While there is no clear size as to exactly how big hail has to be to damage steel or aluminum vehicles, a good rule of thumb is one inch or the size of a quarter. Most hail that is smaller than an inch, as long as it is not wind-driven, does not damage the surface of your vehicle to the extent that it needs to be repaired or an insurance claim need to be made. When hail gets to the size of an inch, it has enough density and mass to actually damage your vehicle's aluminum or steel surface just with gravity. When it gets scary is if hail becomes larger than an inch, growing to two inches or even three inches or larger and wind is introduced. Then you have a wind-driven hail event, such as a tornado. That's when damage can get really severe, paint can crack, windshields can be busted out, side windows can be broken.

It's very important that if you are involved in a hailstorm, for any reason, if you are in your vehicle, remain in your vehicle. Do not get out of your car, just pull over to the side of the road and wait it out. You are much more important than the vehicle, right? If it can dent your vehicle, it can definitely hurt you. So please remain in your vehicle. Paintless dent removal is the art of removing auto hail damage and small dings and dents from your vehicle without using paint, Bondo or body filler in the process. If you have a hail event where hail has formed larger than an inch, with or without wind driving the hail into your vehicle, most likely your insurance company is going to suggest a paintless dent repair, or paintless dent removal company repair your vehicle. Paintless dent repair, and paintless dent removal are viewed by all major insurance companies to be the process by which they would prefer you to have your vehicle repaired. It is faster, it is cleaner, and it is more environmentally friendly than the conventional body shop repair.

Although hail that is smaller than an inch can damage your vehicle if it is wind-driven or very, very dense, it is unlikely that hail smaller than an inch will damage your vehicle. But when it gets to the size of an inch or larger, the chance of it damaging your vehicle is very high. If you are caught in a hail storm, a couple of good things to know is, one, hail is a no-fault claim through your auto insurance company. Two, paintless dent repair and paintless dent removal are great techniques in which to repair your vehicle back to its pre-storm condition without using paint and Bondo. And three, if hail becomes very large, two, three, four inches and cracks your paint, damages your vehicle, or door panels have to be replaced you will want to locate a five-star paintless dent removal company that has the ability to also do body repairs as well. American Dent Specialists in partnership with Collision Craftsmen works together using pdr and conventional auto body shop repairs to take your vehicle all the way back to its pre-storm condition with the added convenience of not having to go to multiple locations for services.

One inch is the average size of hail necessary to do damage to your vehicle and anything larger than that absolutely will do damage to your vehicle.