How to Use an Auto Body Hammer and Dolly

There really is nothing too difficult about using an auto body hammer and dolly. There are two ways of using a hammer and dolly: one is the hammer on dolly technique, and the other is the hammer off dolly technique. Each technique serves a different purpose. The first thing that you need to think about when using a hammer or dolly is the gauge of the sheet metal. The heavier the sheet metal, the bigger the body dolly that you'll need to use. With newer cars you can use a lighter body dolly to work the metal, because of the thinner sheet metal.

The first technique that we'll discuss is the hammer on dolly style. This technique is just what the name suggests: you put the body dolly right behind the affected area on the sheet metal, and hit the hammer directly on the dolly. Be sure to hit the sheet metal lightly, because if you don't you'll stress the sheet metal even more and if you hit the sheet metal too hard you will stretch it out. If you hit the sheet metal too hard you'll have to learn a whole new technique to fix that mistake, so don't get too rambunctious as you hit the dolly, a little bit of finesse will save you a lot of time in the end.

After giving the affected area a few light taps with the hammer, you should run your hand over the area that you just repaired to see if it feels flat now. If it needs more work, you just need to keep using light hammer hits, and a lot of finesse to get the job done right. This process may take a while, but it will always work if you do it right. Don't forget that there is an art to feeling the metal and knowing when it feels right, so once you get the art of feeling your work area down to a science, all you have to do is get the hammer and dolly figured out.

The next way to use an auto body hammer and dolly is called the hammer off dolly technique. To use this technique the hammer should never hit the surface of the dolly. Instead, you hit the area around the affected area about a half inch in front of the body dolly. The force of the hammer is still transferred to the dolly, but as a result of the hammer being off of the dolly it moves the metal in a different way. Instead, the dolly will push the metal in a direction opposite of the hammer and if the metal is flat and you use hammer off dolly technique, it will push the metal in the shape of an "S."

Also, when using the hammer off dolly technique, you should hit the high spot that sits adjacent to the low spot. Always feel for the high and low spots so you know where to hit the sheet metal when using the dolly to back up the low spot in the sheet metal. Once the low spot is pushed back in to place, the high spot should be gone and if not you may need to use a bit more of the hammer on dolly technique to get it right. After you do this it should be just right.

Now the body dent fixing process is done, and your car should look great.