Cab gutter sealer

[Aus69c20]

Hi everyone.
I've done a bit of a forum search and can't come up with anything specific to my situation.
My issue is the cab gutter sealant has a few cracks and breaks in it which the Po had put some silicone over. I'm wanting to fix the problem a little better but not wanting to repaint the roof. Just wondering what my options are?

Should I bite the bullet and strip the old sealant, cleanout and prime the gutter, seam seal and spray it white hoping I can minimise damage to the existing roof paint.

Or can I scuff what's there and go over the top with new sealer.

Or repair the problem areas with some white seam sealer and call it good.

I would be using a rattle can to paint if I had to paint and whatever l do I'm hoping it will last 10 yrs or so when a resto is on the cards. The truck will also be close to a daily driver, rain or hail.

Here's a picture of the worst area. Thanks in advance

[Gmc.guy]

I haven't done it on a roof gutter but i have on other daily drivers, stick a double or triple wide layer of masking tape up to the edge of the sealer you want to remove and cover the good paint. Then put a single layer of cheap duct tape just up from the edge to protect from dings. Then you can pick , chisel , the bigger chunks out and use something like a little brass wire brush to clean it out smooth. I've used the stiffer brass brushes in seam dealers before and they work well. Slip into a drill and go. Then rattle can and seam seal new. Just don't leave the tape on too long if it takes you a while. It's way easier to take the tape off and put back on than clean the stickies off

[Gmc.guy]

In ten years the body work will be much easier if you clean out and seal it rather than spot repair and end up with pinholes.

[Aus69c20]

Thanks Gmc.guy, sounds like good advice.

[custom10nut]

Good thread, because I'm about to do the same thing. Anybody have suggestions on quality sealers? And would the local auto parts store have it?

[webfoot]

Flexible non-hardening seam sealer of your choice. Here are several products:

https://www.semproducts.com/repair-seam-sealers

[Dad's72]

Your worst area is better than my best.

[LongBox]

Yeah, I was just gonna say that the gutters are in pretty good shape for an old truck.

[GASoline71]

There's sealant in the gutter?

My truck has almost none left, so I'll be doing the entire drip rail around the cab.

Gary

[Aus69c20]

Thanks everybody for your input.

It sounds as though mines not to bad at all compared to some. I've got a good solid truck and im doing what I can to keep it that way so I think I'll follow gmc.guys advice.

Thanks again

[ss454conv]

I will re-enforce the importance of properly sealing the drip rail. When they leak, the damage to the inner structure is worse than most can imagine. A leaking drip rail is essentially the death of most cabs that get replaced. Yours does look pretty good but don't cut a corner here. Plenty of good advise above. I will add that I would completely dig out the original sealer all the way to metal. Be sure that you removal all rust then epoxy prime, seam seal, and then top coat. You can get a good quality epoxy primer and paint in an aerosol can from most paint distributors, so no paint gun needed for a small preservation job like this.
Good luck.

[Aus69c20]

Thanks ss454