Rocked panels

bigchevyz71 · February 22, 2016

Ok so does anyone know the best way to protect rocker panels? And looks like the last person welded some under it I don't know. I'm gonna post a pic of the weld and is there anyway to fix it?

bigchevyz71 · February 22, 2016

Not sure what this is but how could I fix it?

brucelimerick · February 23, 2016

Well the ones on my 2001 are done but my frame is so bad there is no point doing the rockers, lick putting lipstick on a pig.

Not sure where you are from, I'm in salt country. On my car I'm going full bore from the get go. You want mud flaps to deflect most of the stones. I do a full Krown undercoating regularly. Plus 3M has a product called Stoneguard I think. The car stripping guys have it. Clear tough vinyl. I have it on the rockers up to the bottom of the doors from behind the front tires right back to the back bumper. It absorbs the stones and prevents stone chips. Over time the flying stones will take the paint on the rockers to bare metal and then the corrosion begins. I'm 5 years in on the experiment and I have no stone chips on the rockers. With my truck about that time I was down to primer. That is pretty much what kills rockers, flying grit. Once the paint and primer are gone there is no protection for the steel.

Nanotech Environmental · February 23, 2016

Well the ones on my 2001 are done but my frame is so bad there is no point doing the rockers, lick putting lipstick on a pig.

Not sure where you are from, I'm in salt country. On my car I'm going full bore from the get go. You want mud flaps to deflect most of the stones. I do a full Krown undercoating regularly. Plus 3M has a product called Stoneguard I think. The car stripping guys have it. Clear tough vinyl. I have it on the rockers up to the bottom of the doors from behind the front tires right back to the back bumper. It absorbs the stones and prevents stone chips. Over time the flying stones will take the paint on the rockers to bare metal and then the corrosion begins. I'm 5 years in on the experiment and I have no stone chips on the rockers. With my truck about that time I was down to primer. That is pretty much what kills rockers, flying grit. Once the paint and primer are gone there is no protection for the steel.

Flying grit and junk will definitely strip the paint, but believe it or not, but rockers and cab corners usually rot from the inside out. Moisture, bits of salt spray and other crap get inside them and then it's just a matter of time.

Most people don't ensure that anti-rust spray, oil etc. gets inside the rockers and cab corners via the drain holes.

I've seen a lot of GMT800's with rotted out rockers, still having all the paint intact, and the paint is actually whats holding all the rust together.

IMO, everything below the beltline on cars & trucks should be made of stainless; body, frame, suspension, fluid lines etc....it could be an option & I guarantee people would pay extra for it. I know I would.

The actual cost increase to the factories would be around $2000 per vehicle max, but they could charge $5000 for that option easily.

sahls01gmc · February 23, 2016

Here's what I did.

Before:

After:

It's a truck, scratches and dings are gonna happen.

brucelimerick · February 23, 2016

I don't remember seeing drain holes on the rockers, it seemed like a sealed off area to me. The doors had drains which I have always kept open and they are in very good shape compared to my rockers. Interesting thought about rockers rusting from the inside out. Could be totally possible. If there is moisture in the cab's interior void it eventually will condense and end up in the rocker and cab corner area, these are the low points.

Krown used to drill into these area's to spray them. Most vehicle makers now have factory access holes with plugs to allow access.

Blasphemy on this site but I do like Ford going with the aluminum body. Their super high end toy now has an aluminum frame. The 2 things still in pristine shape on my 01 is the aluminum drive shaft and the stainless exhaust.

brucelimerick · February 23, 2016

I don't remember seeing drain holes on the rockers, it seemed like a sealed off area to me. The doors had drains which I have always kept open and they are in very good shape compared to my rockers. Interesting thought about rockers rusting from the inside out. Could be totally possible. If there is moisture in the cab's interior void it eventually will condense and end up in the rocker and cab corner area, these are the low points.

Krown used to drill into these area's to spray them. Most vehicle makers now have factory access holes with plugs to allow access.

Blasphemy on this site but I do like Ford going with the aluminum body. Their super high end toy now has an aluminum frame. The 2 things still in pristine shape on my 01 is the aluminum drive shaft and the stainless exhaust.

Nanotech Environmental · February 23, 2016

I don't remember seeing drain holes on the rockers, it seemed like a sealed off area to me. The doors had drains which I have always kept open and they are in very good shape compared to my rockers. Interesting thought about rockers rusting from the inside out. Could be totally possible. If there is moisture in the cab's interior void it eventually will condense and end up in the rocker and cab corner area, these are the low points.

Krown used to drill into these area's to spray them. Most vehicle makers now have factory access holes with plugs to allow access.

Blasphemy on this site but I do like Ford going with the aluminum body. Their super high end toy now has an aluminum frame. The 2 things still in pristine shape on my 01 is the aluminum drive shaft and the stainless exhaust.

On my 06 there are small slot shaped drains in the rockers. Maybe they weren't there on earlier models? A lot early GMT 800's I see are usually missing the rockers, or they are pretty far gone.

I spray light oil into mine every once in a while.