Drip Rail Sealing

[jimilivz]

Trying to track down and eliminate water entry points into my cab. Does anyone know if water can enter the cab if the original compound used on the drip rails shrinks/cracks? I'm not sure of the construction here, or why there is even sealant. I always thought drip rails were spot welded to the cab, and unless there is rust through, there would be no way for water to get into the cab. But I did a test and poured some water on the rails, and it trickles down the A pillar, and works its way down to the floor. No rust either.

[Ohiotinkerer]

Yes it can leak there - the original sealer on mine was so cracked and dried out that it popped right out with a flat head screwdriver. I cleaned all the old seal out and used a scotchbrite pad to scuff it up a little, blew it out good, taped it off and used 3 coats of SEM undercoating to reseal it.......haven't had a leak since.......

I will try to post a photo for you if I'm in good enough shape today to climb up there - had gallbladder surgery on Sunday and not quite at 100%...........

[Ohiotinkerer]

Felt good enough so I climbed up and got a couple........

IMG_20180214_120051_hdr_kindlephoto-2387887.jpg

This is around the drivers side - I taped it off at the top of the drip rail and just high enough on the roof so you can't see it unless you are standing on something........

IMG_20180214_120105_hdr_kindlephoto-2334158.jpg

I ended it right at the roof seam because I didn't have anything leaking past that point - you could go down further if needed......

This is what I used on it - its pain table if you wanted to paint over it at some point......hope this helps!

https://www.semproducts.com/product/rub ... dercoating

[jimilivz]

Thanks for taking the pictures! Hope you get better after your surgery.

So, I'm still not sure how water would get into the cab assuming it got past the sealant. Are there holes/openings or would it have to work its way past rust, etc.?

[jzjames]

If you strip out the old caulking, you may find that you’ve got pinholes in your roof. That would surely let water inside the cab and down the A-pillar.

I’ve recommended this stuff before in place of expensive seam sealer, it does the job pretty much just like seam sealer at a fraction of the cost.
https://www.google.com/search?q=gutter+ ... I-q3IzmGfM:

After you clean out your gutter, tape off as said, and fill it up with this stuff, problem solved.