The rocker panels on my 2000 Sierra were rusted pretty bad when i bought it last year. HAve went to many body shps and got a range of no s ...

The rocker panels on my 2000 Sierra were rusted pretty bad when i bought it last year. HAve went to many body shps and got a range of "no"s and numerous ways of fixing them.

Recently discovered I can buy new panels and have them replaced, then painted. Anyone have experience with this?

If so what is the going rate for replacing them and does anyone have a good body guy in the tri state area?

I also have the same issue. My drivers side rocker panel I can fit my hand through it. I will be replacing them this year, but have not yet looked into how much they cost and where to buy them. For some reason Keystone rings a bell? I'm not going to repaint mine, I'm going to have them rhino lined I think.

THere are a few truck part places on the internet that sell them. I will post some later. Prices are pretty much standard. I like your idea of Rhino lining. . .

Check LMC truck. Cutting out the old one and welding on the new one can get pricey, but putting Line-X on them will be smarter, and possibly cheaper than having them match your paint.

My '97 did the same thing. It was really bad. I vowed I wouldn't let it happen again to any other vehicle, so when I got my 2004 used, it had a bunch of chips in the paint so I put Line-x along the whole panel from behind the front wheels to the back bumper. It gives the truck a nice 2-tone effect (or you can get color match if you choose) and it is lifetime warrantied. It will last as long, if not longer than the truck. The Line-x ran me $700, but I figured it would be worth it for how long it will last, and because of that, I t was either Line-x or repaint and get mud flaps to help protect it.

I found the site, click here:
http://www.lmctruck.com/icatalog/ce/full.aspx?Page=28
Looks like about $70.
I am pickin up a set of 35x12.5 R17 Goodyear Wrangler MTR's next weekend, so that'll give me a reason to lift my truck. Once it's lifted, I'll take a cut off wheel and get to hacking off my rusty holes that used to be rocker panels, and I'll MIG weld my new ones on. My truck is pretty solid, some slight surface rust on the frame here and there, but the body is MINT, with the exception of the rockers which are JUNK. Why do these trucks rust out like this in this area? I see a lot in my body style rusting out right above the rear wheel well too. What's the story behind this?

I think the Line-X is a brilliant idea.
#1 Like Hartski said, you don't have to match paint.
#2 Line-X can cover up the weld seems.
#3 It's black.

My truck is also black, so it'll give it a 2 tone black effect and make it look a bit more bad assed than it already is!

thirdgen wrote:My truck is also black, so it'll give it a 2 tone black effect and make it look a bit more bad assed than it already is!

Please tell me it's got black rims!

Um...NO