I fixed these myself by using a roll of flashing from Home Depot. A little trimming here and there and a hidden rivet here and there, then some rattle can primer and paint. I fixed both sides for about $30 in a couple of afternoons.

 

That doesn't fix anything, you just covered it up.

 

Nah. I don't agree with that. Unfortunately it's a learning curve to come up on seeing how Ford is screwing us and they've probably got an agreement with the a/m companies to not have an option. Now that I've exhausted all the other avenues, I picked up some 16 ga sheet metal on Friday. Once I make up some sort of brake, I'll be able to make some nice solid rockers. It's a lot of work, but when a replacement is $60k, the time is worth it to me. I love my Expedition. It tows nicely, it's comfortable, looks good (if you don't get under and look at the rockers lol) and it's easy to work on if something mechanical goes wrong. It's been very reliable for me though. The only hiccup was when I changed the plugs at 70k. 6 out of 8 snapped off. Not a big deal though with the right tools. Speaking of which... At 185k I should do them again. Hopefully the anti-seize I used will help this time.

Agreed. Short term band aid if you don't care and are not planning on keeping it though I suppose.

Nice cheap home made metal brake:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Simp...ke-No-Welding/





Current pics:

 

A vehicle of our ages with rockers rusted out is effectively totaled. A vehicle is considered totaled when cost of repairs exceeds a certain percentage of vehicle value. Most of our trucks in this vintage are worth $5-13k. When a body shop wants $5-7k to replace rockers, yeah, that vehicle is totaled, or not worth fixing (for the common layperson).
As I posted before, rockers are an integral support for the rest of the cabin area. I guess only you can determine how important the people in the cabin area are. I personally wouldn't want to jeopardize the safety of my wife, 4 yr old and 2 yr old daughters by hiding rusted out rockers instead of fixing it. I wouldn't want to deal with the guilt of having the opportunity to fix something like that and people being hurt because I chose to hide it instead.

 

Not sure where this came from considering what I posted... First thing is my wife and two sons are all that really matter to me in this world. The rockers (especially the outer rockers) on an Expedition are not an integral part of the cabin. The Expedition is a full frame vehicle, not a uni-body. If you aren't aware of the difference, Google it and you'll see what I'm talking about.
Nothing about what I'm doing would be considered hiding anything. Obviously you're not a mechanical type person and you should not fix your vehicles. That's ok! Me on the other hand knows full well that a welded on 16ga piece of steel used to replace a rotted out rocker is probably stronger and safer than the original piece.
Please feel free to go and spend another $60k for a replacement on your "totaled" Expedition. I'll spend less than $100. and a little time and be able to keep it for another 100k.
I think you'd probably be horrified to know that I replaced the floor, inner and outer rockers on my 69 Camaro... It's stronger and safer than Chevy ever made it.

 

 

You had already responded to him. Sure looked like you were responding to the post before yours, but whatever. Moving on...

 

I fabricated my own with a Box break. The bends are very easy, it's one of those deals where it's just a matter of having the right tools. I made mine out of 16 gauge steel, welded them in. It came out very nice, about a two day project including fabrication, installation, primer & paint.

Fortunately mine were not rusted as bad as yours Sgthawk, I had plenty of good metal to weld to.

 

Right tools is so true. If I had a brake, this would be pretty easy. I have plenty of good metal to weld to, it's just a little higher up than I'd like... I'll probably go up to the second bend at least and seam it there. I'm tempted to cut a 1" section out of a good part and bring that to the metal fab shop for the profile and have them bend the steel for me. It would probably take them less than 5 min for both sides...

 

I finally got around to dealing with getting some replacement rocker panels. Last week I cut a section out of the last good 6" section of rocker that I had left and gave that to a metal fab shop. They used that profile to create two 6 1/2' replacement rocker panels out of 16 ga. I'll only need 5' or so, but it's better to be safe IMO. It was $150 and I think in the long run was money well spent. My inner rockers are fine so I'll cut to where I want to seam on the sill and clean everything up. I'll shoot some rust encapsulator or something similar and then weld the new rockers on. This really doesn't look like it'll be a bad job. I'll post some pics when I'm done.
Last week I replaced the passenger side exhaust manifold. What a PITA... four broken studs that I had to remove. While cutting a y-pipe stud off my 4 1/2" cut-off wheel exploded at 10k RPMs. I never had one go that bad. Down to the bone and through a major vein. Nice... I was just about done too. What a waste of a Sunday sitting at the VA getting stitches. Wednesday I had my son help me throw it back together. One handed just wasn't working...

 

OUCH !!!

Those wheels can be mighty nasty. I've never had one explode and injure me, but you just can't be too safe. Hope it heals well.

 

Thanks. So far so good. I pulled the stitches out Sunday night. Luckily I heal pretty quickly usually... Once the wrist is back to where I can work with it I'll tackle the rockers. I figured I'd give it a little rest for now.

 

Made some progress with the rockers. I still need to do some finessing and finishing at the ends and top edge, but they're coming out pretty decent. The only short cut I'm taking is that I lap welded them vs butt welding. Once I work them, you won't be able to tell. At least the rot will be stopped from spreading. I'm sure they'll still outlast the rest of the Ex...