What's Included In Harbor Freight's Dent Puller Kit & How Does It Work?

Nothing tarnishes a car's appearance like dings, dents, and scratches. Whether these blemishes are caused by an inconsiderate motorist in the grocery store parking lot or our own errors, it's never enjoyable to notice body damage. Fortunately, not all body damage has to be permanent or extremely expensive to remove. While large scratches and dents may require professional attention, it's often possible to fix small dents on your own using a dent puller or dent repair kit, like the ones sold at Harbor Freight. If you're in the market for a dent repair kit, the budget-themed store is a great place to check. It stocks various dent pullers and repair sets ranging in price from under $20 to over $300. One kit that you may want to consider is the Maddox Deluxe Paintless Dent Repair Kit. 

The Maddox set costs $139.99 normally, but Inside Track Club members can currently snag it for $99.99. It appears to be a relatively new product on the Harbor Freight website, as there are no user reviews yet. The kit is designed for paintless dent repair (PDR), which involves fixing minor dings and dents without extensive bodywork and repainting. It includes a hot glue gun, 24 pull tabs in various sizes, one squeeze puller, one slide hammer, one T-handle, a knock-down tool, 15 glue sticks, a surface cleaning solution, a scraper tool, and a plastic storage case. If you're wondering how to use all that stuff to remove dents, don't worry. We'll cover that, too. Let's dive in and check it out.

The great thing about PDR is that it's often more straightforward and less labor-intensive than more traditional forms of large-scale bodywork. The Maddox set includes a few different tools to remove small, minor dents. The product description does not provide a size range of dents on which the tool can be used but does come with various pull tabs sized 1.2 inches to 1.9 inches. You also cannot use the set on aluminum body panels. Apart from those conditions, the kit should handle most small dents up to around the size of a golf ball.

When you're ready to use it, the first step is to turn on the hot glue gun and allow it to warm up for about 15 minutes. Then, use the included cleaning solution with a rag or towel to clean the dent's surface. Find a pull tab roughly the same size as the dent, glue it to the middle of the dent, and hold it in place for 10 seconds until it dries.

From that point, you can decide which tool to use. The slide hammer will provide a solid amount of force and leverage and may be the best choice for larger dents, while the lever puller is ideal for smaller and shallower dents that don't require as much force to pop out. The T-handle is also a good choice for smaller dents where you can't fit the lever puller. To use one of these tools, simply attach it to the pull tab and pull backward or use the lever to slowly pop out the dent. Once the dent is removed, you can use the included knockdown tools to smooth out any other blemishes. Finally, use the scraper to remove the pull tab and any glue residue.