Ya, they're rusted through, not bad, but need replacing, I can poke a nail through them, though you only see a little surface rust on the rockers. I found this guy who builds custom rockers and replaces them, pretty cool, only he doesn't paint them, so it worries me about having the seems and rocker itself not painted, that is, what I can't reach after he welds them on.

See http://indianapolis.craigslist.org/pts/5500988922.html

Anyway, I've seen some YouTube video's on cutting them out but I can't weld, short on funds. Anybody located in Indiana that knows how to do this? Have money and beer and will travel ...

 

To determine the extent of rust have you lifted and looked under the carpet yet?

 

Agreed, I'd take the seats out and pull the carpet back and check it out from the inside. My driver's side rocker getting rusty, some small holes in it already. From the inside with the panels removed I could actually see some rust on the support pieces which I didn't like. I don't even know how water gets up in there unless its totally unpainted from the factory?

Rockauto sells rocker panels pretty cheap actually, like $40-60 each and shipping is regular not freight. Cutting out the old one would be a chore, and not being able to weld it in would be annoying too... you could use a drill and hand rivet the whole thing on I guess.

 

I'm thinking of cutting out the rust, treating everything and painting inside, and then taking it to a shop to have them weld patches back on. I'll do all the painting, should be that expensive. Might be able to find someone with a mig welder in our group, is that the kind of welder you'd use on these?

 

I'd personally go with that guy in the first post. Your whole jeep will rust out before those things would. You could paint almost all of it and I'm sure if you asked the guy and paid a little more he might paint them. Either way that's the option I would go with.

 

I got a rocker from Rock auto for my 97 Cherokee and it actually fit over the existing rocker. I didn't need to use all of it only about 2/3s so I cut it to the length I needed. I didn't have a welder so once I had it cut the size I wanted I got some heavy duty exterior construction adhesive on the rocker and jambed the new rocker into place overtop of the old one. Took a few sheetmetal screws and rivets and tightened it all up. Worked great and its been holding up for over a year.

 

I wouldn't cover rust because it'll just keep rusting. You have to cut out and replace.

 

Yes, I cut as much out as I could and either painted or put Rust inhibitor on the rest, HOWEVER my ride is terminal, rusting faster than i can replace! so this was really just a stop gap to give me a couple more years with the old girl.