Anyone had any success in dissolving the foam that the factory blew into the cab corners? I think it has played a role in the rusting of my corners and seams under the door. Regardless, I've started to do the repair, and I just want it all gone so that I can expose all the metal.

I've already been able to remove most of foam using brute force. It's the last 10% that's wedged in between the layers of sheet metal that I'd love to be able to just dissolve away.

 

The foam is not the issue. Your roof is leaking somewhere(either the third brake light, rear window, or those gutters) and the water is dripping into the cab corners.

My old truck did this and my cab corners started to rust. Remove the plastic trim at the back corners of the cab and rinse the rear window, third brake light, and rain gutters with water to see where it is leaking from. Fix the leak and leave the foam in there.

Good luck!

 

Are you sure this is factory? I have not seen that on my Ford trucks, but I really have not dug around back there. I can say that gasoline dissolves Styrofoam.

 

Nothing that I have come across that dissolves it.

I pick it clean the best I can.

And like Cory said, you have bigger issues. Like the water that is getting the foam wet to begin with

 

It's polyurethane foam.
There's nothing to dissolve it once it has hardened.

Scrape it out and use a wire wheel to clean the metal.
Fix the leak, fix the corner, prime and paint.

I'm using that cold galvanizing spray to get down into seams and such.

 

Yeah it ain't going anywhere, not easily anyway. It's so durable than literally NOTHING will touch it. There was a report that someone managed to dissolve some by peeing on it after binge drinking, but that turned out to be a publicity stunt.

Even the 7.3 and 4.9 engines in some of these trucks are afraid of that foam, it can outlive them by years and miles!

The only thing that has any effect on it is sunshine and even that takes a while. A scraper and wire brush/wire wheel are the only tools that will remove it, as mentioned.

 

Thanks for the input. I've gotten most of the foam out already - it's the stuff that's tough/impossible to access that I was looking for some "magic solution" for.


And yes, I do have some leaks to attend to as well - that's on the list of things to do.

 

Definitely factory-installed. Take a look behind the area that the seat belts mount to the floor. There's two things you'll find - a hard seam sealer (I presume) and the foam. The hard stuff comes out easy - chunks of it may already be broken and sitting there like stray rocks.