[snl8387]

My rocker panels are rusted out. of course from the inside out.
I'm incredibly frustrated that this has happened on my 2010 being that it's not that old.
I contacted Chrysler only to be told it's out of warranty so I'm SOL:smiledown:

I've talked to a couple different body shops, all of which have said it's a shame and shouldn't of happened on a 2010. I'm at 155k, mostly highway miles.

Since I'm racking up miles so quickly ( I drive 3k atleast every month). I don't want to sink a ton into repairing them. I love the truck ( I loved my 06 so much more). But for my daily driver it just doesn't make sense.
Shops quoted min $1500 to repair both sides (cab corners too)

I can't find any replacement panels to buy to do the work myself.
I had thought if I could get something that give a bolt on look. Similar to the fender flares. I'd cut out all the rust and clean out everything spray it down with an inhibitor and get a good seal over it. I'd just place the overlay on top.
Maybe this is a crazy idea?
Suggestions?

 

[NevadaMike]

If it were me I would get the rust taken care of. It's like a cancer: it will continue to spread until your truck is completely ruined.

 

[hydrex]

I sprayed the inside of mine with (Fluid Film) and sprayed the outside with truck bed liner. Spray inside bottom of doors. You might be able to wire wheel yours down to bare metal and use epoxy resin and fiberglass cloth to clad the outside, then spray truck bed liner. Once the outside is finished, blast the inside with Fluid Film or even hot used motor oil. Spray inside the tailgate, drop spare tire,spray everywhere you can hit, frame inside is very important. Be glad you don't own a Toyota, their frames are failing as well as the GM trucks. Spray inside all 4 fenders. I've been able to keep my 05 mint by spraying that Fluid Film everywhere and protecting rockers with Bed Liner. It's not just Dodge, all pickups are vulnerable to dreaded salt and here in Maine salt brine and calcium chloride. It's a war on our vehicles.:smiledown: Also, 155,000 miles has given it a lot of exposure, though it's only 6 yrs old.

 

[snl8387]

Right, that's why I'm wanting to remove the rust. However I want to make it look presentable. If not modded, at least original.

 

[snl8387]

I sprayed the inside of mine with (Fluid Film) and sprayed the outside with truck bed liner. Spray inside bottom of doors. You might be able to wire wheel yours down to bare metal and use epoxy resin and fiberglass cloth to clad the outside, then spray truck bed liner. Once the outside is finished, blast the inside with Fluid Film or even hot used motor oil. Spray inside the tailgate, drop spare tire,spray everywhere you can hit, frame inside is very important. Be glad you don't own a Toyota, their frames are failing as well as the GM trucks. Spray inside all 4 fenders. I've been able to keep my 05 mint by spraying that Fluid Film everywhere and protecting rockers with Bed Liner. It's not just Dodge, all pickups are vulnerable to dreaded salt and here in Maine salt brine and calcium chloride. It's a war on our vehicles.:smiledown:

Ohio's not any better.
That's my plan once I can find something to mod it with. I was thinking of fiberglass but I wanted something a bit stronger. I'm not a welder so that's not an option for me exactly. Once I get these holes repaired I plan on doing the fender flares and rocker area all in the spray bed liner. The under carriage still looks great. I was just under there changing my oil yesterday.
I've owned the truck for just over a year in Ohio. Previously from Michigan.

 

[Biga]

2010 is early for body rust. I never had any rust on my old Titan after 10 years of Ohio winters and never had any rust protection done. I'm hoping I have as good of luck with the Ram.

 

[snl8387]

2010 is early for body rust. I never had any rust on my old Titan after 10 years of Ohio winters and never had any rust protection done. I'm hoping I have as good of luck with the Ram.

I had an 06 that met an unfortunate demise last Jan. He was perfect no rust, ran perfect with 150k. I wish I still had him vs this 10. I figured I was upgrading when I bought a newer year.

 

[Thunderhorse]

I feel for you northerners. First order of business for me would be when I got the truck to get the insides of the bed panels, fenders, and rocker panels bedlined. Then the bed bedlined

 

[hemi4452]

My 2003 rear quarter rotted bad above the wheel

 

[snl8387]

Quick shot of this.
Believe it or not, I drove to work got out and turned to see this. The paint hid the inner damage well.

 

[VMR]

Just curious but have you regularly kept up with washing/desalting in the winter whenever possible. Not just talking about washing the truck but spraying underneath as well very thoroughly. This is the number one thing I believe keeps trucks rust free, even more so then some kind of undercoating, which I think a lot of them trap moisture eventually, especially any oil based film which is not a paint or bed type coating

Also all these bodies have holes that are in the body underneath on the inside above the rocker panel. They have a very flimsy duct tape over these holes from the factory which falls off very easily and sometimes not even really sealing the holes. I have applied a heavy duty foil backed aluminum tape on all my trucks to seal all these holes completely ( I don't seal the bottom drain holes in the rocker keep those open so when you spray underneath the water, water runs in then drys out).

I've done this on every brand truck I've had, along with very frequent underbody washing after snow storms or off road activity. Never had a rocker rust out on me, and I live in NJ where just the idea of .5" of snow sends the road crews into a frenzy of salting like you can't believe.

 

[snl8387]

Just curious but have you regularly kept up with washing/desalting in the winter whenever possible. Not just talking about washing the truck but spraying underneath as well very thoroughly. This is the number one thing I believe keeps trucks rust free, even more so then some kind of undercoating, which I think a lot of them trap moisture eventually, especially any oil based film which is not a paint or bed type coating

Also all these bodies have holes that are in the body underneath on the inside above the rocker panel. They have a very flimsy duct tape over these holes from the factory which falls off very easily and sometimes not even really sealing the holes. I have applied a heavy duty foil backed aluminum tape on all my trucks to seal all these holes completely ( I don't seal the bottom drain holes in the rocker keep those open so when you spray underneath the water, water runs in then drys out).

I've done this on every brand truck I've had, along with very frequent underbody washing after snow storms or off road activity. Never had a rocker rust out on me, and I live in NJ where just the idea of .5" of snow sends the road crews into a frenzy of salting like you can't believe.

Yes I'm very avid about washing my truck. As I stated before I had a 2006, that was just like new, no rust ran like a champ until I was in an accident with it. :sad:
I upkeep the 2010 just as well if not better than I did with my 06'. In northeast Ohio, we're obviously under a good amount of salt and brine. I do min 70 miles highway driving everyday so I'm very avid on keeping up with washes and waxing. In fact everything but the rocker panels, and tailgate were repainted in September 2015 because someone keyed the sides.
From my conversation with Chrysler, it seems they've had some issues with the 09-10's with rusting in this area. However I am conveniently outside of the warranty.

 

[GTyankee]

You might check out these sites for body panels

http://www.lmctruck.com/features/de/DE_13.htm

http://www.lmctruck.com/dodge/

http://www.lmctruck.com/icatalog/de/search.aspx?searchTerms=body+panels&rURL=/icatalog/de/t.aspx

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
i have not looked at this site, so i don't know anything about the quality of the parts
http://www.stylintrucks.com/catalog/replacement/dodge/replacement_body_parts.aspx

 

[bee1971]

http://www.ramforumz.com/showthread.php?t=214346

 

[bee1971]

Third Brake Light Seal Leaking ?

When I gutted the rear seat section on my 2011 Ram , I noticed moisture water in those rear corners before I fixed and replaced that seal for the brake light along with the rear sliding glass drains under the glass channel

Anyways check out the 2011 thread on this same issue

Not good , way to early for these trucks , pisses me off big time . Very reason I traded in my mint 2004 on my 2011 before the rear wheel sections went to **** on the 2004

 

[2010x3.92]

Goodness. I'm in Indiana and drive my 2010 all winter 110k miles and no rust anywhere yet. I do make sure to wash it weekly in the winter and get the under body sprayed. Hopefully it holds out. First sign of rocker or bed rust and it's gone.

 

[NevadaMike]

Goodness. I'm in Indiana and drive my 2010 all winter 110k miles and no rust anywhere yet. I do make sure to wash it weekly in the winter and get the under body sprayed. Hopefully it holds out. First sign of rocker or bed rust and it's gone.

The truck or the rust?

 

[2010x3.92]

The truck ha.

 

[gusman]

I'm extremely disappointed with Ram/ Fiat/ whoever the hell is responsible for producing these trucks. My 2013 has already had a front fender replaced due to rot (inside out), and clay bar-ing the truck Sunday I noticed where the wheel liners meet the rear fenders on the inside rust is already forming. Going to yank those out and POR the inside before reinstalling them. Someone mentioned a Titan earlier, I had an 05 and the entire underside was undercoated from the factory (standard), and I never had a speck of rust on it. I'm religious about washing the truck in the winter top and bottom, already had all 4 wheels replaced because the aluminum started to show those white vein- like corrosion marks. New ones seem to be holding up better. You'd think when they design these things they would try to minimize the amount of places where dirt/ water/ salt can become trapped, or at least take some preventative measures to retard the rotting process... To the OP, that is insane that much rot on a 2010, I'd be furious.

Don't even get me started on the crap paint these things come with from the factory.

To get back on track, I'd suggest cutting the affected area out asap so the cancer doesn't get a chance to spread, unfortunately I don't think I've ever seen something similar to fender flares for the rockers, but you may be on to something there.

 

[snl8387]

Currently I am dealing with Dodge on a dealer taking pictures and sending them in to see if/what they'll do.

However I went to the dealer and at first they wanted to charge me $100 an hour to "diagnose" the issue.