I was thinking about the side louvers and whether or not to delete them. My main concern is whether or not people have issues with water getting inside through them. I have the back plate which goes on the other side. What do you guys think? Has anyone had trouble with leakage?

 

I'm approaching the same stage as you. I just plan to put a thin sheet of closed cell foam behind it with the blanking plate holding it in place. It will also give me the option of removing it with little hassle in the summer.
What do you think?

 

The delete panel should seal the cowl vent louver area completely with the exception of a small drain opening at the bottom. Any water that gets through the louvers is meant to drain down the inside of the cowl and out at the drain hole in the bottom of the cab corner. Your problem should not be with leakage around the vent housing itself, the only real issue arises when/if the lower drain hole get clogged...this is why so many of these trucks require new cab corner panels.

 

I think that I have solved the problem of water running down the inner A pillar skin. I bonded a 1/4 inch plastic barb fitting to the inner cowl panel and put a piece of poly tubing that was long enough to hang out of the lower corner drain hole. I haven't tested this out yet beceuse my truck is still blown apart but I'm pretty certain that it will keep the inside of the door pillar dry from now on.

 

you mean this

 

I filled mine since my AC unit blocks it on the inside.

 

1/4 inch seems a bit tight, you may want to test that setup to see how much dirt/dry leaves, etc it takes to block it up. Around here we get a lot of dust blowing around with little water but when it does rain, the buildup of dirt turns quickly into paste.

 

I suspect that most of us, having put as much blood, sweat and tears into our trucks as we have, will take much better care of them, keeping drains clean and all.

 

when I got my truck there were no drains in it pffff