I have a 2005 F-250 King Ranch Super Crew diesel with 199k miles. Engine is great. It needs some rust repair behind the 2 back doors. Local body shops say the insurance companies will not allow them to do rust work because it cannot be guaranteed. Does anyone know of a place near Circleville, Ohio that does rust repairs? Thanks!

 

That body shop is full of..well you know..they just don't want to deal with it. The boss at the shop I used to work in used the same excuse with customers, even though there was nothing stopping us from doing it. He just wanted to do the easy insurance work that had a guaranteed payoff with as little hassle as possible. Probably what they're doing. Just keep hitting other shops till you find one that's willing.

 

I went to a body shop I have used before and they gave me the name of somebody who works for them and does rust repair on the side but I can't get him to return my calls. I have checked with every body shop in the county and no one will do the work.

 

Take some pix so we can see and able to help you, if possible.

 

Behind passenger rear door.

Under the rear passenger side sest.

Bottom of rear passenger side door.

Passenger side door.

Under rear driver side door.

Side of rear driver side door.

Bottom.of rear driver side door.

Driver door.

Behind driver side rear door.

 

Thanks for looking into this. Sorry for the delay but I couldn't get the pictures uploaded at home due to my poor internet. I had to find some place I could go.to and upload these.

 

I removed my runnin boards and removed all loose material. Then a needle scaler and/or die grinder brush (good dust mask, safety glasses etc.) to clean rust area and a few inches beyond. Did inside and outside (everywhere I could) Coated everywhere with EvapoRust and let dry overnight, primed metal everwhere with Rustoleum Professional Rusty Metal Primer after it dried overnight. Next day I used fiberglass mat and resin to start repairs. Get 1 inch disposable brushes and place resin on metal first and press dry mat into it. Keep adding resin until full saturated and you can fold together or whatever to make what you need (lip for running board bolt clips, etc). On the cab corners or any holes u will have to just resin the edges of the "holes" and attach the edges of a dry mat strip, let em dry then add resin to center, let that dry and u have a foundation to work from. Work the strips different ways to the corners shape. Sometimes u will have to just add a strip, let dry, then build on that. You will have to dab alot to fully saturate the mat and it will flatten/mold out nicely for u. Make sure u use the mat, not the cloth. Practice in a hidden area or on a piece of scrap and make sure u "build" from good metal inward. When I was done I painted area with another coat of rusty metal primer and two coats of protective enamel.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Most body shops should be willing to cut the rockers and cab corners out and replace them. Depending on the rates around your area, I'd say you're looking between $2500 and $3500 in rocker and cab corner replacement. My 2003 F350 SC is worse than yours and I was quoted $$2500, from a guy in Wisconsin, which was cheaper than the Chicago area, but one thing they all had in common was that they didn't want to mess with the doors. They say it'll be cheaper to find doors with no rust and have them painted than to try to repair them.

 

Fiberglass is a temporary, hack, repair and might last a few years before it starts to separate from the base metal. I'd only do it to something i was trying to get a couple more years out of before i had to junk it.

I suggest you do some digging and look inside the doors and inside the door pillars on the cab. You might have to drill some access holes to do this. The way that rust is forming it looks like it started rusting on the inside and worked it's way out. If that's the case, 1i'd say that cab isn't worth saving, probably be better to do a cab swap. If you could find a good cab, you could probably find a shop that would swap it for you easier than doing the rust repair.

 

There are a few reasons why many body shops do not do rust repair or any non insurance work, the main one being that they can not charge people as much as the insurance companies pay and getting paid from individuals is much harder then there is the fact that a vehicle that has rust issues in some places will likely have more in the future and they do not want you coming back in 6 months complaining when a new rust spot shows up.

 

When i work in the AB shop we started charging out of pocket customers WAYYYYYY more than we charged the INS. companies, just to drive them away. Those people were usually a real P.I.T.A to deal with. When I started we did some rust repairs here and there, usually trying to help someone save a classic car, but eventually my boss stopped taking that work exactly because of what you said. We fixed the rust on the front fender of this woman's old Jaguar and she came back over a year later with rust on the quarterpanel and said we did a bad job and need to fix it..we never even touched the QP.... Her husband was an attorney and dragged my boss to court 3 or 4 times, losing every time, before he gave up. That was the last non Ins job we took.

 

The engine runs great. I hate to trade in a truck Itrove which runs fantastic just because of some rust that I would think could be fixed. But it almost sounds like it is trade in time.

 

I have a 04 SC with the exact same issue just no where near as bad. It has 122K and runs mint 5.4L. the guy I went to told me not worth fixing. Said if I was to fix it just get China doors or look for new doors with no rust. I love my truck and can not afford another one. I will look for good doors and have the cab corners and rockers repaired first. I am also looking for a place to sandblast and epoxy coat the frame and underneath. I am in NY. Hope things work out for you. These trucks are not cheap so unless you have the money to buy new fix what is still good.

 

I know they have gotten very, very expensive. I have a farm and an 18 foot livestock I need to pull so I need something for that. Unfortunately, I can't find anyone who will even look at the rust and talk about what needs to be done and provide an estimate. Buying a new truck or a newer used truck may end being my only option. Good luck with your rust solution.

 

Yes, you can find clean doors in most salvage yards. If you're willing to drive a few hours, look south. Try "car-part.com"