1998 XJ Sport 4-Door.
Hi Guys. Does anybody know if there are any simple covers to cover rotten rockers? Something that just goes over everything, and can be riveted or held on with body caulk. Not looking to do any welding or Bondo work.
You can practically rebuild a Wrangler with preformed diamond plate, But nothing available for Cherrokee. There are some things on Ebay, but the descriptions are very vague and they get poor customer ratings.
Thanks.

 

Sounds like a great idea, if you just want to cover the rust so that it can work on destroying your car in stealth mode,

It's kind of like putting black tape over the idiot light. It solves the cosmetic problem.

 

https://www.quadratec.com/products/12057_8211_07.htm

 

Just curious, how do you know he's not cutting out the rusted spots and adding in the rocker covers? That sounds a hell of a lot cheaper and easier than welding in new rockers to me. It seems a little harsh to just jump to conclusions on that one.

 

The proper way to repair the rocker would be to cut out the rust and weld in a new panel. It's a structural piece so it's not really about cheap and easy.

 

Is it structural though? I thought it wasn't due to the uniframe design.
I do agree that you need _something_ there

 

It just so happened that some guy was selling rockers for a 2 door from RockAuto. Specifically said only for a 2 door in his listing.
I don't know why I thought it didn't matter.
But went to look.

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...ker+panel,1092

Thing that now catches my eye is the 2 items that say "slip on style".
I wonder what that means?

 

They may seem less important than some of the other panels but they were designed to all work together.

 

I believe that it means they are designed to fit over the original metal for fitment instead of the exact same shape as the original. Think of it like a slip on exhaust join where one side fits in the other. Panels with lots of bends are a pain to fit when they are the exact same as the original metal.

 

My (almost) father-in-law fabricated new rocker panels from sheet metal for the '96 I just inherited, and we riveted them to the frame after cutting out the rust and the surrounding area. It's a solid repair, but does require some technical expertise.

 

That was what I kinda thought but Googling the part numbers for a bit did not really tell me anything.
Which makes me wonder if they are what the OP is asking about.
Was hoping for maybe some instructions or something on the internet.

 

Those panels are to protect the lower part of the doors and fenders kind of like the plastic panels on some years of the Laredo model. At 1/8" steel they would do a good job. What the OP is after though is something to cover his rusty rockers.

 

Might have been this: "simple covers to cover rotten rockers? Something that just goes over everything, and can be riveted or held on with body caulk."



He said he wanted to cover them, something that goes over "everything". I give him credit for knowing how to speak English. I might be wrong about that, but absent evidence to the contrary, that's my default assumption.

 

LoL! Yes. I do peeky Ingrish as my only language. As far as destroying the car in stealth mode. It's just a runner with 240k miles. I picked it up on a junk removal call a few years ago for 3 or 500 dollars. It ran, and I've been using it as a work truck to haul crap from lumber yards and home depot while I renovate my house. I do like it though, and have done a few things to it, like rewire the doors and dash, new power window motors, Power steering pump. Found a set of cheap oversized alloys and tires.
But this will never be some sort of restoration truck. At best, I'll patch the rotten chassis cover the rockers and shoot it with bed liner in my driveway, and continue using it as a dirty work truck. If I want to use something nice, I have a mint '98 TJ and a leased Renegade.

 

these linked above do not cover the rockers,