bdub_02

hey guys, just wondering if anybody on here with a Supercab 97-03 F150 with 3rd door option has any experience with the rocker panel removal/replacement. I am wanting to get this done, but not sure how much different it is compared to the supercrew how to write up that I have found on this site written by 'skizriz' here: http://www.f150forum.com/f6/project-...der-way-60210/ any tips, or info will be appreciated. would love to somehow get a sticky regarding this issue.

Collin

brother in law and i will be doing this it a couple weeks on mine as his dad owns a body shop. i"ll do a write up on it

bdub_02

sweet, does your truck have the 4th door option?

bob101770

It's the same regardless of the cab style.

skizriz

Have plenty of cold beer on hand.

bdub_02

skizriz, do you have any other tips to offer when somebody is thinking about tackling this? here as soon as my shop is done in the shop, i will post up some pics of my problem areas, and hopefully I can cut it all out and fix it right so it lasts a long time

skizriz

Not really. I basically learned as I went.
I don't know much about your welding ability, mine with a mig was very limited. I did some practice on some sheet metal beforehand, and my butt welding wasn't very good. That's why I decided to overlap my joints at the front, rear, and door posts. I could simply overlap them, and use spot welds. If is all hidden, and being strong was more important to me than grinding down the seam and body filling it.
That's also why I replaced them completely to the door sills. I could just do spot welds there, and not a front to rear seam half way up the panel. It seemed simplier, and alot less welding.

I couldn't find a spot weld drill bit, so I took a 3/8 bit and ground the taper down very shallow. It worked well for dripping out the spot welds. I learned it from this video.
Have some rust stopper like the POR stuff and use it liberally once you have it opened up. Take your time and grind and paint what you can on the inside.

Other than that, if you have any questions Email me at Skizriz@zoominternet.net

bdub_02

well I wont be welding it personally, a friend of mine is a great welder and will let him handle that. so there is no need to weld a full seam? instead you were able to just spot weld, and have no worries about strength and longevity of the welds? just want to do it as "easy" as possible.

bdub_02

I want to avoid body filling, if at all possible. and good call on the POR/rust preventer. I will need to pick some up before hand, would rather over do it once it is opened up, instead of painting the new rockers, I will probably just have them sprayed with spray on bed liner, to help make them last longer.

skizriz

When I cut into mine, I was actually surprised that the rust was only on the bottom (mostly) section of the rocker. I could have sliced it where I had good metal, and just replaced the bottom section, but then you have a 6' (?) long weld, and matching the new and old sections up.
Here is where I cut to get to the good metal.



Instead of that. I decided to do the full panel up to the sill. Cutting a straight line, matching the panels up, and welding that long of a seam didn't seem like it was the way to go.

I drilled the bottom spot welds. They are the pain in the @$$ ones.



Drilled out the door sill spot welds, and laid the new panel in place. Trace it on the door posts and cut them leaving an overlap (if thats how you are doing it)


Clean everything up, paint what you can. grind where you will be welding.
I put the new panel on and trimmed every thing up for a good fit.
I had to drill all of the holes for the welds. The new panel didn't have any.
I simply clamped it as I did all of the new spot welds.


Heres where I overlapped the the door posts. Like I said, I was more concerned with strength over beauty. I may go back and fill them and smooth them if I find time.



Once it's covered up, you don't really even notice.


I also sprayed mine with undercoating. Either scuff them first, or maybe primer. Mine is scraping off very easily. It's almost all gone where I hit it with my feet getting in and out of the door.

After I was done, I went to a local undercoating shop and had them spray the insides of the rockers for $35. Then I dumped about a QT of oil into each one for good measure.