Rusting Raptor Rocker panels

[Bulletnjm]

Now if i where to clean the holes out real good with water and let it dry out in there, and then sprayed the shit oit of it with the lps that would prevent rust from spreading correct?

 

[Labraptor]

I would be in too.

 

[TheWolf]

That's 17 so far. I think you came up with a great idea @dhollist

Nice work!

 

[Trick.Raptor]

Is this a problem in dry climates? Not much rain and no snow here in Santa Maria, CA.

However, my Raptor spent less than a year in Salt Lake City. The undercarriage looks good... some rail dust on the white paint has been cleaned up. I'm also not experiencing any third brake light water damage so I wonder if this is more of a rust belt issue?

 

[HAP]

For me, just want to get rid of the tacky looking tape on my $50K truck. Don't want to worry if it is lifting or falling off.

 

[Kahuna]

I'll take a set when available.

 

[cubiefan101]

Count me in

 

[Huck]

If you plug all those holes they will rust more. Water needs to drain from the body panels. And you need air to dry out the water. I'm on Midwest / Chicago winter #3 and no rust issues

---------- Post added at 10:07 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:05 PM ----------

Now if i where to clean the holes out real good with water and let it dry out in there, and then sprayed the shit oit of it with the lps that would prevent rust from spreading correct?

No lps doesn't stop rust that's already formed. It's just a vapor barrier

 

[13raptorcrew]

Tape is cheap, but plugs are better (not to mention reusable). Im interested! @Huck, we are not plugging the drain holes, just the larger access holes. Presumably the plugs would be removed once or twice a year to clean out the drains, then plugs re-installed.

 

[Chris's FX4]

A lot of 97-03 F150's have rocker panels that rusted from the inside out because of the lack of a more permanent solution than tape being used to cover these access holes. Salt, mud, or whatever would just get up in there and collect and eventually plug the drain holes that you can see at the very bottom edge. This would rust them from the inside out and by the time you noticed it, it was too late. A lot of these trucks also had factory steps and some trucks didn't receive any tape at all or it was pulled back back off of where the step bracket mounts. My 2002 F150's rockers were starting to rust from the inside out when I got rid of it mainly because I had no idea there was supposed to be tape covering those holes (truck was bought used). It wasn't until I started searching forums about it that I realized it, but by that time it was too late.

Keeping the drain holes at the bottom clear is key, and keeping the access holes that originally had tape on them covered is key to help keep them from getting clogged by stuff collecting in the rocker because of those access holes. So I see no harm in plugging the holes that originally had tape over them.