LineX ing my rocker panels and fender flares, replace "dog leg" first? (pic)

I plan to LineX my rockers and fenders. I dont want to Herculine because I have a buddy who runs a LineX shop in my city and he can do it in a grey to match my Limited trim and he sands it all down and will give me a decent price. I think the only place it it more than surface rust is the classic dog leg spot. How hard is that to replace or could I sand it down and patch it since it doesn't have to look great before the LineX goes on. This image isn't of my truck but it the spot I am talking about. If I sand all of my rust I think on each side I will have a hole about under an inch tall and 2-3 inches long where the running boards used to bolt.
Thanks. I want replies quick cause I was supposed to take it in tomorrow and I started playing with the sanding wheel today and noticed this was a lil worse than I wanted.

 

[Dannyboy]

oops heres the pic

 

[Dannyboy]

anyone, anyone.

 

[93EddieBauer]

I sanded filled and repainted mine about a year and a half ago and the rust just started to come through again this fall. I'm probably going to replace mine this summer though. If you plan on keeping the truck for a while, I'd just replace them and get it over with because with all the snow and salt it will just come through again after a while.

 

[Kevin Zeller]

Does anyone make this as a patch panel yet? This has been a very common problem and just about every one that is not hidden by body trim or step boards are rusted. I repaired (tried to) mine a few years ago but has already started to rust through. I believe Ford should at least make this as a patch panel to be welded in. Other than this, my truck still looks great.

Also, does anyone know if the '95 and newer Explorers rust out here? They are covered up enough that it would have to rust out very badly before getting past the plastic rocker covers.

 

[Hartman]

My 95 has no rust at all. On mine, the tupperware comes up and covers most of the "dog leg" area, so that serves as protection from the salt, road grime, etc.

 

[Kevin Zeller]

The rust on these panels starts from the inside and works to the outside. Just wondering if the '95 we built any differently in the rocker panel. I have seen '93 and '94's with molding covering rocker panels rust out also. Will a '95 do the same thing?

 

[Hartman]

I'm sure there isn't a big difference in rocker design from 94-95.

 

[Dannyboy]

Figured I'd bring this around for another lap. I was talked into buying a Fiberglass kit from Autozone. It was only ten bucks so I have nothing to lose. Anyone familiar with fiberglass repair?

 

[Big E]

Here is the web site to buy the repair panels.

Dead Link Removed

Eric

 

[lXl Explorer lX]

Hey Big E i was just wondering if i wanna buy the dog leg and the rocker panel how do i get them off from my X now...do i have to cut them off then weld the new pieces on?,..i wanna order these soon but i wanna have an idea of what im gonna have to do to replace them so i can have my girl painted

thanx
jay

 

[92x]

Jay,

I have replaced my dog legs. You need to remove the interior trim and lift up the weatherstripping. Behind the weatherstripping are some spot welds. There are also spot welds that run along the bottom edges of the truck. Remove all the spot welds with a spot weld removal drill bit and you will be able to peel the rusted metal off very neatly. I did not have to replace my entire rocker but the process should be similar. I got my sheetmetal from rustrepair.com. The dog legs were not a perfect fit so I had to take extra time to make it perfect.

 

[wingnutkev]

Does anybody have any before and after shots of this?

 

[92x]

I don't have before and after pictures but they're not needed because both pictures would look exactly the same. The only difference is the dog leg overlaps the rocker about a half inch shorter or so. As long as you take your time it will turn out okay. I did it without having even welded before. I just had a lot of grinding to do on the first side i attempted until i got the hang of it. Someone posted some pictures once but not an after shot just the work in progress.

 

[wingnutkev]

Do you have pictures of what it looks like now? I just want to see what the end result looks like. I found a spot on mine that I could put my thumb through and I know I'm gonna be fixing this soon.

 

[lXl Explorer lX]

Hey guys i just wanted to know if anyone knows how remove the orginal dog leg and rocker panel...somewhere i heard the rocker panel is spot welded?...how do i remove the original parts to put the new replacements on?

Thanx
jay