked a huge black walnut against it. The dent was at least 1/4" deep and they pulled it right out!
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