Rocker panel damage

[cartwheels]

An issue I've been worrying a lot about recently is some rocker panel damage to my 93 SS. The panels were damaged some when I got the car, and a floor jack hasn't been kind to them either. I know on a unibody car that these are load bearing surfaces, and I was wondering if the damage can adversely affect my car's handling/structural rigidity. What's my best option for repairing/replacing these panels? Or is this something I shouldn't worry about so much?

Passenger side:


Driver side:

[SLODRIVE]

I wouldn't worry too much about it. I've owned, worked on, and driven tons of different cars with that same bent seam and it doesn't affect anything. That said, it won't hurt anything to try straightening those seams out a bit, but I wouldn't go any farther than that.

[cartwheels]

So should I be looking into some 94 GT wagon side skirts to uh... mask this issue? It's one of those things that I'm sure nobody even notices but myself... and so long as it doesn't hurt driveability or safety, it'd be nice to just cover em up so I don't have to see them every day. How hard are those to come by? I know the 1st gen GT wagons are few and far between...

[94.GT.Wagon]

I do body work for a living and I agree that you don't need to be worried, and that straightening out the pinch weld couldn't hurt but don't get too involved beyond that.

[tahiti350]

And from now on when you jack it (if you use the rockers) use a 4x4 about 12" long on the jack, butt that up against the pinch weld and jack it up. That will spread the load out on the rocker instead of the weld...


Or lift if from the "factory authorized jack points" and save yourself the stress.

[James614]

Even with the factory jack points (asuming you mean the 4 corners of the rocker panels), I still have to use a 6" piece of 2x4 to avoid screwing up my Touring Wagon's rockers. Our FWD sedan doesn't have the problem at all, but that's also 400lbs lighter.

[SLODRIVE]

I NEVER use the jack points at the corners. I always jack it up by either the front cross-member, or the rear diff. It's the only way to be safe IMO

[James614]

You probably have a jack with a slightly better reach than my $14.99 Advance Auto Parts POS (included 2 stands and a uselessly brittle case) I stick the stands under the diff/xmembers.