Just how bad can a repop outer rocker be?

[KrazyKevin]

Got my cab corner in place. The alignment is pretty good by looking at the back of the cab. Now where the cab corner rolls into the B pillar and rocker area I did have to do some slicing because it was about 1/4" past the B pillar where they should mate. My door alignment in my eyes is ok. The clearances look pretty darn good. But with that said, my outer rock I bought from Summit (Goodmark) is not cooporating at all. With the rocker set in place, it is about 1" off from the B pillar. Also, everyone on the board says that the top ridge of the oute rocker should be about 1/4" below the floor. Well my outer rocker is sitting as low as it can go. It can't go any lower unless I start beating the cab floor down. The rocker is sitting on the lip of the cab floor. I think my cab floor piece is good. Can a outer rocker just be this screwed up? I understand that I'm probably off a little here and there, but this thing is just really giving me a time.

[KrazyKevin]

You can see in picture 7 that the outer rocker bottom lip is hanging down further than the cab corner lip already. But in the current mock up I have that is what it takes to get the curve of the cab corner and the rocker to match up. But like I said earlier my cab corner is pretty much aligned as you can see by picture 1.

Also I measured the distance between pillars on the drivers side and came up with roughly 38 1/4". On the passenger side that I'm working on I have almost 38 1/2. I wouldn't think that would cause the rocker to be off by 1" though.

[ChevLoRay]

Have a friend who can take empty Prince Albert cans and make "stuff". Actually, he takes 20-ga. steel sheet and mostly common hand tools along with some home-made tools, and makes what he can't buy. Right now, he's building the back corners of a '32 Ford 3-window coupe. Back in the summer, he did a '67 Camaro, that had been butchered in an unbelievable way. He replaced the roof, dash, both rear quarters, the deck lid, the taillight panel, etc. Half of the floor pan was replaced, along with the trunk floor. Why anyone would want to save the hull was beyond me. The detail work that he had to attend to was mind-boggling. Pieces that were bought with the intention that they were ready-to-go, weren't. He tweaked this, bent that, cut and trimmed the other stuff and got it all to fit. I guess the point he made that I finally got is that the stuff probably isn't going to work and look original unless you "monitor and adjust" it to fit right. It takes a good eye, and lots of trial fitment. Measure a lot. Cut just a little. He uses a metal stretcher/shrinker he got from Harbor Freight, along with a set of hand-operated metal shears (red, yellow, green handles). His bag is home made. A piece of railroad rail, is an anvil. His body tools are old....and proven. The difference in his work, is in his ability to take the myriad of aftermarket parts and make them work.

Your work looks good, and shows that there's a lot of stuff that we think is gonna be what we need, only to find that it needs a little finessing.

This is a pic of some work he did on a '54 F-100. He started with the 20-ga. metal, and cut, hammered, welded and created the lower portion of the door posts, where the front fenders attach. I did a whole series of pix to document his work, for him and the owner. The round item you see is the well below the dimmer switch. The foot panel below the dash looked like cheesecloth, after it had been gently sandblasted. Everything grey, was made from 20-ga. After he was finished, and it was primed, it was primo.

[Scottshotrods]

the rockers you have mentioned here
all need some work.We have not had
real good luck buying sheetmetal panels then just welding them in with
no issues.This is the same reason we make all of our sheetmetal panels
in house.
Justin
www.scottshotrods.com

[dfosh]

I have neve had a replacement panel that fit wort a d!!! most are close to what you have . You would think the companys would do a better job . They know they are the way thay are . Personally i would pay twice what they cost now just to get reasonably close . Sorry for the rant but i get pissed everytime i try to replace a panel , but yet i do it again and again .

[KrazyKevin]

thanks for the replies. I don't want to come off as just b!tching that they don't work. I don't mind working to make them fit. Just being this is my first go around at this stuff, I can't believe they are off this much. I could see my rocker being 1/4 to 1/2" to short, but not an inch or more!!!

I'm mainly concerned about the very bottom edge under the truck. The rocker is already 1/4" below the cab corner, and it actually needs to come down some more. I guess I"ll just get it aligned and start going krazy with it.

[rscam]

I actually paid a guy to put floors rockers and corners on my truck. When he was done it looked great. I then put my bed on and the steps hit the cab corners. So I started looking and the corners tailed out toward the back of the truck. Instead of fitting them properly he welded them on the way they were and used body filler to take up then 3/4 gap. His fix was "move the bed back". I was livid. I bought some more and cut the off and redid them myself. Everything lined up on the back but they went around to the door way to far(1/2"). They almost looked like they were supposed to be put over the existing corner instead of the corner being cut out and replaced. That sounds like what you have now.

[drewdude92]

you got some baling wire holding your exhaust up? haha ive got the same thing hey the stuff works...

[yotaforce]

I have been building cars for about 20 years now and I have never had an aftermarket panel work out of the box. It always involves metal work and some off the wall fab work. I have tried every manufacturer and believe that they all buy from the same Chinese company. If I need a door skin, I buy an aftermarket, cut out what I need, and repair the original skin. It sucks, but you can't make cookies out of dogs#@t! You look like you are doing fine with what you have. You are not alone.

[bigsnookmaster]

I'vr had luck with NOS rockers. You can still find them on E-bay, and they usually go for about 200 bucks a set,but I think it's worth the extra coin to avoid all the problems.My .02

[chevymad]

I've installed 2 sets previously, and they all fit pretty good. This year I installed another one on the drivers side of my new cab. When the seal lip is lined up, the whole outer skin of the rocker is 1/4" too far in. I didnt feel like cutting the whole length of the rocker, and this is my daily driver, so i left it. But the fit was piss poor to say the least. My rig is lowered too, so at least it will be fairly hard to see.

[KrazyKevin]

Well, you guys just made this newb feel a lot better. I still can't believe how much this stuff is outawhack right out the box. In a way, don't mind making it work. I like working out things. But jeezz, I never would have thought things would be this much off. But no sweat. I think I'll make it.

A quick question: Looking at some of my original truck picks, I notice I don't have a lip on my original outer rocker. Its almost like the original rocker just came in flush with the very top of the inner rocker. But all the after market outer rockers have the ridge or lip on the very top. maybe my original ones were just rusted off, lol.

In the morning I'll start slicing and dicing again. Thanks for the reassurence. I needed it.

Kevin

[sourkraut]

Is there any chance they are the slip over ones(larger size to fit over factory ones)? The guy who had my truck before me used those and they look like yours hanging way down.

[Psycho71]

I replaced the rockers (inner and outer) and cab corners on my truck last winter. The first time I've ever attempted any like that. I guess I got very lucky. My Inners and Outers went in like they were made for the truck. And I just cut what I needed for the cab corners.

I was very intimidated when I started, but all in all, it went very well. Guess I got lucky and ended up with very rare well fitting parts. Mine aren't show quality fits by any means, but then again, neither is my truck. It gets used as a truck (hunting & fishing), and has pig blood all over the tailgate as I type this.


Jay

[KrazyKevin]

I've never heard of slip over outer rockers. But it seems like that would be a terrible fit. I wouldn't think you would ever get them aligned correctly.

[68gmsee]

I bought some rockers (inner and outer) from JC Whitney about 10 years ago and believe it or not they fit a lot better than the stuff selling these days.

Buying aftermarket overseas made sheetmetal parts these days is about like buying a pair of overseas made shoes. My foot size varies from a 10 to a 12 1/2.