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New to the forums - just picked up an 05 f-250 Harley Davidson a few weeks ago. I've got some rust issues on the inner rocker panels and the end of the cab crossmembers where they meet the inner rocker panels. Looking for advice on how to handle this...
My options as I see them:
1) Lift the cab and replace the inner rocker panels and cab crossmembers (it looks like they're all available to be purchased)
2) Patch up the bad spots in the inner rocker panel and weld in new crossmember ends
3) Knock off the loose stuff, wire brush and POR 15 the hell out of everything and then do option 1 or 2 if I start to notice structural problems.
Unfortunately I'm not a welder so I'd have to pay someone to do this. Admittedly, I didnt see this rust when orginially looking at the truck... There is no rust at all on the body and very minimal surface rust on the bed supports and frame so I didnt look under the truck as closely as should have.
Check the bottoms of the doors also. Usually rust like you show also are in the bottom of the doors. Rust work can get very expensive if you can't do it yourself. You have a nice looking truck on the outside...
Check the bottoms of the doors also. Usually rust like you show also are in the bottom of the doors. Rust work can get very expensive if you can't do it yourself. You have a nice looking truck on the outside...
Nothing at all on the bottom of the doors (pulled the seals) or the outer rockers... clean as can be. Seems very odd that the rust is as bad as it is but so isolated.
I had an '04, loved the thing but rust got the better of it. The best advice is what FordMan said. If you're going to keep it, replace with new. What isn't rotted through, sand to metal and repaint. If you live in the rust belt my recommendation after it's fixed is good old fashion undercoating. Many here will advocate fluid film, it does an excellent job protecting against rust but your undercarriage needs to be washed and it needs to be reapplied yearly. Pretty truck, outside looks really nice. Like me, the person that sold it probably hated getting rid of it, just couldn't afford or want to deal with the rust.
If you plan on keeping the truck for awhile replace the parts with new.
Originally Posted by Chuck-B
I had an '04, loved the thing but rust got the better of it. The best advice is what FordMan said. If you're going to keep it, replace with new. What isn't rotted through, sand to metal and repaint. If you live in the rust belt my recommendation after it's fixed is good old fashion undercoating. Many here will advocate fluid film, it does an excellent job protecting against rust but your undercarriage needs to be washed and it needs to be reapplied yearly. Pretty truck, outside looks really nice. Like me, the person that sold it probably hated getting rid of it, just couldn't afford or want to deal with the rust.
Thank you for the input. Outside of this rust that I'm going to have to deal with, I love the truck. I guess I'll stop by a few places and get estimates on what it'd be to patch up the bad spots or completely replace the rockers and crossmembers. I really have no idea what kind of money I should be expecting to spend on this.
