[sikbrik]

I've gotten the extended cab outer rocker off but the rear section seems bonded into the extended cab panel.

I'm considering just welding right at that seam but I just really need some opinions. There's some surface rust inside there but it looks pretty superficial:

I can't see a good way to separate the rear section of the rocker, which sits inside this panel if I don't cut it down.

SO should I leave it there, just spray some converter or oil in there, and cut/weld my rocker at the seam? Or would you cut the cab corners off and replace or clean them up and refit them, if possible? I'm not looking to have a show car but I don't want this biting me in a few years. Thanks for your opinions and advice.

 

[sikbrik]

Well, don't go looking for trouble because you're bound to find it. I guess I'll be metalworking this truck for a while. It's on both sides, not as bad on the left.

 

[sikbrik]

Although I owned a 1st gen a very long time ago, I am not nearly as familiar w/ them as 2nd gen's. If that was a 2nd gen, I would expect that rust to have originated from a leak in the cowl plenum. Once the seam sealer fails, I think the water and subsequent rust just follows the seams.

It is a 2nd gen and that appears to be precisely it. I scraped all the cracked seam sealer out and will reseal it once I patch it up. I also don't love the way the front floor reinforcement at the body mount is sandwiched together with no sealer, but I guess it's to allow for drainage.

In central Pennsylvania, having the inner fender sitting against that area doesn't seem to help things, as it doesn't look like it ever dries and salt collects in there, too.

So the question is, keep the spot welded lip/seam or just butt in a formed patch and get rid of that entire lip?

 

[sikbrik]

go buy a truck from the south and swap cabs. it’s probably cheaper. I know it’s easier. 🤓

Yeah, it's definitely a thought if I find any more rust beyond this stuff. This is good practice for me, since I've never done much body work and thankfully nothing structural is bad (yet.). But it does stink...what was to be a quick fix (bed was dented) to make a driver has turned into a project.

Recently bought a southern California car and it doesn't even have a speck of rust anywhere. I was stunned 😅 I've had to scrap my fair share of northeastern vehicles over the years. I'm jealous of you folks who live in steel-friendly locales.

For as far as I have it apart, a cab swap isn't a terrible idea.

 

[sikbrik]

Key parts cab corner arrived today. Price is cheap enough and it's not much more work than the rocker itself. It'll probably sit in the box until the garage temps are back above freezing.

 

[sikbrik]

You might check your frame before you get too far into it. My 98 2nd gen rotted on both sides between the front and rear cab mounts. Got another frame in the wings waiting for warmer weather. The fully boxed In portion seems to hold salt and moisture pretty bad. Mine looks like swiss cheese except the top rail. Good luck!

Thanks for the tip. I'll have to go back under. So far, frame looked great from cab to rear (had bed removed) and cab to radiator (currently all apart) but I haven't checked extensively directly under the center of the cab. The parts I can see look solid but I may lift the cab up a few inches to be sure.

I found a portion of my issue was the pinch welds at the firewall, in addition to the cowl area. They're actually "open" and you can see light once you remove the inner seam sealer. This pic is basically the wheel arch portion of the firewall. Why they sealed the inside and not the outside makes little sense to me.