rockers

[jyaughn]

i need to replace both rocker panels on my truck. also the driver side front part of the floor. what all do i have to do to replace that section of the floor and both the out side rocker panels, and what would be the easiest way of doing it?

[Mitch6667]

Are the bottom door posts still solid? What about the cab corners? Usually all that kinda rusts out together or gets bondo'd together. I replaced pretty much the entire bottom half of my truck. How are your welding skills? The easiest way is buying the parts cutting them things out with a air recipricating saw and welding them in. You can spot weld or if you are anal retentive like me weld up the whole seam. Show some pictures of what you got that way we can see if you can use a patch panel or if you need the entire setup.

[kalirodding]

The rockers are easy. Just get a rivet removal tool and drill the rivets/spot welds. It will pretty much fall off after there drilled. Don't go to far though, you will need the solid space behind it, to spot weld the new one on.

http://www.skygeek.com/ats-1341s.html#top

[jyaughn]

im needing to replace both cab corners to but everything else looks to be good

[Mitch6667]

I guess it is safe to say you need inner rockers as well then? I would just drill out the spot welds where the rocker meets the door pillar in the front with a regular drill. I do not see a reason to buy a spot weld removal tool. Pop the rocker off the floor coard with a pry bar then cut the cab corner with a recipricating saw while it is still attached to the rocker. The floor board is easy. Just cut out the cancer section and weld the new piece on top. But if you get the same junk I got when i order "factory fit parts" you will have to do some simple fabrications.

[jyaughn]

the inner rockers are good its just right under the door is bad. i got under it and everything down there is solid. so should i just buy the rocker panels and cab corners and do it all at one time

[jyaughn]

my stuff will be ordered from lmc. is that a good place to get stuff like this?

[Mitch6667]

I think all the sheet metal gets made at the same place at this point. I have bought from a few spots and everything seems to need some type of fabrication. I would do it all at once definently. Whats the point of welding a fresh rocker panel to a rusted up cab corner. Im not sure how the inner rocker will come off of the rocker panel though. I just cut mine off from the floor because that part of the floor was shot. Are you using the partial rocker or the entire rocker panel? Also I bought cab corners from LMC and I had to install them from behind the existing sheet metal and will have to make up the difference with fiberglass. Just to give you the heads up there (if you understand what I am saying).

[jyaughn]

yeah i just need a partial rocker. where its welded to the floor and all that is good its just on the passenger side right behind the fender is almost gone and the driver side isnt that bad so i might try to fix it

[Mitch6667]

If you are good at body work I would think about going that route. I depends on what you wanna do with the truck. If it's a driver I would glass that thing up. Have you checked out the Air vent boxes on that thing?

[jyaughn]

no what are those and where are they

[Mitch6667]

take the cowl panel off you may even need to remove the fenders. But with the cowl off you will see the air box feel under neath it probably rusted that sucks out and let alot of crap get down into the rocker to sit there. If the air boxes have holes definently glass those things up there is no reason to buy that patch panel.

[jyaughn]

so i take the cowl off and it will be right there? theres really not alot of rust on the truck it just has a few small holes

[Mitch6667]

Yes it is right behind the cowl panel. You should be able to feel around it with the fender on. They usually get leaves and pine shafts trapped in there. You could just remove the vent from the inside of the truck. That way you do not have to align anything. The vent right in the kickpanel. Take that out and shine a flashlight in there. Chances are she's full of crap. Is that truck originally from GA cause I have bought a few from down there and they were eatin up real bad with rust.

[jyaughn]

as far as i know its from down here. so i can take the flapper things out of the kick panels and look up in there and clean them out and stuff

[jyaughn]

ill take pics of the rust in the rocker and post it up tomorrow and then ill see what ya think of it

[Mitch6667]

That would be best. I can only speak with my experience. When I started tearing into my 66 it seemed has if everything was bondo'd together. So it did not look bad on the outside but once i started it kinda all came off has one piece.

[jyaughn]

yeah thats what happened with this truck. i thought i was getting a really good deal but once i started tearing into it i started finding stuff that was rusted and poorly fixed

[Captainfab]

If you want to fix the rust issues in your truck corretly, cutting out the bad and replacing the panels is the way to go. I would plan on replacing the complete rocker, possible the inner rocker, as well as the cab corners. Once you get things apart you will likely see that there is more rust than you realized. Fiberglass is not the correct way to repair rusted body parts.

[Preacherman5555]

I made my rocker panels, they were much better than the ones you order. if you know of a good sheet metal shop just cut a piece out and take it in and ask them if they can make you some the length you need. ck out my crew cab build I have pics of the rockers being replaced I would about bet the inner rockers are gone if the outers are rusted.

[jyaughn]

its only that one spot right behind the fender on the passenger side. the driver side has a small hole it the top of it. i can fix the driver one with just a small patch but i think i need to replace the passenger side one

[Mitch6667]

It looks like you need the entire rocker panel, the lower door panel, a front fender and a front cab support for this side at least. Take a small screw driver and start poking around in there with it to see if you get any penetration. Also to clear things up. The best way to fix rust is always to replace panels; however if you are not sure that you wanna start tearing into the thing (because usually one thing leads to another) thats when I was suggest body filler. The picture you show definently needs repair panels. By the way if you are buying a new rocker do yourself a favor (or at least whoever is welding this thing) and buy some new inner rockers. They are only 10 bucks and will save somebody alot of holes in their clothes. I would rip that fender off before I started ordering parts to verify all the parts I need. I hate paying several shipping charges not to mention If you have to replace those pieces the ones behind the fender is where you would start.

[jyaughn]

ok ill take the fender off and check everything behind it

[jyaughn]

how do i replace the inner rocker and front cab support? i stuck a screw driver in there and alot of crap just came out and it looks worse than i thought

[jyaughn]

so i took the fender off today and look what i found... so what all needs to be replaced? the rocker panel and the inner panel but the cab support looks to still be in good shape. what yall guys think? should i replace the cab support too?