Is this enough bracing?

[mechted]

So after 15 years of knowing the rockers on my 73 are trashed I'm finally starting the rebuild.

The only spot that wasnt packed with dirt was where the mouse nest was! .... ugh...

So before I went any further than that, I rigged up my door brace

Does that seem like enough brace for the rocker replacement? I will have to take a small section of flooring too, but the majority is still sound. Wondering if I should have a second brace up to where the top of the fender bolts to the cab?

Also: dont look at that weld.... turns out some idiot forgot to turn the gas on

 

[Fastereddie]

I’ve never done it, but if I was going to, I would add the second brace. Better safe than sorry.

 

[bp71k5]

So after 15 years of knowing the rockers on my 73 are trashed I'm finally starting the rebuild.
View attachment 330839
The only spot that wasnt packed with dirt was where the mouse nest was! .... ugh...

So before I went any further than that, I rigged up my door brace
View attachment 330838
Does that seem like enough brace for the rocker replacement? I will have to take a small section of flooring too, but the majority is still sound. Wondering if I should have a second brace up to where the top of the fender bolts to the cab?

Also: dont look at that weld.... turns out some idiot forgot to turn the gas on

with the top on, that should help a bunch, but yea you want the brace higher. Especially if the rot goes up the a pillar at all. The goal is to keep the windshield from pivoting back. You could also put the front fender back on to help, though that might be a pain to work around.

 

[mechted]

ok. Fairly sure the rust doesnt go much beyond the flat of the rocker... but cant really see everything yet. Will install the second brace anyway because as you said: why not

The top is staying on. The driver side stays intact until this side is done, hopefully with the door closed the whole time. I'm hoping that avoids the issues.

 

[sweetk30]

you can always add bracing easy . . . but you cant fix a warped out body easy .

my buddy has a cab now on a truck some guy did floors and rockers and other stuff with ZERO bracing and this thing looks worse than my old plow truck did when i scrapped it .

 

[ridenby]

Not to hijack too much, if replacing rockers with 2x4 tube. Doors should be braced also?

 

[bp71k5]

Not to hijack too much, if replacing rockers with 2x4 tube. Doors should be braced also?

The rockers are the bracing from the factory. Removing that causes the body to fold and flop around. If you weld the new bracing while the body is in a warped/flopped state, it’ll stay that way forever. So yes, brace it.

 

[mechted]

Ok, so I installed my second brace and happily started cutting away:

And since people always seem to be asking about 73-75 floors here are a couple more shots of the structure:



The rear section is in pretty good shape: clean out the rust, throw some converter on it, make a top skin, and done.
The front section: ugh... I had hoped the body mount was in better shape. Oh well. More metal is now on the way

Also: had no idea there was a third piece on the sill until I cut it open. Its a simple S shaped piece that is sandwiched between the inner and outer rockers. Runs about 15" through the middle of the sill. Easy enough to recreate from scrap.

 

[4x4blaze]

A little late to the party, but my 75 ended up being a basket case. Previous "body guy" just fiberglassed over my rotted out rockers, which are very important on a full top as previously stated..

When I replaced my rockers, I started out by replacing all of the worn out body mounts to help align things better, and then I used my dads old panhard bar off his 67 Camaro to brace my firewall. And surprisingly, it ended up working like a champ! Everything lines up fine. My trucks rocker rust was almost identical to yours. Floors and rocker boxes were perfect, Mainly just my inner and outer rockers that had cancer

 

[4x4blaze]

And yes, I replaced them without the top on.. Just measure, measure, and measure again and you'll be fine!