Why do the doors rust

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Sterling

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Sorry if this topic has been discussed a thousand times but I found nothing from a search. So why do the bottom of the doors rust? I'm guessing water gets trapped but the drains in the front and rear look fairly big.
 

crazy_luck

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The local body shop showed me this when I had my last '01 in there to fix the doors. They rust from the inside out. The inner panel and outer panel are welded together and the way they are welded prevents the weld from being treated by paint. Welded steel is very susceptible to rust if it is not treated or coated. Even with drain holes, there is no way to stop the rust. My last truck had a "Ziebart" rust preventative treatment applied to the lower part of the doors by the original owner. Did nothing to stop the rust, because it was basically a strip of material applied to the outside. Since they rust from the inside out, it was nothing more than wasting his money.
 

Ram Lover

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Yes they do rusty from the inside, I've noticed also my doors hang lower than the rockers so the inside catches all the crap from the roads.

Sent from my SM-S320VL using Tapatalk
 

crash68

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My last truck had a "Ziebart" rust preventative treatment applied to the lower part of the doors by the original owner. Did nothing to stop the rust, because it was basically a strip of material applied to the outside.

Ziebart rust protection is sprayed into the inside of the doors, there are tattletale plugs that cover the holes drilled on the edges of the doors. Don't think I've ever see any added strips to the outside from them.
Odds are the original owner didn't do the yearly maintenance of the Ziebart or attempt to keep the vehicle clean at all.
 

Yeret

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Hmm, good to know. Both of my doors, especially the driver's side, have developed pretty nasty rust. I'm advised, of course, to "fix" this though I'm doubtful that anything other than replacing the panel$ themselves will be a good fix.
 

off-kilter

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Ziebart rust protection is sprayed into the inside of the doors, there are tattletale plugs that cover the holes drilled on the edges of the doors. Don't think I've ever see any added strips to the outside from them.
Odds are the original owner didn't do the yearly maintenance of the Ziebart or attempt to keep the vehicle clean at all.



Just make sure that Ziebart doesn't do more harm than good during their treatment. I had my truck rustproofed at Ziebart and ended up in court with them for the extra $1,800 in damage they did to the paint and underbody of my new truck. I won the court case, but still ended up with a damaged truck. I haven't gone back for their yearly maintenance.
 

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