was rocker panel and floorboard rust common

[shipma2]

on 1967 to 1972 chevy trucks? i live in a area (utah) were they use salt on the roads in the winter the majority of 67s to 72s i have seen have considerable rust in floorboard and rocker panel areas. most are rusted clear through . what caused it? inferior metal or improper drains when the trucks were built?

[CC69Rat]

Time, water and salt. The metal on these trucks is really solid, but to answer your question, yes the rockers, floor pans, cab mounts, and cab corners are really prone to rust. It's rare to find one without it. You almost have to look in Arizona or one of the states that's always warm and dry. .. no snow, no salty roads.

[67ChevyRedneck]

There was no "interior" metal coatings back in the day. If you cut open a pristine rust free 60's car, like cut the roof or rear quarter off, you're going to find it's coated with surface rust. Todays cars actually take a "bath" in zinc phospahte (I think that's what is used) and it coats the shell inside and out and gets in all the crevices, they didn't have that technology back then, and even todays cars, when exposed to harsh winter salt conditions will still rust as well.

[doubleb's69]

Originally Posted by shipma2

on 1967 to 1972 chevy trucks? i live in a area (utah) were they use salt on the roads in the winter the majority of 67s to 72s i have seen have considerable rust in floorboard and rocker panel areas. most are rusted clear through . what caused it? inferior metal or improper drains when the trucks were built?

You should see a hard used midwestern truck.

[Steve Hafner]

. . . .

Up until 15 years ago, my 70 lived in Virginia and had a lot of rust in all of the "normal" places
. . . including on the floor, right in front of the gas pedal.

. . . .

[slim-n-none]

Common? I thought it was a standard feature that was included at time of purchase. I dont think ive ever seen one WITHOUT rust in all those places. Lol
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[PAWS 72]

Originally Posted by slim-n-none

Common? I thought it was a standard feature that was included at time of purchase. I dont think ive ever seen one WITHOUT rust in all those places. Lol
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Me neither.

[GRX]

Rust never Sleeps ...

[72k10stepside]

it's common to have rust on a 40 year old truck.

[BadaSs_Cal]

The guy I bought mine from said it was rust free... and it was.. he didnt charge extra for the rust.

[WIDESIDE72]

Its getting to where rust fee trucks in Central Texas are getting harder and harder to find, and cost a premium when you do find them. That's why I jumped on this running driving 70 big block Longhorn with 78k miles for $1200. It still had California plates and had recently been purchased in CA and driven back to Texas for it's camper.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=519334

[19673ontree]

here in SOUTHRUST VIRGINIA ! they are a chemical called MAGNATITE it is used in the coal industry , back in the 70's and 80's the coal companie's used it and abused it , they would wait till it rained and dumped this chemichal on the road and in the river the road was just BLACK SLUDGE ! this stuff combined with a little road salt would EAT metal car's and truck's here did not have a chance !

[wilbilt]

They even rust in California. Cab corners, rockers and floors. No salt on the roads here and little rain compared to many places.

I think the body drains weren't very well thought out.

[19673ontree]

here in southrust virginia the vehicles make or model did not matter , whether it was a 1909 or a 1969 chevy or ford or dodge or whatever ! if it was on the road here IT WAS GONNA GET EAT UP !

[19673ontree]

my dad bought a brand new 1969 c10 and by 1978 it was toast ! I remember him having to take wire from old coat hangers and try to tie the fender's on the bed so they wouldn't fall off ! the cab just sank like a balloon with the air leaking out ,,,,,,,,

[ole dollor]

and remember....those were the good old days.....new trucks cost about $1,800 to $2,500....who ever thought they would last this long....even built to rust......

[special-K]

This doesn't have anything to do with these trucks in particular. All vehicles rust out somewhere by the time they are this old. It only takes 10 or so years,depending on exposure and how well/often the under body gets washed out) for a vehicle to rust out where salt is spread on the road. As far as American trucks go,Dodges in this era rusted the worse with IH and Ford next in line. GM trucks held up the best. Around here,the Japanese trucks don't last as long as any American truck. Not back then and still.

[CC69Rat]

Yeah, lets see what todays trucks look like in 40 yrs. All cars and trucks rust .. absolutely.
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[54belair]

Well, for the most part, a new truck or car now--should--on average fair better in 40 years than anything produced in the 60's-70's, and even further back in the 40's and 50's, due to the coatings used on raw metel now.
I remember I bought a new 67 chevelle and my dad bought a new c 10. He used it on the farm---in two years it had rust visible on rockers and bed sides near the floor.

On my current project, I looked for months for a near rust free truck. After inspecting the one I finally purchased--I found that it needed both rockers.
After stripping it down, removing road tar, some undercoating, door sill trim and carpet------------well, to make an already long story short, Im now about $1100 into cab repair instead of the original $300 that we had originally thought---and not finished yet !!

[ray_mcavoy]

Originally Posted by special-K

This doesn't have anything to do with these trucks in particular. All vehicles rust out somewhere by the time they are this old. It only takes 10 or so years,depending on exposure and how well/often the under body gets washed out) for a vehicle to rust out where salt is spread on the road. As far as American trucks go,Dodges in this era rusted the worse with IH and Ford next in line. GM trucks held up the best. Around here,the Japanese trucks don't last as long as any American truck. Not back then and still.

I agree. And I've seen some relatively new vehicles that already have significant rust damage from all the road salt they use here in Maine. Rocker panels & cab corners on the 99-06 GM trucks for example seem to be somewhat rust prone ... I've repaired several of those over the past few years.

As 54belair said, newer vehicles do benefit from advancements in protective coatings. But from what I've seen, those only delay the rust. And I don't think those coatings are being used on frame/chassis parts (just the body sheetmetal). As a result, I've seen quite a few late 80's & 90's era trucks with completely rusted out frames even though the sheetmetal is just starting to show signs of rust through.

[Yooper truck]

Floorboards? Just think of it as additional air conditioning.

[David67]

Yes. Except for the stainless steel models...

[special-K]

Unless every piece of metal is stainless,a vehicle will rust (rather quickly) where the mild steel and stainless meet. The newer trucks have problems with frames rusting out because they are boxed. I'd rather have a rocker rust out. There are still rust free 67-72s out there.

[54belair]

there two constant facts of life---------------

Concrete WILL crack---
and Steel WILL rust---------