I'm gettin ready to do some welding on the rocker panels on my 2001 f150 supercrew. Just making sure I just have to disconnect ground at battery.
Never had a problem before but my neighbor blew both his airbags attempting it on his chevy. He said he had battery disconnected, wasn't specific as to which cable, and was grounding off the door strike which could have something to do with the airbags deploying? I've done it on a 02 chevy with no problems

 

I did it on a 2001 F150, without pulling battery cable. Lifting the cable sounds like a good idea.

 

it all boils down to this, electricity will take the shortest easiest path, IE least resistance. if you gournd on one end of the truck and weld on th other, you will have issues of one sort or another. grounding with in a foot on the same piece of steel that you are welding on will greatly reduce this issue, but leaves the chance for ground loops to possbily exist, this is why it is reccomended that you unhook the gorund from the battery.

 

Got them welded in just fine. Haven't decided if I want to put all the plastic plugs in or leave them out.

 

..Jake...post up some pics...I welded in some stainless patchs in the rocker area...I ended up grinding out most of the rusted metal and just slopped some por 15 on it! I want her to last!!

 

I'll take some pics tomorrow. These were patches also, but almost 7 feet long. There was not much left to grind off, just enough to get into the good stuff. They start just under the plastic guard and go all the way under. I picked up 2 18ga 10' sections cut at 6" each. I used the scraps for extra support and some rocker repair. My running boards did not make it through the removal procedure.

 

Coulda spent some more time smoothing the seam, but at least its solid