Rusty floors

[jaekl]

I've seen my share of rusty cars. For the most part the cause is salt water and double metal. You got to admit the manufacturers have come a long way. In my XJ and MJ and the many pictures on this site, the drivers floor usually takes the hit first. It also appears that it starts from the inside. All that leads me to believe the cause of this rust is the driver tracking in water and eventually it get under the rubberize insulation and stews. Of course the sheet metal seam under you heel is a nice warm cozy place to for the bacteria to grow.

Do you agree that the drivers side is typically the worst? Could it be that the driver could have prevented much of this rust had he/she left their shoes outside?

[Pete M]

It's not generally the drivers fault, but a combination of Jeep engineers, age, and the rain. The rain can find it's way in through various typical weaknesses (windshield gasket, A/C drain, rear window seal, door seal, firewall holes, etc) and if it gets in, it can't get out. The insulation soaks it up and floor rot is inevitable if nothing is done about it. :(

 

The bed sides have a design flaw where dirt and debris can get stuck up above the wheel well on that little shelf and that attracts moisture and bed rot is inevitable.

 

The bottom of the doors usually rot due to dirt getting in and plugging up the drain holes, causing water to stick around and rot them out.

 

The rockers, well, I'm not entirely certain about them. There's probably more than one way for the rot to start and once is starts, it goes downhill fast.

[jaekl]

Pete, I agree with all that. The observation I made is it seems to affect the left side the most and the only difference is the driver is always in the vehicle while the frequency of the passenger is more variable. I'm sure the repair to the right side is coming but the driver's side was done a couple of years ago.

[MrSimon]

Both my floors were pretty bad, but the driver's side was noticeably worse.

 

I would agree that the driver tracking in water, salt, snow, dirt, and what not makes a difference. Maybe not a huge difference though.

 

Where the leaks are has got to be the primary issue.

[Pete M]

In my 3 trucks, I've battled 6 leaks on the drivers side, and 2 on the passenger side. None directly related to the drivers feet. Although, it is possible for the drivers foot to wear a hole through the carpet. That would allow water to get past the rubberized carpet backing.

[jaekl]

If the trend is toward a water leak, then I'd say it would be advisable to add to the process of repairing a rusting floor. A leak test should be done using the baby powder trick since the floor covering is already out. I quess this was the point of the post to find the cause of the rust so it doesn't come back.

[Pete M]

Absolutely. If you don't fix the root cause, you haven't fixed the problem. :cheers:

Although, with 2 of my trucks, I'm just going to rip out the carpet, fix the floor as best I can, then line it with hurculiner, and then not reinstall the carpet.