Rocker Replacement/Band-aid

Doing a little patchwork on the jeep this year, and found some troubled areas. The main two are the driver's side rocker (6" gash of rot) and the drivers rear quarter panel (4" gash of rot). I have cut back to good metal on both of these spots, but don't have the skill (or time) to weld in new panels. I won't touch any filler, either.

For the rear quarters, I have ordered Rustys guards (http://rustysoffroad.com/mm5/mercha...Product_Code=RA-JS78-XJ&Category_Code=xj_skid) and plan to just cover up the treated gash.

I have searched on the forums for a similar solution for the rockers, and have found a few, but it doesn't seem like anyone is making them still. Any ideas, or suggestions??

Welding is really about the only option at this point. Weld in 2x4 or 2x6 3/16 peice of steel. I did 2x4 then added some sliders to it.

I'd like to imagine that me -- or my Harbor Freight welder were up to the task, but I don't think we are.

..unless someone has a detailed write-up, that is.

I was thinking of trying to tack some sheet metal in place, and smooth it with filler. The whole bottom half of the jeep is getting a bath in some Rhino-liner this month, so I'm not too worried about appearance.

If you're gonna be covering it with bedliner anyway then go buy some 24ga sheetmetal from an HVAC shop, cut it into a slightly larger piece, drill some holes around the perimeter, cover it with primer, and then glue it in place. You want staggered holes so the glue can prevent it from moving. Any kind of dry, weatherproof adhesive will work, probably a hard epoxy would be best for outside exposure. I have a small rust spot developing on my passenger rocker, and will probably be able to fix it with some drywall patching mesh and body filler.

zPike00EB said:

I'd like to imagine that me -- or my Harbor Freight welder were up to the task, but I don't think we are.

Click to expand...

X2 Although my welder is a very nice Miller stick machine my welding skill are very limited and I can't imagine welding thicker tube steel like that to unibody and super thin sheet metal like the rockers are. Especially with a stick welder.

just use some 2x6x1/8 rect tubing for the rockers. it's not really that hard to weld the 1/8 to the sheetmetal at the rockers. the thicker the tubing you get the harder it gets to weld.

using drywall mesh and body filler to fix a rust hole sounds pretty hokey to me, but hey whatever works i guess