Everyone says to strip the whole panel for a dent, but I tried something different on a 2017 F-150 bedside

Had a deep crease right at the body line, maybe 8 inches long. Instead of pulling the whole bed apart, I drilled a tiny access hole behind the tail light and used a slide hammer with a custom bent tip. Got 95% of it out, then skimmed with filler. Saved about 3 hours of labor. Anyone else ever try a small access repair when the book says to go full teardown?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_karen4d ago

Drilled a small hole in the inner structure behind the marker light on a Silverado once for the same thing. The key is bending the tip of your pull rod just right to catch the back of that crease. A little heat from a torch on the high spots before you pull helps a ton, too.

finleymiller4d ago

Honestly I saw a video where a guy did almost the same thing on a Tacoma. He used a long pry bar through the tail light hole instead of drilling. The big thing he talked about was making sure you seal that access hole up real good after, or you'll get water in there and rust it out from the inside. Your method with the bent tip sounds smarter for getting right on the crease though.