5 pc. cab repair problems

[jaredts]

I have spent the last two days trying to get the 5 pc. cab repair done on the driver's side of my '83 c10.  I'm having a lot of trouble figuring out the inner rocker.  I've poured over the post on this forum but it doesn't seem to answer my questions.  A couple of odd things from that post:  In the pictures the inner rocker's raised vertical flange is shown behind the floor's vertical section under the seat.  Is that right?  It seems like it would go on the outside.  My biggest problem is figuring out how it ties into the cab floor support.  It looks like the factory version that I cut off is welded to the end of the cab floor support, sandwiched together with the bottom of the footwell and the outer rocker (three layers of steel here plus the floor support).  In the pictures I saw on this forum it looks like the inner rocker was not welded to the cab floor support and was shifted toward the back of the truck to just clear the support.  How do I locate the inner rocker front to back relative to the truck?  If I try to place the inner rocker onto the end of the floor support the floor pan support part of the inner rocker would cause the floor to sit up off the floor support.  I have attached pics of the inner rocker at the end of the floor support.  Do I need to slide the inner rocker toward the back of the truck just until it clears the support?  Is there something else to locate it to front to back?

[jaredts]

I've compared my old inner rocker to the new one.  It looks as if the new one is a lot shorter and not designed to cover the end of the cab floor support.  So maybe I have answered my own question.  I'm still not sure how to accurately locate it.  Should I just get the end toward the rear of the truck lined up close to where the old one was?  It seems like there should be some method of locating it more accurately than that.  I hope to get some help soon.  I do have a little time since I'm going to order a new footwell patch and can't go too much further without that anyway.  I would appreciate other's advice that have done this before.  Thanks in advance!

[Captkaos]

We covered the inner rockers here: 
http://forum.73-87chevytrucks.com/smforum/index.php?topic=5661.msg30447#msg30447

The rear inner that you have on the outside actually would go on the inside.

[jaredts]

Thanks very much for the reply!  I've read that post many times and don't see any mention of how to locate the inner rocker front to back of the truck.  The new inner rocker looks a lot like the old one near the rear of the truck, but on the end where the cab floor support is its much shorter and apparrently does not weld to the end of the cab floor support like the original.  So do I take a measurement from the old one and try to match that up to the new one or is there something in particular it needs to line up with.  It almost looks like it would work if it were close--like within an inch but I don't want to assume that and find out the hard way.

[HAULIN IT]

Jared, In your first picture something is wrong with the height of the cab mount vs. the floor flange on the inner rocker. The flange area should sit flat on the top of the cab mount, not up an inch or so like in your picture. The trough area is not correctly shaped on many inner rockers (yours appears to one of those). Look at some of the pictures on page 2 of the post the Capt. has a link to, you can clearly see in some of those how the gutter rolls up along with the outer rocker (the trough stops as it meets the floor), this is what has you fouled up I believe. What I have done is cut the curve on the upright part of the inner rocker trough, but leave the bottom of the gutter longer & roll the bottom up to match the floor & weld it up. When you get the floorpan it will most likely be more clear, but look at pg.2 now that I've pointed this out & I think you will see. The exact placement (within reason) isn't critical on the inner, but yes it should weld in just like factory...To the structure at the cab bushing, vertically to the inner rocker on both flanges & to the floorpan across the top. Hope this helps! Lorne   

[jaredts]

Thanks, Lorne.  I do appreciate the input.  I feel rather dumb asking about something that has been covered in detail, but I do have to question what you have said (sorry).  You are saying that I need to modify the inner rocker to make it mount properly to the cab floor support (I think).  I am leaning toward the conclusion that this inner rocker does not mount to the cab floor support as the factory one did.  The pictures in the link that Chris provided was part of what leads me to believe that.  Please see the attached pic from that post where you can see the end of the cab floor support just to the left of the inner rocker.  This is backed up by the fact that when I lay my new inner rocker against the factory one, it is roughly the same except being a few inches shorter--just enough to miss being welded to the cab floor support if you line up the end near the seat.  In my first pics I was trying to line it up like the factory one but on the front of the truck.  The factory inner just went a little past the cab floor support--this one appears to stop just shy of it.  I think I just need someone to confirm that they did not attach their inner rocker to the cab floor support to give me the confidence to proceed (or correct me if I am out in left field).  If my assumptions are correct I would like some seasoned advice whether or not the front to back placement is critical.  Sorry Lorne if I have somehow misrepresented what you were trying to say.

[HAULIN IT]

Jared, Yes, From what I'm seeing, the trough area goes straight foreward, but should curve up like the pinchweld on the outer rocker, this will make the floor flange & the top lips on the cab mount level with each other allowing the floor to lay flat on all of it, not the inch it's sticking up.
 In the last picture, some of the front of the inner rocker/ lower cowl is missing. It should go up to the front where the lower fender bolt goes through. The outer flanges on the end of the cab mount should both weld to the inner (when done, you should not be able to look up inside the mount like in the pic), either the front of the original inner should have been left or a longer replacement panel needs put in. Does this help? Lorne

[jaredts]

This post might seem dead, but I'm just waiting on a replacement footwell.  I have placed all the parts in place and it looks like it'll work, I just wont have the inner rocker welded to the end of the cab floor support.  I'm thinking that the footwell will be long enough to cover the end of the inner rocker and close it all up.  I'm weather dependent too, and this has been the rainiest year I have ever seen in Kentucky.  I bet its rained 50% of the days this year.  Probably 75% of the last month.  I'll post more on this once I have something to report.  I would love to see a pic of someone's inner rocker welded in without the outer rocker in place.  I'm curious if they just overlapped the footwell like I think I will have to do, or does a small rectangular patch need to be put in to tie it all together.  lots of rain in the next 10 day forecast, so I'll post pics when I can.  This 5 pc. repair is going to take two months at this rate.

[thirsty]

jaredts- Did you ever end up taking picks of what you did with this? I am at the same point where I have to modify the inner rocker for the area near the footwell.

[jaredts]

I'm sorry I didn't.  I ended up taking a small flat piece of steel something like 4-1/2" square and butt welding it to the end of the inner rockers.  That gave it the length to go behind the floor support and weld in like the original.  It might have been o.k. to just let it be short but I wasn't sure so I tried to make it as close to oem as I could.

[thirsty]

My inner rocker reaches the support. I just got to slice it to fit behind it and on top of it and make it match the floor pan in that same area. I was hoping for a pic to see if I was thinking alike with others. I bought these parts for another cab years ago, Now that they are going on my 86 I'm being kinda particular about them. Thanks for the quick reply.

[jaredts]

I thought at first that my replacement inner rocker was short on the rear side and I was pushing it forward to go behind the floor support.  Then I laid the replacement on the original and realized I had it in the wrong position.  It was just like the oem but short at the front.  The little bend that kicks out near the rear on the inner was a dead give away as it matched up perfectly when I lined up the old and new at the rear.  Good luck--you might lay it on top of the old one if you haven't already.  Have you already cut your old pieces off?

[thirsty]

Most of my pieces are still on the truck. I only cut out the severely rusted parts so I could see what I actually had to work with. There was a previous floor repair done that I cut out. The flanges of the cab support are solid but bent down from the repair. The patch was up above it not attached to it so I got to straighten some stuff out and decide where I am going to make my final cuts.

[jaredts]

Your floor support is solid where it meets the inner rocker as well?  If so you're in much better shape than I was!