Whats brown and sticky and ruins your floorboard?

Skip traditional silicone. Use a panel bonding agent that is specific to automotive work. I’ve used this before and it works great in lieu of welding. Two part epoxy which is used by manufacturers as well.
https://www.eastwood.com/sem-dual-mix-multi-purpose-panel-adhesive.html

I’d recommend a small patch panel from above to cover the joint. Then use a brush on seam sealer from underneath. Don’t use the parts store aerosol undercoating stuff since it’s not an actual seam sealer and is usually too thin to do any good. I’ve used this also:

https://www.eastwood.com/ew-brush-on-seam-sealer-quart.html

It’s a relatively simple repair once you get the panel back into shape. I’d actually go the above route instead of welding it back together even though I’m confident in my ability to do so. Using a patch panel with the adhesive and seam sealer will actually give you a stronger repair since the crack indicated that the surrounding metal is already fatigued and could crack again.

 

Good points. I wasnt able to tell last night if the metal is ripped in the center, or if the OEM sealant just got squished into that shape.

I actually have 3M Panel Bonding Adhesive 08115 in my cart right now. Seems very similar to the SEM product you linked above. I may go that route and then cover everything with 3M Seam Sealer. Narrowed it down to Factory-Match 08323 or Heavy-Bodied 08308. May just end up ordering both, plus some extra mixing tips and send it from there. I want to do this repair once and never have to worry about salt and calcium brine getting in there haha

 

Damn, I hope mine isnt as bad as that We'll find out soon enough

 

Using the panel bonding adhesive is the way to go but make sure to add a patch panel as the “band-aid”. The bonding agent won’t bridge the gap like weld would. Then you can seam seal from below and it should be a lifetime repair.

 

Judging by the picture I don't think any metal is actually ripped or cracked bad. It looks like it pushed the floor pan up and separated it from the inner rocker busting a few of the spot welds loose in the process. It really just looks like the 2 panels are pushed apart and can be hammered back into place and re-sealed. But we'll know for sure when the seat comes out.

 

no one has mentioned JB Weld

 

To add insult to injury, a bird shit on my passenger seat while I was looking at everything. Cant even make this up..

Anywho I took the passenger seat and trim out and shes right stove up. Surprisingly didnt really rip too much other than the spots welds. But on the flip side I think that might actually make the repair harder because Ill have to do all the sealant stuff from the bottom.

3M seam sealant and panel bond adhesive should be here Wed

 

1. 3M brush on seal sealer would fill that.
Or
2. HD may have

$35 3M 5200 (06504) Permanent Bonding and Sealing for Boats and RVs Above and Below the Waterline Waterproof Repair, Black, 10 fl oz Cartridge

3M 5200 marine adhesive which is their best permanent stuff and is waterproof.

 

What do you guys think should I try to remove all the old seam seal, or just clean it with some alcohol and go right over?

 

It's pealing off pretty easy actually so I'm just going to rip as much off as I can get to.

 

Lacquer thinner will remove the residue nicely

 

Update:
Got the majority of the metal beat back into shape. Never going to be able to get all the wrinkles out which is going to drive the OCD part of me nuts, but realistically no one will ever know. The rug lays flat now which is good enough.

Used a plastic putty knife to scrape all the old seam sealer off, which worked really well. Little bit of brake cleaner to remove the rest of the residue.

Put some panel bond in all the spot welds that had ripped. Also laid a bead of it along the entire length of the seam under the truck. Bent the last little bit of sheet metal down best I could with some more hammer work, smoothed out the excess, and "clamped" it down with a bag of tire chains.

Actually found another issue while I was down there, a less violent version of the same thing back toward the B pillar. Looked like a big ass rock kicked up by the tires. Judging by the amount of dirt that was under the carpet and trim, Id say that one has been there since the spring time. Same procedure here.

They say to let that fancy JB weld cure for 24 hrs. So tomorrow morning I will lay a few beads of seam sealer over everything to tie it into the factory sealer, and she should be mint!

 

Only thing I have to decide is if I want to bond a small patch panel right above the worst part of the wrinkles & tear, just to provide a little extra strength and to keep it from flexing there.

 

This is more than a lot of people would do, even if the floor metal is still stretched you took care of any water intrusion. Also you could lay down masking tape when you seam seal to keep that hard edge factory look.

 

Nice work on the repair! I think it’ll be solid!

 

And for a minute I thought you were transporting dead hookers again...

 

Thank you. Finally got the Seam Sealer laid in yesterday so everything is all wrapped up. Just got to put the seat and trim back in

 

Man, I spend a lot of time out in heavily wooded areas with lots of wonderful underbody eating little stumps, this makes me nervous. I might go take a look at my truck too!

Any permanently flexible exterior sealer would work for situations like this, exterior seam sealant being the best since its closest to OEM stuff. Id be willing to bet Totota just uses that exact 3M stuff and has it packaged as Toyota product. That spot on the body isn't really structural, the door sill/lower panel is the structural part of the body in that area. Pound it back, fill the holes with sealant and back to the forest she goes. Great looking repair!

 

Had this happen to me the other day on the trail. It was also a big stick thrown by my front tires towards the bottom of the truck, leaving a dent noticeable inside the floorboard on the rear left side seat. Might just try to hammer it back into place. Luckily it didn’t leave a puncture like yours though