I just learned that Toyota dealers still have access to a lot of body parts for the third-generation trucks. I see that you could buy the whole floor pan for around $700. My interest was piqued by what appears to be the availability of inner and outer rocker panels. I stumbled across a seller on eBay who had a single inner rocker panel for sale for $210. Fortunately, the seller provided the part number which I took over to one of my favorite online Toyota parts sellers where I found the part available for $88. This is kind of exciting to me because replacing the inner and outer rockers and the cab corners, would leave my truck pretty much rust free.

I'd be interested in hearing from anybody who has ever done the work of replacing inner and outer rocker panels with the OEM replacement parts.

 

I always made my own from sheet metal I never used factory replacement .

 

Props to you for doing that. I am almost certainly not as skilled as you are. And for just $89 dollars per side, I think the factory pieces are pretty attractive. Especially if it made the repair look OEM.

 

I hope you are indeed able to get these parts .

Let us know when you do.

 

I haven't done this job on a Toyota, but I have on other vehicles. Lots of good youtube content available. You'll have to decide whether or not you're going to use a panel adhesive or weld. This all depends on your ability to weld, access to a welder, and/or if there is a concern about panel warpage. Be sure to look into "cleco pins" if you're not familiar with them already. FWIW, I'm not a huge fan of spot weld drill bits. I find it easier to use an automatic center punch, then small drill bit, then use a unibit until there's no more spot weld. You'll probably also need access to a right angle drill too. Good luck. It's not a job for the faint of heart. If you can patch it, that's probably the easier way to go, tbh.

-Kevin

 

This is an incredible find.

I have been looking for quite some time for replacement options for my truck floor, foot wells, etc. as it has basically rusted completely away. I'm still wondering however if it would still be cheaper to fabricate your own panels rather than purchase.

However, perhaps if these pieces are in fact still available there might be hope for future fiberglass replacement options as well

 

 

Here's a fairly good video of a guy getting pretty deep into repairing his rusty floor and rocker panel on a 1985 pickup. It's not the kind of work you want to see someone doing on a numbers matching 1969 Z28, but it's reasonable for a DIY job on an old Toyota 4 x 4. I did similar work on my 1984 Xtra Cab and got another five years of life out of it while battling the heavily salted winter roads of Wisconsin.