Rocker Panel Rust

[sugarloafur]

Hello,
I have a 94 Jeep Cherokee Sport 4 door. Before I bought it in February, it had sat in a garage for about a year, and in doing so it accumulated a bit of rust, with significant rust on the rocker panels and a little bit on the lower door, but not that bad. The leaf springs were pretty bad, so I replaced them, but I'm not sure if it will pass inspection in Maine this February if I do not fix this.

My question is what's the best way to fix this rust? Should I buy new rocker panels for it (since the old ones have rust holes) or is there some other way that I can fix it? I've heard of people using Bondo, but I'm not sure how well that works.

Any ideas are appreciated, Thanks!

[89ltd]

Originally Posted by sugarloafur

Hello,
I have a 94 Jeep Cherokee Sport 4 door. Before I bought it in February, it had sat in a garage for about a year, and in doing so it accumulated a bit of rust, with significant rust on the rocker panels and a little bit on the lower door, but not that bad. The leaf springs were pretty bad, so I replaced them, but I'm not sure if it will pass inspection in Maine this February if I do not fix this.

My question is what's the best way to fix this rust? Should I buy new rocker panels for it (since the old ones have rust holes) or is there some other way that I can fix it? I've heard of people using Bondo, but I'm not sure how well that works.

Any ideas are appreciated, Thanks!

I have the same condition on my 89, most of the rocker is gone on the bottom, however it is not opened up to the inside of the jeep.the rockers are hollow then there is more metal above it, its not a safety issue as long as fumes are not entering the cab, I guess it depends on who does the inspection, mine passed in salty Windsor, Ont.with the holes there.

[sugarloafur]

Thanks for the reply, I have a guy in northern Maine who does work for cheap, and I'm guessing that he'll give my jeep an inspection with the rust, though I'd still like to fix it.

Thanks again!

[95xjsport]

I had the same problem, wht i did was fill the entire rocker panel with that spray expanding foam, let it dry, I then trimmer it up some and filled with bond, sanded, and painted it flat black, this was about 6 months ago but, it is only until I get the money and time to replace the rocker panels them selves.