So I love my Truck, and just for the sake of it got a estimate from Carmax today of $20,000 for the truck. Is it worth it to fix? The truck is low miles, and in great condition otherwise. One body shop I called today said, NOPE once rust is there is never goes away, and to sell the truck..A little part of me died when I heard that...I just cant believe body shops today, cant fix rust, its not like the entire truck is falling apart, its just those rocker panels. If I start to chip away the rust, get some POR15 to coat the parts that I can see that might just be starting to show a little rust, and have these rockers fixed, is it worth it...

I really appreciate all the dialog, help, suggestions, etc from everyone. Thank you again.

 

The shop I worked for was a "Hacker" outfit. Meaning that we would repair rust all day long. Most high end shops really won't deal with rust, cause truthfully, it will come back. The only exception would be if you had all of the rusty steel cut out, replaced with new steel (using the mentioned zinc weld through primer and seam sealers) and never drove the truck in the salt again. Anytime a panel is cut off, or factory welds are drilled out, there is bare steel. Even with taking every precaution, when steel is overlapped and welded together, there will still be bare steel somewhere that will rust. The problem with using the POR15, is that you are only applying that to the areas that you can get to. Unfortunately there is much more rust inside that panel that will continue to get worse. Once you get into cutting and welding on panels, it really is a temporary fix. You might get another 2-3 years before it starts to pop through again. I feel your pain on this one. I'm lucky that I can unbolt my rusty fender and bolt on a new one. I watched my '99 Sport start to turn to dust after 6 years (before I learned about oil spraying) and thought I wouldn't see the same on my '09, so it was a shock to see this one start too. Personally, if it was me, I would unload it. I decided that if mine starts to get bad, even with the precautions I took, I would sell it. And as much as I love Ram/Mopar, I couldn't bring myself to spend 30-40k on a vehicle that rots in 6 years. Let us know what you decide to do and good luck!

 

So don't I'm getting rid of it. It's sad and my little girl (9 years old) was crying last night, we named my truck rocket after the little einsteins kids show years ago. Yesterday last effort to fix it was a body shop manager reinforcing what all you have said. I said if you didnt have a body shop what would you do, he said I would get rid of it. I drive the fords and its extremely tough to like it. I'm a bug guy and its just not a fun or energizing cabin and the costs are huge when you get to a loaded model. Chrysler is working in a thing called a Edi for me for my new purchase. While I'm doing what i vowed not to, I don't like the fords (sorry any ford owners), the Chevys have no style and the gmc are looking to rate high on issues. I'm thinking of a Laramie Mega Cab with the 6.4