rusty cab fixing help

[HankHill]

So my driver and passenger side of the cab are rusty, I fixed the driver side this summer but the passenger side is getting bad its rusted through right under the door hinges and I don't really know how to go about fixing it any help please?

 

[Diesel_brad]

Are those pics of the rocker panel? If so you can weld in patches. you just have to make sure you cut out ALL the bad metal other wise it will be back

 

[franklin2]

Just buy piece #14 in the link below. I have used it before and it really adds strength back and ties the front of the cab back to the rear.
http://www.lmctruck.com/icatalog/fd/full.aspx?Page=24

 

[HankHill]

Are those pics of the rocker panel? If so you can weld in patches. you just have to make sure you cut out ALL the bad metal other wise it will be back

I was thinking about just patching it with some galvanized steel and welding it in, I'm kind of nervous to cut away the rot cause it looks like it goes in pretty far

Just buy piece #14 in the link below. I have used it before and it really adds strength back and ties the front of the cab back to the rear.
http://www.lmctruck.com/icatalog/fd/full.aspx?Page=24

can you tell me a little more frank, do I have to cut the old rocker panel off or is this like a slip on and weld it

thanks for the help so far guys, its really been eating away at me lately

 

[Diesel_brad]

I was thinking about just patching it with some galvanized steel and welding it in, I'm kind of nervous to cut away the rot cause it looks like it goes in pretty far

That would just be a half assed way to do it

 

[HankHill]

That would just be a half assed way to do it

what did you mean by patching it then?

 

[88beast]

buy new rockers inners and outters cut out the whole pannel lay it over the stock spot it goes and mark around then cut and weld in

 

[franklin2]

can you tell me a little more frank, do I have to cut the old rocker panel off or is this like a slip on and weld it

That is a slip on repair panel. You can cut out your rust, put some sort of anti-rust paint or whatever you use to help keep it from rusting, and then pre-drill holes in the slip on panel, slip the panel on, and then spot weld it on through the holes you drilled. I then welded the front and the rear of the panel with a solid bead. You will see the weld bead on the front and the rear, I just left them showing. Or you can smear a little bondo over the joint if you want to hide it.

I did cut some of the front part off. It wraps way around the lower cowl of the cab, and I could not get it in without taking the door off. I didn't want to take the door off, so I cut a little bit off so it would slip in place.

P.S. You might want to drill some holes and put a few screws in place to temp hold the panel, and then shut the door. This piece shows underneath the door when the door is shut, and if you want a nice even gap when the door is shut, you need to fiddle with it and get it in place so it looks good with the door shut.

 

[Fordman75]

Your cab doesn't look too bad. It should be fairly easy to fix.


Isn't welding galvanized steel dangerous? I thought I was told it produces a poisonous gas.

 

[MUDKICKR]

Your cab doesn't look too bad. It should be fairly easy to fix.


Isn't welding galvanized steel dangerous? I thought I was told it produces a poisonous gas.

it does, and you need to drink milk afterwards so you dont get sick. i would not recommend galvanized metal for this, just some plain metal would work fine, then paint it and undercoat it and the fix is done.

 

[HankHill]

Thanks for all the help on this guys, and yes welding galvenized will give you welders high, but I've done it before and have been fine just make sure your in an extremely well ventilated area

What does the inner rocker piece look like? Not sure how to explain this piece but will try my best, I took out the little plastic steps on the rocker panel that have 3 phillips head screws and underneath is a big gaping hole in the floor ill try to get a picture but was wondering the proper name so I can look for a patch panel for this too

 

[RyanDamo]

i had the same problem, i cut up a fender from a jetta i had lying around and just welded in patches, wasn't pretty but it did the trick for free

 

[88beast]

the last hole mentioned would be inner rocker or floor pan depending on size outter rocker goes to that seam that holds the weather strip inner rocker goes to the flat part of the floor and the flat part is the floor pan

 

[88beast]

btw hank hill theres a truck that looks just like youres in the pawn stars episode with the shelby couch red dully 4x4 with flatbed that looks odly familiar u didnt happen to go to vegas did you?

 

[franklin2]

The truck I fixed, when I had cut the bad metal in the floor out, I could actually walk into the truck and almost shut the door behind me, and I was still standing on the ground. That's how bad it was.
In the this link in the top part of the page http://www.lmctruck.com/icatalog/fd/full.aspx?Page=25 I used a portion of #1. This repairs the place in front of the seat where you put your feet.

I also had to buy piece #3. This piece works with the outer rocker that I talked about in a previous post(#14 in the other link).

If you look at your truck with the door open and the trim piece with the 3 screws off that you mentioned, you will see it's smooth till you get to a 90 degree piece sticking up that the door rubber snaps over. This is where piece #14(outer slip on rocker) stops, and piece #3, inner floor starts. Piece #3 inner floor has this 90 turned up place also where the rubber slips on. If you look at your truck, you can see this piece where the rubber slips on is actually two pieces butted together and spot welded at the factory. Pieces #14 and #3 duplicate this, and piece #3 goes on into the cab and starts climbing upward toward the seat, but stops before it gets to where the seat bolts to the floor.