A few things:

Don't get running boards. Get rock sliders. For the hood, look into finding a good Paintless Dent Removal guy near you. That technology is amazing. If there is access, they can make dents disappear.

@cmb6s: I have wheeled my LR3 for 10 years now....and it looks awesome. Scratches and dents are NOT inevitable. Likely yes, but not inevitable.

 

Agree with the paintless dent removal. I've only used people for that once, but as long as there are no creases or paint damage, they can do amazing things.

As far as the scratches/dents, I suppose it depends on where you live. Over here on the east coast, if you want to get offroad on anything more than a dirt/gravel track, then you're going to be in a very dense, very tight environment. The trails are simply not wide enough for an LR3. I suppose you could send your kid out ahead of you with the machete to clear a path, but realistically, you're going to get scratches. Out west, it's a lot more open and you have different challenges climbing over boulders and whatnot. The other challenge here is that it's always muddy (which I assume you have to deal with in the NW as well). That means that as well intentioned as your line might be, you're going to slip off of it at some point. :P

 

For sure I brought up the dent repair to my wife earlier.

Rock sliders.... Thanks. Gonna check that out

 

I think the NW and NE are probably pretty similar. I have weaved between many trees with slippery roots. Hence the comment about rock sliders (especially ones that double as side steps to help with the trees) and also the PDR. My first PDR encounter was after I "kissed" a tree just as cmb said...some mud or a root pushed me off my line and I barely hit the damn tree. I buffed out the scuff and the PDR guy made the ding disappear. Went through the window track. I was astounded. Second time was after I screwed up working on mounting a bike rack. I was SOOO pissed....but he got in through the access holes on the back hatch; $50 later the dent was GONE.

My point is not so much that you won't ever get scuffs and pin stripes, but that if you are handy with a buffing cloth, you can make it look really good.

Zaino Store.

Zaino is your friend!!!

 

Someone posted pics of the hail that came through my town last night. You can see why we were worried

 

We had a similar storm here in MA the end of last summer. While somewhat routine for you guys out in the Midwest, no one was expecting it here. Body shops are still trying to clear through the backlog of hail repairs. Luckily this happened before I bought my LR3, which was out of harms way. My other car (an S60R) was not so lucky and has dents all over it. Insurance has paid for an initial estimate, but the estimator said it's always way more than what they can see. They discussed having to get a new hood, since the hood is aluminum and apparently PDR on aluminum is more difficult. Downside of aluminum, along with the fact that it dents easier than steel.

 

Huh? How can you state that aluminum dents more easily than steel? ...and if it does, wouldn't that make PDR easier as well? Sorry...that makes no sense. In fact I think the upper tailgate of the LR3 is made of aluminum and it took to PDR just fine, for me.

Also, it sounds like MA needs a few more body shops if after 7 months there is still a backlog!

 

Not a metallurgist, but how it was explained to me was that because the aluminum stretches more (more tensile) than steel, it's harder to get the dent to go back without some residual distortion. Also explains why it dents easier.

Literally every single car outside had dents. In an urban area. We're talking probably tens of thousands of cars.

 

That's amazing...about the damaged cars. Amazing...and sad! Glad I live in the PAC NW.

I think you got some bad info. Steel stretches more; Aluminum is more brittle...that is, if I remember my 1st year Mechanics of Materials knowledge. Regardless, the thickness of the material is going to be a factor as well; and at the end of the day, I just don't think any of it matters because PDR will work on both. At least, that's my (albeit limited) experience. Unless my info is wrong about the upper tailgate, in which case my experience is not valid.

 

I always wondered about that PDR.


Good to know it really works.