2004 Jeep Liberty Rust on Passenger Door

[karener]

My passenger front door has rust. I need to get about 3 to 5 more years out of my vehicle. I cannot seem to locate a replacement door in good condition on the salty prairies of Canada. Does anybody have any suggestions on how to band-aid the problem? I have noticed that some Jeep owners have done what looks similar to a rocker panel repair but on the doors. Does anybody know of an existing product or place that I can have this done?

Any helpful advice is appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[OldJoe]

I also have an '04 and the bottom corner of the driver's side completely rusted out. Skin and inner door. I've been watching on YouTube, Fitzee's Fabrication. He does mostly sheet metal restoral with minimum tools. Anyway, thanks to him, I cut out the bad and welded in all new. Used Dupli-Color to match the paint. That was last year. This year, I cut out the rocker panels and welded in new ones. I have a Hobart 140 MIG welder. What I did more than paid for the welder.

 

[Bikeflyer]

I had that rust starting on mine and caught it before it got to the outside. For the sake of not feeling like doing body work last year after doing the rockers completely, I sprayed the heck out of the doors(and every crevice) with Fluid Film preventer oil. Has not progressed or remerged since. Now a policy on any of my cars. Just as a word of warning, it stinks for a few days like a bad animal fart. Works good though.

 

[Klh64]

My passenger front door has rust. I need to get about 3 to 5 more years out of my vehicle. I cannot seem to locate a replacement door in good condition on the salty prairies of Canada. Does anybody have any suggestions on how to band-aid the problem? I have noticed that some Jeep owners have done what looks similar to a rocker panel repair but on the doors. Does anybody know of an existing product or place that I can have this done?

Any helpful advice is appreciated.

Thank you.

I have an 04 but had a driver door rust problem. I just bought a lower front door skin for $40 and a door skin repair kit. I also bought rockers online 2 for $70 and put those on in about 1/2 hour. I couldn't find a replacement door either.

 

[Bikeflyer]

Fwiw, liberty doors are pretty commonplace down here in PA. Baughmans U-pull it in particular always has doors on them. Not sure how hard they are to ship but thought id mention.

 

[Johnny O]

This is a very common issue.
My suggested fast/dirty/cheap fix is as follows if there ain’t holes in your skin.

Wash the Jeep well. Do not wax.
Put a medium grade scotchbrite type wheel on your angle grinder and carefully clean the affected area down to shiny metal.
Wipe down area with a lint free towel soaked with Ethanol or Isopropanol- preferably 95% or better.
Let dry completely, then coat with a rattle can of a rust converter. Do Not use a rust converter primer!
Allow it to completely cure.
Once cured lightly scuff with a green scotchbrite pad or a blue Teflon safe kitchen pad.
Clean with alcohol and clean lint free cloth.
Once clean and dry, fill pits and such with a THIN coat of Bondo or Polyester body filler.
Allow to cure 24 hours.
Hand sand with medium grit paper.
Clean with alcohol.
When dry, apply a skim coat of body filler, being sure to feather edges.
Hand sand with fine foam sanding block.
Clean with Alcohol.
Coat with automotive prime of appropriate color. (Light machine gray is close to OE)
Attempt to match paint.
Give up after three brands, lightly sand and clean and cover it with two coats of textured Herculiner…

make sure you treat the inside pinch welds with rust converter too!

 

[Johnny O]

Fwiw, liberty doors are pretty commonplace down here in PA. Baughmans U-pull it in particular always has doors on them. Not sure how hard they are to ship but thought id mention.

Libby’s are a dime a dozen in Omaha area too, but skin rust is prevalent as the is the Salt Belt.

 

[daves06lrenegade]

If you have ANY pin holes or soft areas and apply bondo moisture WILL come through from behind... You either need to cut out the rusted areas and replace with new metal or seal off the back side with fiberglass mat and resin ... Bondo attracts moisture and then the moisture causes more rust and it remains hidden until you have major rust problems...
I have been working on my 2006 Liberty that had the metal rocker panels hidden behind the "pretty" black plastic trim... When removed I found Major damage to the inner rocker panels (both sides)... The rest of the Jeep is in very good condition (frame,suspension,etc) and I rebuilt the inner workings with fiberglass cloth/resin from the rear wheels to the front of the rear doors after cutting out the rusted areas... I laid down 3 layers of cloth and multiple applications of resin sealing any areas from water from the rear wheel wells... The steel rocker replacements are nice but they don't extend to the wheel wells... So I had to form and weld about 5" more steel... The interior of the rockers are now sealed from salt and water and the replacement rocker panels inside are primered / painted / and covered in truck bed liner... The exterior has also been covered in truck bed liner up to the trim on the doors... The plastic trim went into the trash...

 

[Johnny O]

I prefer polyester fillers over bondo in all honesty. Too easy to improperly mix bondo and it is susceptible to ambient humidity. However not everyone lives in corn humidity country, so it’s an option.
Heck, JB weld is the superior option in all honesty!

 

[Bikeflyer]

As cheap as full rocker skins are online, I didn't feel it worth the monkeying with fiberfilling them. A little welding and seam sealer, didnt bother with the nice edging other than sealing. Finish with POR 15 and bedliner, fluid filmed the inside.

 

[sota]

Fwiw, liberty doors are pretty commonplace down here in PA. Baughmans U-pull it in particular always has doors on them. Not sure how hard they are to ship but thought id mention.

Hey, if you wouldn't mind, the next time you're in that place, could you see if they have any silver doors in good shape? They're a nearly 3 hour hike from me, but if they got good silver doors for a decent price, I'll take the drive.

I'd pay you in the form of a lunch place of your choice.

 

[Bikeflyer]

Sure, might be a little bit yet. They have a head count on their website at least, even if it doesn't show whats still mounted.