Neverrust Composite Replacement  Cab Corner and Rocker Panel Installation Guide and Tips.

Until Now, there has not been any “time tested solution” for stopping Rocker panel and cab corner rust. Neverrust Auto Body Panels is a Guaranteed permanent fix. Not a temporary 6mo. or one year metal fix like you find with metal panels.

NeverRust Auto body panels are not made of metal they are a composite material they do not rust or are they capable of rusting. They are not welded on. That is the solution to a permanent fix, for a reference they are made similar to corvette parts.

When or if you call around for a body shop to schedule your truck in you will find that their are no body shops that want rust work, they will say we dont guarantee or cant guarantee rust work, hum, well that is because the panels they are using to work with are metal and they rust out very quick. The weld spots are the first place they start to rust, then that spot then works its way to your metal parts and sooner like around 6 months to 12 months you see peeling paint and or bubbling rust again. How do we know? We have been in this business for 30 plus years and have seen it first hand.

The average cost to repair your Rocker Panels and cab corners is around $1900.00 – $6500 and there is NO guarantee that it will not rust out again or even last longer then 3 months, also there are a lot of body shops that will not fix or touch rust repairs, We do, if one were to ask me i believe that’s crazy but some shops only want to do easy billable insurance work, lol… kinda reminds me of hospitals no insurance then no real help send him home, right?

The big Ford truck manufacturer could not engineer their trucks to stop Rockers and cab corners from rusting until around 2018, and now its still in question as of date i’m getting calls that the 2014 F150 crew models ( 09-14 F150 Cab corners ) are rusting out, its not even paid off yet in some cases and there rusting out.

What can a body shop really do that Ford truck manufacturing can’t ? Your right, Nothing, nada, zip, zero and it may even rust faster then before, and there is no rust work guarantee so you would be out the 1900 to 4500 for the repairs. kinda makes yeah feel a bit sick, right?

Neverrust Composite cab corners and rocker panels solves this major issue. Have you priced a new truck? That is why most are restoring what they already own, Its cheaper on your insurance and still looking great plus adds major resale value.

Professionally Install Neverrust Panels Yourself. DIY

Depending on your experience level the information below works very well and while everyone has their own ways of accomplishing tasks this will stand as a simple guide. However,  if you’re an experienced Auto body man / painter this is just a simple reference.

Download and Print this PDF for reference: F150-NeverRust-CabCrn-Guide

Tools you may need

1. Diamond blade cutter or a die blade for cutting your old off and fitting the new composite cab corner on. The picture is of a whats called a Rim Diamond Saw Blade The saw blade is electroplated with 40/50 grit diamonds ideal for cutting fiber reinforced plastic and composite materials. these are the absolute #1 best their is for cutting composites of many kind.

1A. There is a cheaper $2 way, and it cuts and trims both the truck and the Neverrust parts. Its called a die blade or CutOff Wheel looks like this. see pic 2

2. A grinder with 40 or 50grit for grinding on metal and 50 grit for trimming and grinding on the Neverrust composite parts. remember 50grit is as rough as you want to go on the composite parts. If you try to grind on the parts with anything other then 50grit you stand a good chance of chipping or taking to much off at once.

I personally use a dremel tool with a rotary sander with 80grit to make a notch on the reverse side of the part so it sets down a bit below the the metal or meets it flush with frame that i set it into. (the frame is the hole left after cutting the old part off, you should leave a 1/2 to1 3/4″ rim, lip to set the composite part into.)

3. On The Rocker Panels it depends on you and what your comfortable with, you may need a spot weld drill bit for cutting through a few spot welds or You could use a air hammer for splitting the old rocker away from the truck by cutting the spot welds.

4. Optional: A Flange Tool  Tin snips come in handy too. watch a video to get an idea on setting your part into place with a flange tool, this tool will save you so much time and do a more professional job,

Use the hand crimping tool to create the counter sink that you set the Neverrust part into. Normally i only need to flange the top on the cab corners and on the rocker panels the ends.

I use a combination of a pick hammer dolly and a flanging tool to make my edge on the truck that the new part will set in.

5. Clamps and / or vise grips, screw gun/drill and a few screws sometimes work to hold the cab corner in place until the adhesive dries.

On the Adhesive if you didn’t get our 7M adhesive there are a number of them that will work. Preferably a two part 1 : 1 mix epoxy or methacrylate adhesive will work.

Our 7M is a hybrid based adhesive, Basically it is between a epoxy and a methacrylate with glass bead adhesion technology formulated within it for a weld like bond on composite to metal adhesion.

Note: if your a bit iffy on the paint blending and clearing Some guys will do the bodywork and let the body shop do the paint blending and clear work, its a small area and shouldn’t cost much as compared to doing the body.

For paint blending work, refinishing and clearing your Ford the paint code is normally in the door jam on the MFG white sticker hopefully its still on the door pillar. On the older Fords its on the core support on a metal tag.

The idea behind doing a great install is to make the job as quick and as easy as possible without degrading the quality or professionalism of the install.  Most of the time i will look at every job differently to a point.

Some rust more than others some rust differently but at the end of the day you simply want a solid seal around the new composite part and the cab side or Rocker panel on your Truck.

The Install

1 Locate the rust on your cab corners. Mark it out for good practice mark the area you will be cutting out. The more you measure mark and cut the better the seal will be. Measure twice cut once.

You will want to cut about 1.5 to 3 inches beyond the rusted area. So if you don’t need to slide your bed back it will save time. but on most trucks its 8 bolts and a few smaller bolts.

Sliding the bed back will require an impact, a 10mm, a 13mm and a torx impact bit socket, you will need to completely take the bolts out. 40 percent of the time I can do the repairs without sliding the bed back but their are those times when you will have no choice.

2. Okay now take your die grinder or your side angle grinder and cut the area you marked out.

3. Now that the rust has been cut out take and try using the piece of metal rust pattern you cut out of your truck to size up the new part.

Now over lay the cut out over the new Neverrust cab corner, now if you can mark it out then cut 1 to 1.5″- 2″ inches above and over the line you made from the cut out on the truck.

This will allow you plenty of measuring, cutting and fitting room to dry fit the part and make any corrections needed to seat the part into its place with the adhesive.

You really only need about a quarter to half inch lip when finished to set the part into, This is a standard for the rocker panels and cab corners.

If you can set the part on the inside edge of the cutout sometimes that is easier, or you can set just half in on one side and half setting on the outer lip on the other side i have done it both ways, the end result is you want a  flush fit all around the outside area of the part so you only have too fill it a little bit with auto body filler then prime over body filler and any bare metal and paint.

4. Okay there are a few ways to form a very tight seal all the way around. Remember when using the 7M adhesives fill all voids with the Hybrid epoxy dont try to fill small voids with body fillers, it could bubble up over time, Just make sure the sides and bottom are well sealed with the 7M hybrid Epoxy or any 2 part epoxy you may have on hand.

If the part is say 1/8″ thick  you can use a dremel with a drum sander to hit the very top edge allowing it to sink back to 1/16 if needed, it doesn’t take much to hit the top edge with a dremel drum sander 1/4″ dremel drum sander or the end of a 2″ or 3″ cutoff disc which ever you have on hand or prefer then dry fit the part into place.

The sides of the cab corners and rocker panels have been made to easily attach they set in place on the trucks flanged areas were the spot welds were at, some trimming may be needed but very little.

There have been times I have been able to set the new panel partially on the inside of my cut out, leaving me around about an half inch of area to adhere the new part too, I use tin snips and a pair of vice grips and small hammer to work the edge into place where I need.  If you make screw holes remember to put a little adhesive on them before you go forward with any body fillers.

Now that the new part is cut to match your cut out area on the cab corner place it into your cut area or you may use the entire part if that is what the job requires. Tip: as much as possible cut around curves and radius’s to better hide and make your bodywork easier.

5. Once the part is set in place and lined up make sure you prime all your bare metal before you adhere the part to the truck. A lacquer primer will work fine, DTM *direct to Metal” primer works great too you can sand the primer with anything from 180 – 400 grit. you will want to end up with a paintable surface when finished, ending with 400 grit, try not to go through your primer coat, then remove any dust.

6. Now that the part is seated and dry back out any screws and release any clamps lightly grind to over the seem to make level and straight on the outer seamed in area apply your body filler around the outside area block sand prime and paint.

It takes me personally around 2.5 hours to do 1 side although i did this professionally for a living and thats without taking the interior out of the rear. On those metal cab corner panels the interior needed to come out to be safe the weld splatter would be at risk of fire and there was one time i even ran into a job where i had to take the gas tank down, in all that’s a thing of the past now. Neverrust Composite panels are the way to go.

i would guess if your new to this type of thinking and thinking is the most of what it is the labor is not that much at all really but lets say 4 hours per side if your new. So lets say in reality time messing around time then dinner, then the woman wants to go somewhere, then friends stop by,  the kids need picked up, you get it. So say its a weekend job, you will have still saved a major but load of money, improved the value of your truck Plus it will never rust, bubble, peel or dent EVER and that’s a bit more than the typical body shop can offer you.

If you have any questions on sand paper to use or primers or want to talk about how you can install the cab corners I’m around call or email I would be glad to help. Hit the contact us button or give me a call.

This page is under construction, waiting on videos. My Apologies for any grammar errors. let me know if you see any thanks…..

On this page, you will soon find install tutorials, instruction and tips on installing NeverRust Panels

PDF Download: F150-NeverRust-CabCrn-Guide