Rant: A guy at a parts store in Toledo told me my dent puller method was wrong
I used to always use a slide hammer on quarter panels, thinking it was the fastest way. This older guy, Frank, saw me buying a new one and said, 'Kid, you're just stretching the metal and making more filler work for yourself.' He showed me how he uses a low-heat spot welder with a pull tab system, which I tried on a 2018 Civic last week. It took a bit longer to set up, but the metal came back so much cleaner. Anyone else switch from slide hammers to something else for bigger dents?
Man, Frank's totally right. Slide hammers are brutal on thin modern sheet metal. I learned the hard way on a Ford door, ended up with a wavy mess that needed way too much mud. That spot welder method is a game changer for bigger stuff, it pulls from multiple points so it doesn't distort. Still keep my slide hammer for little stuff behind a trim panel, but for a quarter panel? Never again.