We had a pretty good hail storm in Colorado and the estimate is that I have $11k worth of damage. The entire drivers side needs to be re-skinned as well as the roof needs to be replaced. Since there are so many claims in my area the insurance company will send me a check for the total less my deductible ($500).

I have a lot of deductibles coming into play so I would like to see if I can save some $$$ here and I also would like to take this advantage to replace the bed with a flat bed.

Anybody got advice on trying to do this cheaper?

 

Well you could try a body shop that does custom work. lower over head lower price. Plus if you don't mind a little filler instead of new skins. That is the way to go an if you find the right place that will wet sand an buff it well it would look better than new with no orange peel. It would prob still come in around $8,000. Ask some guys with musle cars or hotrods they will know where to send you. Good luck

 

Paint the entire thing to resemble a giant golf ball?

 

You should be able to get a cheap flat bed for under $2k.

 

Don't dimples make it more aerodynamic?

 

Post a picture. I've never seen $11k worth of hail. I'm not doubting you but your truck must be cratered like the moon. There was a recent hail storm in central Arkansas and lots of dealers have hail discounts but the biggest one I've seen is $4k.

 

no good picture of truck damage but here is my camper



Also I had 3 estimates done yesterday for 3 different cars at 3 different locations and different companies

06 Dodge Ram - $11k
0? Infinity G35x - $11k
04 Honda Element - $10.5k

My trailer



All the green stuff are leaves

 

Yea u will need new skins 4 sure. Thats pretty bad. Was the the hail the size of a softball?

 

golf ball and marble size
a few baseballs for good measure

 

probably the worst I've ever seen...looks like you have a bit of wind to go with that as the threes look stripped...course it could also have been the hail.

 

When we had a hail storm (tennis ball size) a few years ago, the PDR guys were crawling out of the woodwork in a few days. It looks like you had a pretty bad storm and probably have too much damage for it (PDR) but it is something you could look into if you have to save some money. I don't know what the insurance is like in Colorado, but here on the Gulf Coast, (deductible=2% of insured value is the best they will do but they make you increase the deductible so that you can afford the premium) the deductible for the damages done to my house was almost as much as the cost to reroof it. You couple that with the deductibles for 3 vehicles and another for my RV and believe me I can feel your pain. Good luck to you!

 

what about those repair guys who do dentless repairs. a lot of hot weather will pop some of them out. mine had 4k worth of damage but that included needing a windshield. bought real cheap because of that, all i replaced was the windshield

 

MAN...Get new Skins and get the flat bed you are wanting........Do not go cheap on your truck......NO BONDO at all

 

Dang, that was a hail of a storm!

 

Here is my plan

- Replace bed with Alumline flatbed
- Replace hood with SRT hood
- Re skin driver side
- PDR the rest
- probably leave the roof alone (you can't see up there anyway
- convert old bed into trailer
- paint
- replace broke mirrors
- new wheel center caps

I have no idea what this is going to cost but i have $10.5k to work with