Tried a stud welder on heavy gauge steel, pulled a dent AND a chunk of my floor pan

Last Tuesday I had a 2012 F-150 with a dent right on the rocker seam, figured I'd skip the drill holes and use the stud welder for once. Got the slide hammer going and the stud held fine, but the sheet metal around it tore clean out, left a hole the size of a half dollar. Turns out that area had been bondo'd over twice before, so the steel underneath was paper thin. My mentor walked over, laughed, and said 'that's why we test with a magnet first, kid'. Anyone else ever trust a panel and end up making more work?

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fiona_hunt7121d ago

Oh man, that hurts just reading it! I did basically the same thing on an old Chevy door once, thought I was being clever avoiding the drill, and the whole skin just crinkled up like tin foil around the stud. The magnet trick is real though, I learned it the hard way too after pulling a chunk that had like three layers of filler and rust underneath. Worst part is when you're standing there holding the slide hammer and you already know you're gonna be cutting and welding for the next two hours on a "quick" job. You're not the only one who's turned a small dent into a floor pan project, trust me.