Question about rocker replacement?

[yttaf]

I was wondering if I had to remove this piece that covers part of the rocker panel at the front towards the front of the cab?

How would some of you body guys go about fixing this?

My rocker panel goes to just under the bottom bolt holes for the door hinges. Any help would be greatly appreciated...

[Blazin]

not quite shure what peice you are talking about that covers your rocker? Pound on the rusty area and knock all the lose stuff off to reveal the hole completly. Then go about an inch or two past that and cut off the old panel. Cut all the way to the pinch weld were the gasket goes. Only cut the outer layer of the pinch weld. Leave the fender mount hole as it looks solid, just cut off the raised section. Your innner rocker looks pretty solid. Drill out the spot welds along the bottom edge, only drill the top / outer layer of metal. At the back the rocker goes behind the cab corner. If your rocker look like this I will assume the cab corner has rust as well, cut off the outer cab corner an inch or so above the last of the hole. Cut the door jamb the same as the front up to the pinch weld then only the out layer of the weld. For ease I cut the top / step area of the rocker off, outside the inner rocker. Then I drill out the spot welds along the edge were the gasket goes, along with a a few down to the floor / inner rocker. If you look real close you will notice that were the floor steps down to form the troth behind the gasket it continues out under the rocker / dorr jamb / step area. Then I remove that part. Sand blast whats left, hammer, & doly any distorted areas flat. Hold your new rocker up as tight as you can, get a rough idea how much you need to cut off, cut it long. Hold it up again it should fit closer this time, leave a little bit to overlap the old sheet metal, mark it and cut it off. You might still need to fine trim it. Drill 1/4" holes along were the pinch welds that you driled out, they dont have to line up with the old ones. Get it fit real tight, I usually start with the door jamb front, then the pinch weld area were the gasket goes, then the back door jamb, & last the lower weld. I use self tapping screws across the door jamb, & gasket area that way I can close the door and readjust it if needed. I use vise grips along the bottom. Cab corner is the same process, just remeber not to put the bottom plug weld down to close to the rocker as its a pain to grind it flat. Start to screw it nearest the door and the bottom with vise grips, then work your way arond the corner. The seam between the rocker and cab corner is not suposed to be welded, they should be flush with one another. You might need to remove some metal from the cab corner fold to acheive that. After your all welded, body work done, & primed use seam sealer to seal that seam. Hope this helps feel free to ask more if you need to.  

Edited by: Blazin at: 9/29/06 10:35 am

[shaved80]

my rockers are bent...how did i go about fixing it? i'm baggin it to the doors and dragging the rockers off!

sorry i couldn't be much help, i've never really liked rocker replacement because of the work involved in it, but good luck!

[yttaf]

Well I got the old crusty rocker panels out. I found that my inner rockers are shot too, so I'll be making them to replace the bad ones. I'll post up pics along the way so you guys can see what I am doing. I'm no professional & this is my first time replacing a rocker panel, so we'll see how it turns out... LOL

[Blazin]

Inners are pretty easy to make. A 90 degree bend at the top and a litle angled wing thing at the back.

[yttaf]

well I have to make them go all the way to the floor, so i have a couple more bends to make. The wing thing in the back is OK so i kept it.