Hello everyone! I am new to the Forum and have owned a few Ford Trucks, 1985 F350 CC DRW 460 auto, 1987 F150 RC, 2001 CC F150, 2008 CC F150 Limited.

I am now restoring a 1990 F250 Extended Cab 2wd 7.5 auto truck and it will be my new daily driver. It is a great truck with only 69k miles on it! The only bad rust areas are the drip rails, driver side is just surface rust but passenger side is very bad. Can I just shave these rails on both sides? Or are the drip rails a necessity on these trucks?

Thanks
Jay

 

Welcome to FTE! The drip rails are... well, there to catch the drips. You could shave them but then water would run down the sides of the cab. It's up to you whether or not that's acceptable.

 

Drip rails no drip rails no big deal its all preference looks and function. If you shave them post some pictures.

 

Thanks for the reply's guys! I was looking at the drip rails again today. I think I am going to try and fix them since this truck will be my daily driver and we get a lot of rain here in VA. If the repair does not go well they might end up being shaved. I will start a new thread this weekend documenting my build on this truck!

 

Good luck. They are a structural part of the cab. it is how the roof is attached to the res tot the cab. If you do away with them, you will need to reenforce the roof in another way

 

Too bad Ford made that seam open on the topside of the rail. If they made it on the bottom side, we won't have this issue......

I'm thinking about "leading" in the seam on my truck. A old timer body shop guy showed me how he did his truck to curer that seam leak.

 

I'd be careful -- they are there because Ford's structural engineering added these to strengthen what is otherwise a weak link where the roof and side panels join............I'd pass on shaving these and would be inclined to simply restore to as close to original as possible

 

Quoted for truth.
Attempting to shave them without reinforcing will most likely mean you would weld along the long where the two panels meet, and then use filler to go over. Its partially a flex point for the cab, that filler would crack right out of the joint. Its better to leave them there, sand blast them and put seam sealer back the way it came.

 

They are a structural part of the cab. They should not be a flex point but do become one. Ask the Dent side and Bump Side crowd who fight the rot and rust. The sealer cracks and lets water come into the seam and there ya go ultimate rust party. take the headliner down weld in a strip on the inside of the cab for structural support and to help from cracking. Cut the rails off and weld them back up lead them back up. Make sure you use a good weld thru primer on all the spots that you work with to help prevent any more rust.

Went thru this on a 41 ford truck. The cabs always crack from the door opening to the seam. P.I.T.A. Nest time you go to a show look and you will see it, But properly rebraced no problems of cracking for the past 8 years.

 

All that needs to be done is RESEAL them. NOTHING lasts forever. And that holds true for seam sealer. Just clean the old stuff out and put NEW in, then repaint it.

 

Thanks for all the info guys!! I am going to keep them, the drivers side is just surface rust and the passenger side has some holes but I am just going to repair them. Hope to have the truck in the paint shop in the next 2 weeks!!