Hi guys, winter is on its way here in ohio and that means salt will be put down on the road. Before winter I want to try and remove the foam so the foam doesn't trap and hold the salt. My truck is a 1995 f250 regular cab long bed. What is the best way to remove the foam? Am I able to get to the foam from the inside of the cab? How have you guys done this.

 

Somebody foamed the cab corners? If so, get out your scraper. That stuff has a nasty habit of lighting up when you try welding in the patch panels.

 

The factory put foam in there to probably cut down on noise. It is glued in against the panels and holds moisture and salt and is the main reason the corners rust.

 

If it's from the factory then someone must have scraped the foam out of mine long before I bought it then. Because I've never seen any foam in there, and it still has the original cab corners.

 

So this is what I'm talking about, the hole is about a inch and diameter and all that black is like foam and its wet and spongey

 

Same here. Never seen anything except seam sealer in there, although some times it looks like an expanding foam of sorts. Possibly a regional thing?

Also, Nathan, can't see those pics? What sort of hosting are you using?

 

Ford did foam the corners. I have found nothing that will dissolve it. Acetone based (the flammable non chlorinated kind) brake parts cleaner is the only thing I have found which will soften it where it pulls apart easy. IIRC it is a polyurethane foam.

 

The corners of my 96 are rusty. Driver side more. I sandblasted them, pulled what I could of the foam out the rust holes and fiberglass them back in. The stuff is attached good. Pulled a lot out in pieces. Not sure how much is left in it

 

So when I got home yesterday I started tearing into my truck and I used a few different picks and scrapers to get the most I could out and once I got the bulk of it out I sprayed a little acetone on the foam that was still stuck and it like ate away ate it and was able to pull the rest of it off. The acetone didn't necessary dissolve the foam but it more of got it loose from where the foam was stuck to the paint/metal. Once I got the most I could out I put as much fluid film in the cracks as I could, and went for a test drive and I didn't notice any extra sounds or squeaks. Now I need to do the passenger side, and finish coating the truck in fluid film. Also a side note, I haven't used fluid film before and this stuff seams like it is going to do very well with keeping the truck coated because this stuff goes on like a grease and it doesn't keep dripping once it kind of builds up.

I'm just taking pictures with my iPhone 5 and uploading them on my computer, and then just attaching them.

Here is a picture of the foam out of the cab, and a pic of the cab corner foam free.

 

Sorry didn't mean to post this not sure how to delete

 

sorry didn't mean to post this not sure how to delete

 

Hate to say it but the foam is also in the rocker panel.

 

When my cowl drain plugged, the water leaked down behind the front fender and filled the rocker panel. Dug out as much as I could. Also dug out as much of the cab corner foam which was full of water.

 

Good job removing the foam. Don't forget to put a rubber plug in there to seal out the tire spray.

And yes, the foam is also in the A pillar to rocker area as well

 

I hate that foam! It's in all the cab corners, top and bottom. It's really difficult to dig out in places between the layers of sheet metal, but that's what I tried to do wherever I could. Be sure to follow it up with some sort of rust-halting treatment - something you can spray into the cavities is best - as you will undoubtedly scratch things up digging the foam out.

Godspeed...