Replacing Rocker Panels

[93DodgeCummins]

Hi guys, I figured I would give back to you guys and do a right up on replacing my rocker panels

I just got one side welded on. I have more pictures and info coming!

[oldestof11]

What's you do for the club can section?

[CumminsPower59]

What's the deal with the paper all over the floor? With welding right there, it looks like a good way to get a real flame job on your truck

[93DodgeCummins]

painted the inner rockers. the paper was out of the way haha. I cut down a rocker for the extended cab and bent the top for a tab. When I get more time ill get into detail with more pictures. not quite yet done on that side

[93DodgeCummins]

First, I drilled and ground out the pinch welds. I also just cut a chunk out to see what I was dealing with in the back of the cab.



Here is what it looks like with the front rocker removed. I cleaned it up some with a wire wheel, but it did not do justice. So I sand blasted it later on.

[93DodgeCummins]

At the back of the cab I the top welds are not easy to get to. So I just cut the top off. I found out later, the old rockers extend into the cab more so I left that in as a base to mount the new rockers to.



Here I cleaned it up sand blasting with industrial quartz and a padded sanding wheel. It seemed to do the job.

[93DodgeCummins]

At the back of the cab, my inner rocker was pretty much gone as well as part of the cab support. So I started cutting and replacing metal.


The new pieces I painted with weld thru primer which seemed to work well for me. I have read mixed opinions online, but I didn't have issues with it. Just rust preventative here.


Welded the new pieces back in.

[93DodgeCummins]

I forgot to take another picture here, but I welded in a piece that mounts perpendicular to the back of the inner rocker. This is to finish the inner rocker so the new rocker has a place to mount to in the back.


Now comes rocker fitment which is kind of a PITA. I had order 2 rockers per side because they have to be both cut down to make one rocker for the ex cab. If you have a standard cab, you do not have to do this.

[93DodgeCummins]

Here I cut the first rocker panel at the factory panel line where they added the ext. cab portion from factory. If happens to line up with the back of the door where the pinch weld line goes up the cab.


Here you can see where the factory pinch weld line is. I also cut the 2nd rocker to length and had to cut/bend the top down to make it fit. Be careful bending the ext cab section because it can mess up the natural body line. I had to fight that some.

[93DodgeCummins]

Now comes time for rust prevention. I painted the inner rockers as well as the places that were bare metal on the new rockers. First, I started with the front lower section of the cab. I took and air compressor and blew out the remains from sand blasting. Then I painted it with the eastwood rust encapsulator with the 360 degree extended spray nozzle to get everything coated inside.


Here I masked off the inner rockers so I could paint those as well. I taped over the areas to be welded for the weld primer to be applied after.


Also don't forget to mask the bottom of the cab corner because that will be welded as well.

[93DodgeCummins]

Then I busted out the POR-15 which is supposed to be a good paint. I applied it fairly heavy.




I also blasted a front portion of my cab because it was rusting as well. Then it got POR as well.

[93DodgeCummins]

Then I removed the tape after the POR had set for awhile and got the weld through primer out. I masked off the areas to be welded and primed them.


Then became final prep for the rockers. The new rocker corner comes with a big gap in it. Here I cut a sliver of metal and formed to shape and welded it in. Then of course ground it to shape.


I also sanded the areas on the new rockers that were to be welded and primed them as well. Here is what it looks like. Also I wouldn't recommend drilling that many holes on the bottom. It is not needed and makes for much more grinding down the road.



Now comes welding the rockers in. Make sure you just do few tacks to fit them into place. They will not fit perfectly at first and no one wants to drill or grind out welds on new parts. After a few tacks, make sure the door fits properly. It did not fit the first time I tacked it in place.



Once it fit, I welded it all in.

[93DodgeCummins]

Then I ground the welds smooth starting with a grinder wheel to get the high spots down. Then I used the sanding grinder wheel to make it smooth.

[CumminsPower59]

I've used that weld through primer before, it worked for what I was doing.

[93DodgeCummins]

Now its time to body fill.

I had dented it in slightly when I was trying to get it to fit perfect when I was welding. So I had to body fill the joint just a little. First I sanded it down to
bare metal with 80 paper. I believe you can use 40-80 grit depending on your preference. The body filler needs a surface to bond to.


I have just another picture of the same area. Just filling in the low spots.


Then I filled in the spot welds on the top and bottom. The top is not really critical because the door seal will cover it.




I have more coming on the seam sealer and primer soon.