I thought the truck outlasted the storm,, but there in my aluminum hood were a bunch of tiney dents,, just enough to **** me off when the rain stopped today. Has anyone gone through this experience before, did you get an aftermarkethood which insurance paid for or did you have to go stock according to your insurance company,,, also there is a dent on the tailgate of my truck, and who knows where else. I'm looking to see where my options are at this point, and of course where there is a good body shop in the detroit area.

Thanks for any help, gonna need some, what a crappy day.

~Toast

 

hot summer sun plus dry ice = no dents

well, at least thats what i've heard. heck, buy a new hood with the insurance money.

 

Toast, don't you have a shaker hood waiting to be painted?

I got lucky. I was driving home through that stuff, but didnt encounter any hail. Did have some flooding in the basement, but nothing major. A mile south of me, my mom's neighborhood looks like a war zone. Unreal.

I think clonetek is right. I've heard of people using that method to remove dents.

 

Look for a shop that does paintless dent repair. We have 2 guys that rent a bay from me and they do a superb job removing hail damage. I was a non-believe until I saw them in action. I would rather have paintless repair over any "paintjob".

 

hmmm,,, but you are in texas??? I am considering looking into a new hood if the claims adjuster tells me I need a new one or whatever they decide to do with it. You are right, I did have a shaker hood waiting to be painted, however I sold it to another Lighitning owner at same cost minus shipping who comes into my shop from time to time. I dont know why,,, just wasn't right when i looked at the hood.


Hmmm,,, dry ice sounds promising but i would be too scared to try that myself, shakey hands for body work ya know.

Oh yeah,, fog light shattered due to heat differences while driving through larg flooding. Those fog lights have pissed me off from day one ya know.

$50 deductable,,, hmmmm,,, wonder if it would be cheaper just to have someone paintless fix it or not.

Definately need to get it taken care of though, it sucks two days ago truck had 8 coats of zaino on it and looked flawless,, now after all that hard work i get this,,

~Toast

 

Toast

If you want my opinion, try to have the damage fixed other than painting/replacing the hood. You might be really dissappointed with the result.

 

I beleive if i needed to get the hood replaced I'd probably go aftermarket there,,, but i do love the aluminum hoods we have though, I'd definately prefer to have the damage just fixed, but either way would be ok in the end when I think about it.

~Toast

 

Toast,

I hate that happened, it sucks!

Make sure to look it over real good, check the top from all angles and the tops of the fenders too. Look for scratches on your headlight covers, tail lights, and above the front wheel openings where the fenders flare out. If you see ANYTHING, point it out to the insurance adjuster and ask what he would do if it was his truck (they love that). If he says he wouldn't worry about this or that, raise hell and tell him that you take good care of your vehicles and expect your insurance company to take care of you.

Most of the time they will pay for a new hood to be installed. It's cheaper to replace than fix if it has a lot of dents. If there is not enough dents in the hood there is the old rag covered ball peen hammer trick.

Good luck,

Tim

 

Thanks chickenears,,,means alot there,
and to think,, happened to a silver L too they'll probably use the ball pean hammer or dry ice on the tailgate I would think,, there is only one small ding on the tailgate, but i'll make sure I wash down the truck and look at it in the sun to check for everything. Thanks for the advice.

~Toast

 

If you didn't live so dang far away, I have a perfect silver hood sitting in my garage collecting dust.

 

Yes, I am in West Texas, and fixing the damage is the way to go unless you want an aftermarket hood. I have seen some extreme hail damaged vehicles since March. We have had two major hail storms since then. One of my customers was given 8K for hail damage, and my GF collected 2K. The hail dent guys will do it for half your insurance check most of the time, unless it there are massive dents all over the place.

 

My Saturn was dented to hail after a hail storm when I lived in Texas. The adjuster evaluated my car and they cut me a check to have it repaired. I could of done whatever I wanted with the money. They never contacted me or needed to see the car again. I use USAA. I actually used the money to pay off a couple of bills. My Saturn which is my beater still has the scars to remind me.

 

Although I only pay 80 a month for insurance, I have the unfortunate/fortunate deal of having my insurance adjusters dealing directly with the truck,,, in other words, no money, no fix unless adjuster says so.

Chickenears,, you make me proud to have a silver L, I wonder if shipping wouldn't be so much a big deal, actually planning a trip to socarolina this year, I may have to see how the big daddy silver L is doing. Its funny how picky i've become about my L, a few weeks ago I had a shaker hood ready to be painted, now i have one aluminum dented hood. I'll tell you what though, the aluminum hood has grown on me, i'm starting to actually really enjoy its apearance, maybe even more so with an ss wiper cowl. I'm really aching for an ss hood scoop style hoop for the L, i've kept in touch with every single hood thread out there and nothing I enjoy so far. I am not a chevy lover, but i really love the hoods on the new ss's that come out ( hood scoop area mostly)

Well, i'm just rambling now, but chickenears, if it came down to it, i'd be honered to have a hood which once fit the chicken.,

~Toast