2006 Expy body job - looking for some photos

[MC775]

Hi everyone,

This summer I’m planning to tackle some bodywork on my 2006 Expedition. The job will include replacing the driver-side inner and outer rocker panels along with the running board brackets. The floor pan around the inner rocker is likely compromised as well, so I expect to weld in some sheet metal there.

Another component I’d like to replace is the wheel housing panel (part number AL1Z-7827865-A), but I’m unsure how it is attached from the factory.

Since I still have some time before starting the project, I’m currently gathering parts and information. Photos of the floor pan and wheel housing area would be extremely helpful. So far, I’ve only found one image, but the plastic covers hide most of the wheel housing, making it difficult to see how it ties into the body structure.

If anyone has photos from a repair, teardown, or factory manual — or firsthand experience replacing this panel — I’d really appreciate your input. I’d like to understand what I’m getting into before cutting anything apart.

Thanks in advance!

P.S. I know some of you might think it’s not worth doing this kind of work on an older vehicle. However, I believe it makes perfect sense in this case — the truck has relatively low mileage, the frame is solid, the paint is original all around, and I completely rebuilt the engine two years ago.

In my opinion, it’s well worth giving it several more years of life, especially considering the prices and overall quality of many newer SUVs.

Wheel housing I'm planning to replace (AL1Z-7827865-A):



Looking for the photos of this area without plastic covers. Any other floor pan, rocker panels photos will be appreciated.

 

[whtbronco]

There's several threads here regarding the replacement of the rocker panels. I believe all the pics I have are in the threads I started on replacing my rocker panels.

Search results for query: rocker panel

www.expeditionforum.com

Several of us keep the Gen 2 Expeditions in part because, like you said, the new models are too costly and quality may not be what it was. Truth is when it comes down to worth it or not it's really a personal decision. Spending US$60-90k on a vehicle is an absolute no go for me. I also do not want a lot of the included and/or required features in new vehicles now.

I can't recall seeing a thread or pics of someone replacing the wheel tub. Good luck finding that. I can tell you a good bit of it is secured with spot welds, but I'm not sure if it is all that way.

 

[AWAR]

Spot welds and seam sealer. You might consider a partial wheel tub replacement. The wheel tub might be one of the first parts installed during factory assembly. I do not have the collision repair manual for this vehicle.

 

[MC775]

Thanks for the replies. I’m planning to start the project once the weather gets better — right now we’re dealing with one of the harshest winters in the past 20 years.

By the way, from what I’ve seen on this forum, my rocker panels aren’t the only ones that rusted out because of the poorly designed sunroof drain routing. At first, I thought it was just my truck and that someone at the factory must have messed something up, because when I bought it, all the water from the sunroof was draining straight into the rocker panels.

I’ve since “improved” the design by rerouting the rubber drain hoses out of the rockers, so now the water drains directly onto the road instead.

 

[AWAR]

The factory drains most sunroofs into the rockers, I have an American version of an Opel Vectra B and it is the same and my expedition. In North America the Opel is sold as a Saturn L series.

 

[MC775]

I'm not so familiar with Opel, but I know there are some Opel models sold under Cadillac badge in the USA.

Also worth mentioning: most Mercedes cars from 1995–2005 had really bad cowl drain design (except S-class and it's sub-models). Water from the cowl was dumped straight into the compartment with the battery or ECU/SAM modules. Once the drains clogged (and they did), you were looking at very expensive electrical damage.