Saw a 2012 F-150 come back to life after 3 hours with a stud welder and slide hammer

The owner said it got hit in a parking lot in Tulsa six months ago and the quarter panel looked like a crumpled soda can, but after pulling the dents and blending the paint you'd never know it was ever touched, has anyone else had good luck with stud welders on older Ford body lines?

3 comments

3 Comments

burns.jenny1mo ago

Did you catch that one YouTube channel where a guy fixed a 2011 F-150 with a stud welder that had similar thin metal issues? I read somewhere that he used a heat gun on the panel first to relax the steel before pulling, and it saved the body lines from getting wavy. Might be worth trying if you ever have to deal with that high-strength stuff, cause once it's stretched it's a pain to fix right.

patricia5581mo ago

Have you thought about how the stud welder might affect the metal on those older Fords? See, the 2012 models have that thinner high-strength steel in some panels, and when you pull dents with a slide hammer, you risk stretching the metal too much. I remember a buddy of mine worked on a 2010 F-150 and ended up with a wavy spot that took forever to fill. You gotta be real careful not to overdo it on those factory body lines or they'll look off after paint.

hannah_perry1mo ago

@patricia558 That thin steel is like modern life, everything's just a little too fragile these days.