During a November 4, 2025 presentation at the 2025 SEMA Show, Chris White, president of KECO Body Repair Products, discussed the growing role of glue pulling and other paintless dent repair techniques in improving vehicle repairability.
“A lot of the work we do is meant to convince people these sorts of repairs are possible,” he told moderator T.J. O’Rourke of I-CAR on the Collision Repair & Refinish Stage. White said many technicians remain unaware of how much modern glue-pull systems can now repair. “A lot of people simply don’t believe they are,” he added.
White noted that when KECO first entered the paintless dent repair space, the company promoted “a clean, non-invasive repair,” but many technicians were unsure how far the approach could go. “When you introduce something that’s different, the culture change required to get people to feel comfortable with it requires them to see it demonstrated overand- over again,” he said. Today, he explained, the company’s focus is on showing what is realistically repairable, not just offering equipment.
Much of the discussion centred on avoiding replacement when panels can be restored. White called conventional replacement “an invasive way of fixing a vehicle” and pointed to aluminum as a material that can tear when strained using traditional methods. He said larger glue-pull tabs distribute load more safely, allowing metal to be moved without the ripping that aluminum is susceptible to. According to White, these tools are helping “unlock repairability” by freeing metal in areas once considered too stiff or damaged to fix.
A slide shown during the session highlighted the use of lateral tension for heavy pulls, describing it as a precise method for severe damage. White said the technique restores movement to damaged panels before structural or cosmetic work begins. “These dents tend to lock up on you,” he said. “This helps you unlock it.” He added that KECO’s training emphasizes unlocking stressed metal first, rather than relying on familiar sequences.
White also pointed to the growing mobility of repair tools. Portable pulling towers, he said, allow shops to create “a light-duty frame rack anywhere you want it in the shop,” adding that KECO’s systems are designed for flexible setups. “Everything is mobile. The way our repair process works, I think there’s a lot more flexibility.”
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