just found about a pound of dirt in this spot on each side
left front door

close up

did a brief preliminary clean out but still got a pebble stuck in there I cant get with my fingers

Im sure most of you saw this many years ago

oh well

 

Once you've vacuumed that out, give it a good dose of Fluid Film to inhibit the rust.

 

And add these things:

 

Amen to that...why more folks don’t run flaps is beyond me! Oh, wait, lots of these rigs don’t see dirt!

TXCOMT

 

I also found a bunch of leaves between the bed and the cab. there is a piece of weatherstripping down there that helps trap them

 

I just pulled off all that leaf catchin dirt trappin flim flackin weather stripping between the cab and the bed


I tend to favor OEM equipment and leave it be but this time I am glad I got it out of there.
next I pressure washed all the accumulated rust inducing junk that was trapped in there

yes there is day light between my bed and cab

should have done this LONG AGO

 

That red truck has been painted at some point (red paint on the christmas trees in 2nd and 3rd photos) and the baffles that prevent crud from collecting at the bottom of the fender opening at the front of the door jamb have not been replaced.