Seam Sealer

[Brain75]

I've reached the point in my body work that it's time to open a tube of seam sealer... since the stuff is $20 a tube and I know that I don't know everything I thought I would ask.
Do these (2nd gen specific) Rangers have any well known failure points? Feel free to comment on other generations as I don't mind collecting all the info in one place for others.

Beyond the easily findable thread I didn't find much:

1st/2nd gen Roof leak/rust prevention PSA

This definitely pertains to 1st gen owners and probably 2nd gen owners as well. In the course of doing a bunch of body work on a truck, I found a place that is probably the source of many wet headliners and roof rust. This area had seam sealer applied to it at the factory but it was cracked...

www.therangerstation.com

FWIW, the auto glass companies gobbed rubber up into the corners on mine. I bet they know this flaw and get tired of people coming back with "leaky windshields" when it is really body, just gobb a bunch of rubber on it and then it doesn't come back to them.


The 2nd gen (or at least mine) has a FULL skin on the roof - there is no access between the inner and outer skin, so you don't really know how much water has been getting in between the skins until the inner skin completely rots out.

I'm used to the old old classics which always have rust in the rear cab corners (cause they had deep pockets that hold water). So I looked around there already...
Anywhere else that is a known trouble spot I need to check?

I've already cut all the rubber out and chiseled the drip rail clean (it was cracked and couldn't possibly hold water, but no leaks reported).

 

[SenorNoob]

Sound like you've got it.

 

[Shran]

The roof & drip rails, as you found. If you follow the drip rails backwards, the roof skin and rear quarters meet up at an angle in the corners of the rear window... that's spot #2 where I resealed it when I painted mine.

Beyond that - it depends how far you are tearing the truck down. All around the windshield, and down inside the cowl are problem areas... removing the cowl cover is a pain, there are a lot of spot welds and the windshield needs to come out.

I'm pretty happy with that 3M 1k seam sealer that I used. The self levelling stuff in the drip rails was also awesome. I do have some really minor paint cracking in certain areas where I used the 1k product... I think I may have been too hasty between applying that and priming the truck although I think it was at least a few days.

 

[Brain75]

Thanks for the advice on 1k and WAITING for a couple days before shooting. I had not thought to do that, but makes sense...I will definitely give it a couple days before I start shooting, I bought UPOL 1k (it's what oreilly had on hand with good reviews and comments).

It's almost too late in the fall to do it now... paint says 65-85 degrees and the high yesterday was 64... was pushing to get paint done before Monday cause the forecast says good weather Sat/Sun and another cold Mon. (unheated, un-insulated shop).

I was not planning on taking the rear window out, but I am totally tossing the front glass (2' crack that goes to the edge)... was not going to take it out myself though, just let the glass shop.

I'm also drastically changing color (tan to blue), so opening up the doors, hood, etc and shooting those overlap seams .