My rocker panels pretty much fell out. I bought a set of aluminum rockers from rustrepairpanel.com and they did not fit, now having a tough time returning them. I wound up getting 5" flashing panels from Home Depot and after making the correct bends using a section of garage door, I got the shape right with a fit that starts at the door sill seal and wraps down to the inner rocker panels. They have to be riveted and glued in, no welding is required. The flashing cost 30 dollars and the panels are heavily galvanized, will not rust for a long time. Now I'm going through the task of removing the rusted remnants of the original rockers and repairing sections of the inner rockers before I can install the new panels. Funny, but the factory panels are as thin as the flashing panels from Home Depot. I will not re-install the floorboards and will find nerf bars that attach to the frame instead of the inner rockers as the OEM ones do. My 2nd gen 03 Expy has the same body shape as the 3rd gen expys, so this applies to 3rd generation expys too. I think the rockers rust on the expeditions partly because the 4 drain pipes from the sunroof discharge at the front, just below the front door hinges, and at the rear end of the rockers, just ahead of the rear wheel. The front hoses end just under the front end of the rockers. Water and dirt from the drain pipes and from the windshield collects there and rots the front half of the rocker. Keeping the area clean will prevent dirt and mud from rotting the front of the rocker. On my expy, the front part of the rear wheel well had a rust hole from the sunroof discharge and the hole allowed water, winter salt and dirt from the rear fender to enter the rocker and that rotted the rear half. The metal on this trucks is of questionable quality, they rust uglier than any other brand I've seen, except for the Suzuki Vitara and Geo Tracker from the late 80's. These also disintegrated in the same way Ford trucks do. Too bad the Expeditions are so good looking and drive so sweet, mine is still clean and silky smooth.