I never really thought about hail damage until i got the airstream. The SOB's do pretty well i would guess. These pictures just make me sick to my stomach.
Sorry this happened. Maybe they will miraculously pop out on a hot day!
From what I've seen some of the smaller dents will fade slightly, but the larger ones.....
Someone just took a 19 footer to JC last year. I think it was about $10k to $12k to repair. Sorry to hear about the damage. I too am always concerned when a bad storm is on it's way cause it doesn't take much to make it look like a baseball bat hit it.....
How big was the hail? Mine survived pea sized hail unscathed, but anything larger it would not have been pretty.
__________________
Computers manufactured by companies such as IBM, Compaq and millions of others are by far the most popular with about 70 million machines in use worldwide. Macintosh fans note that cockroaches are far more numerous than humans and that numbers alone do not denote a higher life form. -NY Times 11/91
I empathize with you - experienced almost same type damage in April 2006 - hail was over 3" diameter. I had several suggestions given to me and will pass on the one that worked.
The larger dents in the corner curves will possibly pop back out if can apply pressure from inside the unit. I had two rather large dents similar to yours and neither is noticeable, however, the smaller dents remain.
Someone told me to look at those as dents of character, (kinda hard to swallow) however, I must say, it's been three years and although I would rather be dent free, it doesn't bother me as much now.
Hope this will help some.
Try a google search in your area. It can't hurt to ask around.
__________________ "Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather, to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting " Holy sh*t...what a ride!"
I say try the suction cup on the big one.. it might just pop out... and look a bit better than before.... nothing to loose ...
Marc
I saw the suction cup method demonstrated at one of my local unit's rally several weeks ago ~ on a basketball size dent in the upper rightfront curved panel. The trailer was 10+ years old and had been all over the US, Canada & Mexico, meaning it had well used and more than paid for itself in pleasure & joys, but at the same time had not been "baby'ed (sp?). The suction tool removed something like 98% of the dent. You had to really look, maybe even want to see something, to see any evidence of hail damage. Same is true on an AS that had been backed into a tree limb. The tool removed about the same percentage of damage, and again - one would have to be looking to see there had ever been any damage. Both owners had been given "estimates" by AS dealers & insurance companies (read that as getting rudely screwed by both parties). In both cases, I think the owners took the money and smiled all the way to the bank.
The long & short? Unless you are really concerned with the perfect / factory (?) unblemished look ~ I strongly suggest those with hail damage find a local auto repair shop with a tech trained to use the suction cup method of dent repair.
Please do let us all know how your damage gets resolved.
Thanks to all for your comments. Concerning the "totalled" comment. On paper it was totalled but the insurance people reduced the damage estimate to 15K and we settled for that amount. I kept the Bambi and it is no listed as totalled. The funny thing is that I am still insured for the same amount against loss of 29K. I asked what if there were another hail storm and the agent said, you are covered. Go figure. I will talk to the Dent Doctor on Monday! Thanks again! Off to the camp ground after work today!!
I have had some good results and poor results using the paintless dent removal technique. A tree blew over onto my Airstream and the previous owner replaced the most seriously damaged panels but not one of the minor damage panels (front right corner above the stone guard). I was able to pull out about 90% of that dent using the Ding King dent removal tool.
This tool glues a puller to the panel and then you pull out the dent using a pulling tool supplied in the kit. The glue is a hot melt plastic adhesive that is easy to apply and remove.
I tired the same tool on some recent hail damage and got nothing for my efforts.
I have also tried using the freezing cold spray on the hail dents with no results,
I have not tried rubbing with dry ice method yet but it will be next. My local airstream dealer wants more that $1000 per panel to replace them so I am willing to try these remedies before I do that.
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