I have a new 2010 Ram 1500 quad 4x4 w/ 5.7 hemi mds, in pearl coat black exterior. Last weekend someone put a pretty large dent in my rear side panel (see pics attached) - One body shop said best repair would be cut off the damaged panel completely, weld in a brand new one. Other body shop said no, its better to drill, pull dent out, fill, sand & paint it. They said you can never get a new panel welded in as perfectly as it came from factory, plus rustproofing issues, etc etc. What IS the best way to insist this body repair be done? I wanted to keep this truck for quite a long time & baby it. But now I am really depressed about this whole mess & this guy whacking my bedside. Damn. Any advice on absolute best way to repair this? Thanks very much.

 

Buy a new bed.

 

I can only imagine how you feel. However, a good body shop should be able to fix that up and you will never know it happened.

I am not in the bump business so others will have more insight as to how it can be repaired, I'm just here to say when its done, you wont even know it's been repaired!

 

I had a similar dent on the passenger bedside. It was repaired under insurance for about $1600.00. (a friend backed into my truck while camping). They removed the entire panel and replaced it. Parts came to about $415.00, labor paint and tax ate up the rest. I would not let someone pull something that bad out, I was worried it would never be right. My truck is a 2010 and same color. On a bright note, they had my truck for a week and it came back looking as good as new. I can't tell it was ever repaired, paint looks exactly the same. And I'm pretty **** about my vehicles. Good luck!

 

Cut amd weld in a new piece.Done everday and if done correctly rust is not a issue.As far as fit you'll never know it.

 

they should etch the welding and grinding early on so it doesn't rust. all bare metal should be prepped and properly treated before prime and paint, I would let them fix it as long as they guarantee it will be like new or they put a new panel on.

 

that sucks, good luck buddy.

 

Seen more than a few pulled/sanded and painted by decent body shops and I could never tell the thing was ever dented. But if some had hit me, I'd be jumpin' up and down for their insurance to be paying for an entire new side panel!!!

 

I think remove and replace or repair comes down to how good the body shop is. I've seen it done both ways and, if done correctly, you won't be able to tell the difference.

The bigger problem might be getting the insurance company to pay for it as they will be looking for the cheapest of the two.

 

Speaking as a body shop manager and auto painter for 20yrs, there is no way I would replace the bedside for that repair... Now don’t get me wrong there is a time where replacing the outer panel is the best way, and a skilled tech would have no problem making it perfect, pre accident condition. But in your case a repair is the best way. Stay away from any shop that states there going to drill a hole in the bedside to pull it out, which is body work from 25yrs ago. Today’s high end shop will have the correct tools to repair that dent. Our shop would grind all the paint off the damaged area, use a tool that that has a tip on the end of a slide hammer, you pull the trigger, weld the tip on the bare metal and use the slide hammer to pull the dent while metal hammering the outside edges of the dent. Twist the tool when done with that pull and the tip releases with no hole or damage to the panel. Repeat this process until the dent is pulled out completely. This approach does 2 things at the same time; it pulls the dent AND shrinks the metal at the same time. If you just pull the dent out or hammer it out from the back side you end up with more metal then there was before because the metal stretches when the dent is formed. After pulling and hammering the dent out, you hammer and dolly it straight, file it smooth and it ready for primer with little or no filler. That repair is about 12hrs. Also the shop should remove the bed from the truck for the repair, pull the gate, tail lamp and wheel liner, replace mud guard if need be ( looks like it has a scrape in the 2nd pic )
Base and clear the side, polish and reassemble.