Finds: Inflatable Dent Remover
By Chuck Cage
Once when I was 16, I borrowed my Dad’s Camaro. I made it all the way to the mall and almost all the way home afterward before I got a little throttle-happy in a turn. I almost pulled it out, but didn’t and ended up almost missing a signpost, instead tapping a little protrusion from it just enough to put an oilcan-style dent in the passenger door.
Crouching in the driveway, I was sure there was some way to get the dent out without giving up my allowance for life. Then Dad walked up. I expected him to light me up — I certainly would if I’d been him — but instead he stood quietly for about 10 minutes just staring at the dent. Finally he reached out past me and lightly tapped just to the right of the dent… and it popped out, as if it’d never been there.
Then he lit me up.
If I’d have had something like this — and a couple of hours before he got home — I bet I could’ve knocked that dent out myself.
This device looks like a blood pressure cuff with a square (and a round) “pillow” replacing the cuff. Ideally you’d remove whatever interior panels you need to in order to get at the inside of the body, then you’d shove this sucker in there and pump it up to “pop’” the dent out from the inside.
If you’ve creased the metal, forget it. But I’ve seen a number of large dents that the paintless guys won’t touch — most of them guarantee their work or it’s free, which gives them little option to take the difficult ones – which I suspect (given my Dad’s patience instead of mine) could be removed, especially with a tool like this.
And for what it’s worth, I eventually got a lot throttle happy in the Camaro and ended up running it through some farm fencing. It’s a great story, but if you want to hear it you’re going to have to corner me at a convention or something and ply me with expensive drinks. Try it. It works.
I can’t find a corporate site for Lock Technology easily, but the Froogle search below turns up tons and tons of suppliers with pricing starting around $60 or so.
Street Pricing: Lock Technology 2 Pc. Inflatable Dent Remover [Froogle]
September 12th, 2006 at 2:31 pm
we dent guys actually use those pillows to wedge open laminated glass windows from the door so we can get a REAL tool in to fix dents.
the only way this ‘tool’ would fix a dent, would be if that dent is not being held by any glues or bodylines. and a dent that is a large and shallow, covering a big surface area that is not sharp.
large dents have a tendency to ‘Pop’, this pillow would eliminate any ‘push’ marks as its surface area is wide and smooth compared to a pointed tip tool.
September 12th, 2006 at 9:19 pm
I like to get ahold of a pair of them but we are not allowed to use our manager’s equpiment. He uses them as a pillow in the “big” truck
September 16th, 2006 at 6:41 am
These are also useful for gently widening door openings so you can sneak an unlocking device inside, which is why they’re banned in many locales as burglary tools. Just so ya know.
April 22nd, 2007 at 11:51 am
I seriously doubt this ‘tool’ would actually take out a dent. As someone who has tried to remove dents from car doors & fenders before, it is always harder than it looks. If you want to try it you will probably find it in the discount bin, next to the suction cup dent puller for a lot less than the 60.00 it is selling for now.
September 12th, 2007 at 6:30 pm
[...] I shared a great story about wrecking my dad’s Camaro, leading up to telling reader how this inflatable dent remover might have saved my teenage life. [...]