Rocker Panel Rust... How Much Time Do I Have?

[hysteria357]

I was removing the wiring that the previous owner did for the trailer hookup, and I had to take off the running boards to remove the brake controller wiring. I noticed a small rust bubble on my rocker panel facing the underbody. When I went to go grind it away, it turned into a hole. Now I probably shouldn't have done this next part but I ran a camera in there and got scared with what I saw.

I unscrewed all the bolts holding on the running boards and sprayed fluid film all up in there but I fear it's too late to contain. The pinch welds didn't look too bad from the outside. Certainly not a California car but didn't look terrible for being a northern truck.
How much time do I have left before I need to worry about rot? A year? Two years?

 

[Kabanstva]

I was removing the wiring that the previous owner did for the trailer hookup, and I had to take off the running boards to remove the brake controller wiring. I noticed a small rust bubble on my rocker panel facing the underbody. When I went to go grind it away, it turned into a hole. Now I probably shouldn't have done this next part but I ran a camera in there and got scared with what I saw.
View attachment 3685772
View attachment 3685776
I unscrewed all the bolts holding on the running boards and sprayed fluid film all up in there but I fear it's too late to contain. The pinch welds didn't look too bad from the outside. Certainly not a California car but didn't look terrible for being a northern truck.
How much time do I have left before I need to worry about rot? A year? Two years?

You’ll be fine. I had a Sienna several years ago bought it in Wisconsin with worse rust than this in the lower door and rocker. Filled it with fluid film as soon as I bought it. I had that car for like 100k miles and several years. The rust did not grow one bit. Stayed the same throughout all those years.

 

[Jack90210]

Smart to get FluidFilm sprayed in there! It'll stay just as it is.

 

[whitec13]

Once it gets too bad, chop it and tube it! That’s what I ended up doing, but my case was significantly worse.

 

[RapidRob]

It's not bad, But... there's some reason that there is a "bathtub ring" in there. Make sure that the drain holes are clear so the water doesn't
stay in there with your new fluid film.

 

[hysteria357]

It's not bad, But... there's some reason that there is a "bathtub ring" in there. Make sure that the drain holes are clear so the water doesn't
stay in there with your new fluid film.

What do you mean by bathtub ring?

 

[kevgentile]

What do you mean by bathtub ring?

Looks like it was filled repeatedly and/or sat for some time with water in it.

 

[hysteria357]

Looks like it was filled repeatedly and/or sat for some time with water in it.

Oh fun. I'll check the drains. I did see that some wires were run up through one of the drains so perhaps that clogged it. I haven't checked the other side yet out of fear.

 

[NabisOne]

Once it gets too bad, chop it and tube it! That’s what I ended up doing, but my case was significantly worse.

Mine is getting bad quick on my passenger side. When you say tube it do you mean you chopped off the sheet metal and welded on square tubing?

 

[excessive]

empty an entire can of fluidfilm in there, and go about your life. not worth worrying about

 

[whitec13]

Mine is getting bad quick on my passenger side. When you say tube it do you mean you chopped off the sheet metal and welded on square tubing?

Yes sir! Delicate balance on heat, took quite a while to complete the welding.

 

[gregdawg89]

I've used the internal frame rust encapsulator spray wand from Eastwood for this sort of thing.