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HELP! Rocker panel rust, 08

32K views 25 replies 15 participants last post by  Darnell2000 
#1 ·
Good afternoon,

First post on the forum, because I am on a hunt that has been less then successful.

15,000 miles ago I purchased a 2008 ford focus with 150,000 miles on it. Its been running great, I checked everything over when I bought it on the lift, and the car is basically perfect, very tight, drives like new. Interior is great for 165,000 miles.

I have zero complaints, car does everything I want it to, better then I could ask for. when I purchased the car, I knew the rockers were soft, that's actually why I got a good deal on it.

When I bought i assumed I could buy rockers, and weld them in
(super easy). I can not for the life of me find rockers for a 2008 focus, but they are everywhere for 2007. Obviously there was a change there.

I can fabricate the rockers, but that turns an easy afternoon project, into a much bigger, more labor intensive task...

What is everyone else doing? I have noticed that I have not seen any other focus's of my style with rotten rocker panels, so why did my rust out?

Thanks guys!
 
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#2 ·
It seems like the back door contacts the rocker panel and that causes them to start rusting around here. I am starting to see some rust on 2008s and 2009s. I was looking at one with a friend that had some rust started on the rocker panel.

These cars were pretty popular C4C cars - so there are a lot out there. I'm assuming at some point, someone is going to start making replacement rocker panels.
 
#5 ·
I don't think its the door contacting the rocker, but the corner getting sand blasted from normal driving. I noticed mine had no paint left on the corner where the rocker meets the quarter panel. It was stripped to bare metal and looked like it was sand blasted. A little paint has prevent rust from starting
 
#3 ·
Well, I would say that the small design flaw, started rust, and the salty roads around here accelerated it out of control.

What is everyone else doing about it? Just waiting? I hate the words wait, and rust used together. it never ends well.

I have already put it off 8 months, and when the temps came up at the end of this winter, the rockers literally started falling off haha.

So i guess I am hoping for someone who knows about a solution, or I am going to have to start making them myself :(

Thank you!
 
#4 ·
I have had mine from new so every fall it gets a few coats of a good carnauba wax.

The price on the 2008/2009 has come down enough that I am considering picking one up for a winter vehicle. If I have one with rusty rockers, I'll just try to reform and weld in what I can.
 
#10 ·
possible cause of rocker rusting

i know this is an older thread, but my 08 just started to show the paint bubbling on the drivers side this spring, had it repainted only to find that it was rusting from the inside out, so i figured i would just try to keep the area clean, however i may have found the issue as to why they may be rotting out.

i rolled under the car to see if the rocker drains were clogged seeing as a friend of mine had mentioned how when i took off from work one day after it had been raining, water ran out under the rear of my drivers side door, really didn't think anything of it until now... turns out ford put some, i guess harmonic sound deadening epoxy stuff? in a few spots under the rockers, have yet to figure out the real reason they did this.

On the drivers side the forward most rocker drain was sealed completely with this epoxy undercoating stuff, i got a screwdriver and dug the stuff out of the drain and had some nice rusty dirty water drain out... i took a few pics of what to look for sorry for the blurriness was using the front facing camera on my phone that doesn't auto focus
hopefully this has helped slowed the rusting, but only time will tell, i recommend you go out and look at your rocker drains!
 

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#12 ·
yeah i have been keeping a coating of fluid film on my car since i got it, and even though i am seeing little spots of rust underneath here and there, nothing major, just annoying that it seemed to rust inside the rockers where i couldn't get to it in time, i live in the southern tier of NY so im no stranger to salt and rust haha
 
#20 ·
Mine has more rot on the drivers side than passengers, under the middle of the door. Rockers are filled with rust and sand. Ford did an awful job, the rockers are coated with thick paint that bubbles easy, traps water and the metal rots underneath. Previous owner didn't put mud flaps on so they filled with junk and salt. There are metal and plastic slip ons. I'm going to cut the rot out, sand, paint and oil the insides good, then rivet on the slip ons, cover with bed liner. BOOM!
 
#21 ·
The reason you are having issues locating a rocker is that it's sold as a body side aperture assembly. You get the entire side panel from front a pillar to the roof rail, all the way back to the b pillar where the door closes, and the rocker panel at the bottom. Pretty expensive part. I've had good luck going to the local U Pull It yard and getting a used one. Take your portable drill, and enough bits to drill out a bunch of 5 millimter round welds. Or; you can take your cordless sawzall, cut out what you need, and drill out the welds at home. Make sure you cut more than you need. I usually cut mine right above the lower door hinge (body mounted side) and I cut pretty deep into the floor to make sure I get all if the inner rocker. Cut it just below the door striker at the rear. Send me a PM is you need more info. The interchange on those is 2000-2004. Good hunting.
 
#22 ·
Good afternoon,

First post on the forum, because I am on a hunt that has been less then successful.

15,000 miles ago I purchased a 2008 ford focus with 150,000 miles on it. Its been running great, I checked everything over when I bought it on the lift, and the car is basically perfect, very tight, drives like new. Interior is great for 165,000 miles.

I have zero complaints, car does everything I want it to, better then I could ask for. when I purchased the car, I knew the rockers were soft, that's actually why I got a good deal on it.

When I bought i assumed I could buy rockers, and weld them in
(super easy). I can not for the life of me find rockers for a 2008 focus, but they are everywhere for 2007. Obviously there was a change there.

I can fabricate the rockers, but that turns an easy afternoon project, into a much bigger, more labor intensive task...

What is everyone else doing? I have noticed that I have not seen any other focus's of my style with rotten rocker panels, so why did my rust out?

Thanks guys!
Hello. Yes I just bought a 2008 Ford focus se. It has rust on one certain area on the undercarriage. Where the body metal meets the undercarriage metal, that like seam that runs length of car. That whole seam is falling apart if I even touch that area. It almost seems like they never applied the under coating black type stuff in that area, all the way up and down on both sides of car. I am thinking of applying some type of mastic type stuff with a paint brush. I mean just like slop it all up and down that seam to at least stop my vehicle from coming apart little by little, piece by piece like it is now! Anybody know anything I can like cake on there and spread over rust????? Thanks in advance.
 
#25 ·
How are the rockers holding up using the 3m adhesive? Any issues? I like that idea better then using a welder.
 
#24 ·
These might be a cheaper alternative, listed for four doors, might work on coupe with some trimming. No personal experience.

 
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