drip rail replacement?

[zakt]

read some of the posts on drip rails but see none that have anybody replace the drip rail??  Mine is pretty much messed up and looks to be filled with bondo so who knows whats under that..  I have a crew cab and a donor regular cab, so looks to be the front section so far so thinking pulling it off the regular cab and onto the crew.  So is the drip rail actually spot welded in side it to hold the roof to the body or??  If not then replacing Im assuming I would have to cut it off and weld on the new one somehow?? Thoughts?

Todd

[austin]

i think that bondo lookin stuff came stock on these and if i was going to take the time to cut the drip rail off it would stay off and i would weld in the gap i seen an older post where somone did that

[zakt]

been in the rain, winter here alot of water... and it tweeks me getting in and out getting all wet  

[FORDification]

The driprail isn't just attached to the outside of the cab...that panel is sandwiched between the window frame and the roof panels, something like this:



Removing it completely would be a LOT less work than trying to replace it.

[zakt]

so what is the best way/right way...pull the roof off and go from there or just cut off the bad sections and try to weld replacement pieces or?  thoughts?

[fireguywtc]

Have you considered just shaving off the drip rails all together and then having a body shop dent some gutters into your roof like a modern truck? I think it would give it a nice clean look and be a lot easier.

[zakt]

dent, havent heard that before?? do you know how that is done?

[fordman]

shaving them means removing them and not putting them back on.

[zakt]

I know that   talking about this "having a body shop dent some gutters into your roof like a modern truck"

[70_F100]

I know that   talking about this "having a body shop dent some gutters into your roof like a modern truck"

I think what he means it that many of the newer trucks have a "dent" or "channel" stamped into the roof panel, close to the sides, that helps to channel the water to the front and back, helping to keep the water away from the doors.  

[FORDification]

And you aren't going to get that roof off....well, not without a LOT of cab disassembly. If I were you, and I HAD to have driprails but the ones I had weren't usable, I'd consider finding a donor cab and cutting off as much of the driprail as possible, drilling holes in it and then plug-welding it onto your truck.

So what's wrong with your driprails anyway? Just bent or rusted-out? The "Bondo" you say you see is just seam sealer, since that's where the roof panel and drip rail are spot-welded together.

Here's a view of what you'll see before you scrape out all that seam sealer (looking down on the driprail from above):



...and here's a view after you clean it out:

[zakt]

I will try to get them cleaned out to get a better idea what is going on with them...but looks to me like true bondo someone put in previously when doing the paint job....

[fireguywtc]

I think what he means it that many of the newer trucks have a "dent" or "channel" stamped into the roof panel, close to the sides, that helps to channel the water to the front and back, helping to keep the water away from the doors.  

 I couldn't think of the words when I was replying earlier and was kind of in a hurry, but a body shop should be able to roll in some channels into the roof. Something to look into I think. I have considered to do it myself an may still do it if I can find a body shop to do it. As you could imagine the best way to seal it all up again would be welding it all up and I don't want to mess with that. But I try to picture what the cab would look like without those gutters on the side and I think it would look cool.

I can take some pictures of my F-350 which is crew and has the channels in it if you want.

FWIW I saw this before on an old episode of Trucks when the old host shaved the drip rails on a old chev pickup called project "copperhead."

[zakt]

found this on the 73-79 assuming the 67-72 is different??

[fordman]

the 67-79 trucks all use the same windshiled. as well as the same floor pans. i dont know about the roof it may be different  but the basic contruction looks right to me.