Kick panel rust! Help!

[texjake]

Can anyone help me determine where this rust is occurring from on the kick panels? Is water getting in around behind the vents or around the windshield and leaking in & down behind the firewall? I have noticed it every time it rains it's wet there and not sure if its leaking in from in behind or where my leak is coming from. Is this common for most of these truck or do I have a bigger problem than expected. That's the only rust on this truck, the rockers are all solid.

[dakattack7]

My no rust az truck has the same problem, although my biggest hole is about dime sized. I think I narrowed it down to the windshield gasket. I followed the dripping water up the firewall and thought it was dried out/leaking sealant so I pulled the cowl panel off and redid the sealant right at those seams. Didn't fix it! So I believe it's the windshield gasket, in my case it's the only other option.

You could pull your cowl panel and check this factory sealant for it's condition:

[franken]

Have a look at the drip rail seam sealer as well.

[sboris]

Couple ideas as to how the water finds its way..

[71 super]

Drip rail is best option. The drip follows the a pillar down and drains at front of rocker. This gets stopped up and the result is what most of these trucks show up with at inner kick panels and rocker rust.