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Working with Rust

LoquetusofBorg

"Resistance is Futile"
Elite Explorer
Joined
December 8, 2012
Messages
338
Reaction score
14
Location
Eureka
City, State
Eureka, Illinois
Year, Model & Trim Level
98 Explorer Sport-Limited
Anybody know of a shop that will reasonably work to fix rocker and dog leg rust problems?
Up here in Illinois nobody even wants to work with rust. I was given a bid he said it would be at least 4000.00 to fix just the rust, no body or paint. Wow. The only place I have rust is there and I know what you see on the outside is usually 10 times worse on the inside. I can do a lot of things on my own, but fixing rust is not one of them. Please help with referrals.
Much thanks
Bob.
 



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I live in MN...another Rust Belt state...so, I sympathize with you. For $4K, you can do what I did three yrs ago and ship a rust-free truck up from the dry Southwest. Aside from the fact that they still look relatively new after all these years, you can't imagine how much easier it is to work on them without the struggle of rusted bolts, fittings, lines, hardware, etc. I see the rusty undercarriage of MN Explorers all the time at the Pick-N-Pulls and honestly don't know how one can even find an area that can be cleaned well enough to cut/weld new panels in. Probably why nobody wants to mess with them.
 






$4000 is the I-don't-want-to-do-it price!
 






Even if it was $2,000, I can't see it being worth the cost.

I reached a point in my Explorer's life where I have a list of what I won't do to it. For the most part, it needs to be less than an hour and $100 for me to bother getting it back on the road.

:)
 






I was pretty much at the same point with my previous '95 XLT. Body was rusting where you say yours is and was looking kind of weathered overall. It developed a coolant leak...which I was certain was an intake manifold gasket. With nearly 200K on it, I chose to forego any more repairs as I tend to lose interest once they start looking ratty.

I now have the opposite problem with my '98. It looks so darn nice and clean, I just installed new upper/lower ball joints, inner/outer tie rods, shocks and brake pads all around, Michelins on all corners, had the transfer case and rear diff rebuilt and new thermostat housing. Has been an expensive summer for maintenance...but, truck looks and runs excellent right now and I'm motivated to keep up with it.
 






Thank you all for the reply's. I agree that the 4000 is the I don't want to do it price. That is the only place rust is on my sport body and it does look nice, so it looks like I will fix it, I know a lot of you would not but I love my 2 door. Also they don't make 2 door suv's anymore so I will keep it. I will also keep up with the under body issues as the previous owners did not. Besides all that I know this rig and I could easily spend 3-4 grand on another and not know what I have. Cash for clunkers got rid of so many good part rigs that you just can't find parts for them any more. So fixing it "is my only option" for now.
Loquetus of Borg
(Bob)
 






Mike65 nice fix on that rust and that is exactly what I am facing so I just went online and bought on ebay the rocker panels and the dog legs for this unit so I may just do the cutting on mine and have a friend spot weld it and the grinding and I will attempt the body work. Thank you all for your help.
Sincerely,
Loquetus of Borg
 






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