Branch broke a hole underneath the truck

Hey guys,

Yesterday I was on the trails when I heard a loud snap of a branch breaking. Upon inspection I noticed there was roughly a 2-3in diameter branch in the trail that broke. I assumed my tire broke it as I went over it. Well today, when going underneath the truck, I notice that the branch somehow got kicked up from the tire and got stuck where it jammed into the bottom of the truck floor panels where they connect. Below are some photos of the damage. It caused a huge hole underneath the passenger side near the door seam. See the photos below.


How do I go about fixing this? Remove the passenger seat, hammer the metal back down, and then re-seal? Any help would be great. Thanks!

 

Flex-seal, the TV doesn’t lie

 

I'd say pound it back down with a hammer and then get some body seam sealer and clean up the area as best you can then use the seam sealer. Good luck

 

I'm no body shop expert, but I'm pretty sure there should be more holding the floor together than seam sealer.

 

It's not a structural connection there just keeps water from getting into and sitting on top of the body mount cross brace.

 

Thanks guys! Any other suggestions?

 

Try to beat it flat.
There's some seam sealer tape called Eternabond. Place that over the hole.

 

Not a huge deal, flex seal is great though sometimes too permanent.

 

Does it look like your rock sliders had any effect on the damage? Looks past where any fill plates could have helped.

 

sure does seem like a brace for the rock sliders cause it to do up into the bottom of the truck versus letting the branch fall back down. I do think it could have been prevented if I wasn’t going so fast. But yes, top plate or not it was further into the frame where top plate wouldn’t be regardless

 

Dented a factory skid plate once on a tree limb kicking up. Going about 5 mph. Those things can be evil.

 

i’d pound it down and put a piece of aluminum sheet metal over top and use corning 795 to seal it down, then flex seal over top and underneath

 

Can it be cleaned up good enough to have a patch welded in place, or is there too much rust?

 

Sikaflex 291

 

Who tries to climb a tree in a truck?

 

that's closer to what I'd do. my fix would include some mechanical fasteners like pop rivets for the lap patch.

 

I'd clean it up good (I keep some 70% alcohol in a spray bottle for various things), put some polyurethane sealant of some type in it, then while it's still sticky, pound it back down letting the sealant squeeze out. I'd wipe off the excess and apply some more in a bit neater fashion. After it cures for a few days, you can spray some rattle can paint on it.
I had a similar thing happen a few years ago. I had a healthy stick kick up and get lodged in between my slider and rocker panel. It caught on something when I got back out on the road and kind of 'pole vaulted' the truck and actually dented my rocker. I remember when it happened because my wife and I heard and felt it. I got out and looked under the truck at the time but didn't notice anything.
A couple of weeks later, my wife said, "Is that a dent in your truck?" It's hard to notice, and it didn't take off any paint or split any seams. I'll get it fixed some day, probably try the paintless dent removal thing.

 

Did this in 2003 to fix the floors of my MR2. Used liquid steel and a crimped patch. Has held up ever since.

 

I appreciate all the help guys. Unfortunately I gotta get back to work this week so I won’t have time to look at it until next Saturday

 

For now, I covered the hole with gorilla tape to keep out some moisture/ water.

Also gotta figure out if I have a pulled wire in my abs system since it won’t go off. Tried to reset my VCS computer and still nothing. I have the battery unhooked right now to see if resetting the ecu will do the trick