Joe Dirt's Wedgie

[Glen4X4]

The truck looks great Joe, kinda surprised to see you undergoing undercarriage care but then kinda not : sure makes a 10yr old truck look great.

 

[Explorer Junky]

Hey Joe, where is that you were taking those pics of in the woods? I hunt up near Brohman, and Diamond Lake.

 

[BrianDye]

Did you notice the missing rear wiper blade?

I noticed it, however I just thought you had a really small blade on it (Kinda looks that way) but stupid me should realize Joe would never let that fly Lookin good man

"keep up the good work" as they say hah

 

[Joe Dirt]

Hey Joe, where is that you were taking those pics of in the woods? I hunt up near Brohman, and Diamond Lake.

We have some property between Hale and Whittemore just south of the M55-M65 interchange. Unfortunately, apparently all of the deer went on vacation this year. My Dad was out from October 1st until last Wednesday, unless raining, morning and evening. I went up every weekend aside from this past one, and between the two of us for the month of October- we saw 3 deer. Everyone up there is baffled, nobody is seeing deer. I think I saw one deer on a car this season. But hey- that's why they call it hunting, not harvesting. The deer win this round.

 

[Joe Dirt]

So I was surfing CraigsList last week, and some dude was selling a set of new rocker panels and doglegs for a 2nd gen Ex. Got me to thinking- after realizing just how shi**y BrianDye's back bumper looks...

...I figured that I'd pull my running boards off on Thanksgiving (you know- because there is no extended family to annoy me in the garage) and see what was down there since I knew there was some rust starting to pop and I am going to repaint the bottoms of the doors anyway after the PO's great attempt at fixing paint chips with an aerosol can.

You know, a little bit of rust here...

...a little bit there

the usual-

I can't handle that. I have to look.

Why- why did I look?

Not bad? Let's clean out the cancer since we're this far...

They're not bad- they're gone! 100k? WTF?!? I HATE Michigan roadsalt. <cue the reply from Arizona, New Mexico or Texas>

So, I called the dude and picked up the rockers. They'll go on in the spring assuming the truck doesn't blow up.
In the meantime, I'll POR-15 what's left, paint them blue to match since they'll be hidden save for the top edge and undercoat the gaps,

bondo that hole on the rear driver's side dogleg to make it look presentable (was gone on top, whole dogleg split off- didn't take a pic),

and I'll toss on either the running boards or the XLT Sport caps since the fender flares are going on anyway. No sense in making a new set of Rockers go through a Michigan winter. Might spray foam the inside just for craps and laughs as well. No pics yet, as the paint was curing in the cold still.

Brian- no comments, my now painted and soon to be hidden rockers still look better than your rear bumper. :



And no, that isn't my kid above. My kid looks much less psycho:

 

[GRNMACHINE]

OUCH!!!!!!

Those pics of the Rust are giving me nitemares

 

[Jager]

Joe, your perfectionism and patience is remarkable. You EX seriously looks new...

I think I may take a drive to Michigan, and leave my car with you for a weekend. It needs a nice cleaning...

 

[vroomzoomboom]

You have just learned the hard way why you don't pull those off. That's how evil was born. Started off by wanting to paint the ground effects, into a full blown paint job. And it didn't even show any signs of rust......period!

 

[Joe Dirt]

I'm actually going to leave it like that until you visit... Then open the garage, and let the sight of them bother you until you fix them for me while I drink beer.

I seriously hate Michigan winters, and that rocker design. The rest of the truck is clean, and at 100k, for the rockers to be gone to me is ridiculous. Oh well- all part of Explorer ownership. Since I didn't have to fix anything on Shamrock, I'm due.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

It just might take more then a day, and def. More then a few beer (more like a keg)! I know, manitoba is no better, and ford really had there head up there ass when they designed the rockers for these trucks. I looked at the rockers on my ranger and thought "why the hell didn't they do the explorers like these!". Someone must have lost a bet or something....

 

[gmanpaint]

Those rockers should be on a Recall.

OCD has prevailed yet again Joe. In your case, it's a good thing. Being **** with the perfection is not a bad thing either, as long as it improves things in a positive manner, its harmless.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

oh, btw joe, DO NOT put spray foam in there. for 2 reasons, first, what ever shop you take it to, the body guy will want to kill you. that stuff LOVES to catch fire. ask me how i know. second, it is a bad moisture trap as well. you would be better of leaving them the way they are, and somehow putting the running boards back on. after you get them fix however, throw them away.

 

[Joe Dirt]

Yeah, not doing the foam. I just left them undercoated and put the boards back on.

Couple of shots, it's very presentable...

I can't set the truck on fire.











Yet.

 

[Sams01XplrSprt]

lookin good joe

 

[Joe Dirt]

After torquing around with the running boards for a bit last night, I had to un-dust the interior from the bondo dusting on that dogleg. So, I decided to clean up my nasty steering wheel.

I haven't even cleaned the panels or seats with erasers yet, so this is the first scrub of the truck's interior surfaces, amazingly enough...

Gummy disgusting starting point:

Now, if you're going to use the magic erasers, you have to use very light pressure, and do NOT scrub too much. You only want to remove the dirt, not the coatings. The wheels do have minimal coatings on them and the erasers will cut through them.


One application, completely disgusting. Gets us to here: (you can see the difference on the right edge of the pic, where it's been wiped, and where it hasn't)

What came off...

After that, grab your Megs cream conditioner.

Work in some liberal applications well. I just use a paper towel. I'd say work into the wheel where it would take you about a minute to get all the way around.

Wipe off with a clean terry or microfiber. We're getting there...

Again (I did a total of 4 applications to get oils back into the wheel)

And after 4 applications we're golden. Soft, smooth, and ready to roll. Rock on!

 

[1AJeremyD]

Looks awesome! Too bad my wheels torn at the top, right at the seam. It would definitely enjoy some cleaning on it. Really like the redone panels. Whole trucks looking sharp

 

[Joe Dirt]

Thanks Sam and Jeremy!

 

[vroomzoomboom]

I'm almost terrified to touch mine with a scrub pad. it looks like it is on the edge of peeling. what about leather shoe wax, do you think that is a good idea or not?

 

[sport97]

At least your inner rockers are still intact, mine was rotted all the way almost up to the body on the inner rocker. Its a crappy job to do, but mine came out good.

You would be appalled, I still have the bondo dust mess in my car, its been over a month since i did my rockers...

 

[NHarris]

Joe...
Holy S*** your interior is spotless! Makes me jealous, going to clean my X right now...
I'm going to get some of that Gold Class leather care this weekend
Keep up the great work!