Well, after several water test with myself inside the cab of a few different trucks, I found the culprit. It is the darn air vent that we all like to use in the summer. Water runs down it and hits the inside lip of the cutout and deflects inside the cab which runs to the drivers floor board. Which then keeps your carpet wet and rusts out the floor in the old girls!! So, I came up with a simple yet effective solution. It is pictured below. It may not be the cure all for every truck, but a solid truck with non leaky cab lights and good tight non leaky winshiled, blocking this hole will keep the water out.!!

Don't mind the awkward placement of the holes, I was being lazy and tried to do it without taking the parking brake out of the way. But it didn't work!!

 

your are just the man! i never woulda thought of that and id assume the trim piece fits right over that. whats it made of? i vote for the sticky!

 

It's either this or your cab roof is rotted in the front and water has rotted it's way down through the truck and now exits via the enormous hole in the driver floor. Like mine!

 

Ive been chasing that EDIT wet floor problem since my first 1st gen. Thanks. I def vote for sticky

 

Great idea! It can also come down the pillar from the roof and end up in the same area.

 

i vote for a nobell prize and the sticky!!!! i have watter in my floor and could not figure out where it came from, i will have to try this...thanks DNR!!!

 

I did this five years ago. I made a cardboard template that I cut from a cereal box as a pattern. Remember to paint both sides of the metal cover and use silicone as a gasket before you install it. As I remember i had to remove part of the manual vent control mechanism for the kick panel to go back on. Make sure the inside of the fender is clean otherwise the muck will dam up the water and cause the fender to rot out.

 

How did you get that kick panel out ??????? its such a pain.

 

I've always wondered why my carpet was wet, I'll have to check that out! thans DNR! I think we can start callin you the 1st gen explorer

 

There are a few screws then it just pulls out kinda on a angle. Atleast mine did.


I also blocked mine off a year ago or so. I had my entire cab apart and used a hose it stuck out like a sore thumb where it was leaking.

 

I did the same thing a couple of years ago. But I cut a piece to clear plexiglass so i could check for debris, if need be. Then siliconed it on like everyone else.

 

Glad you found the culprit and a fix for it and sharing it with everybody. Just wished there was a fix that would allow using that vent... it gets pretty darn hot down south and it's a long summer. But dry, non-rusted floor is better than hot feet!

 

I leave that floor vent open all the time -- primarily because my door gaskets seal my cab up so tightly it is difficult to make my doors shut without the floor vent being open (or having a triangular vent window cracked open).

When you ran the water hose over the empty cab -- which side of the floor vent was leaking? I'm wondering if I could seal up only the bottom half of the floor vent to prevent the leak but still leave the cab non-airtight?

Thanks,

 

you could make a fancy deflector plate so when the water wants to drip inside it deflects back into the cowl. But I hear ya on the door not wanting to shut. Might are a pita.. Exspecially when a passanger is used to shutting a car door.. They get frustrated..lol makes em think the old girl is a pos.. So I usally crack a window for them!!

Thanks for the compliments guys, I know it wasn't rocket science and some of you already may have discovered it. But I figured I'd post it up for those who haven't. It just baffles me to think because of that vent and the design it has caused a vast majority of these truck to rot out. I mean, go look at the passanger side floor. 9 out of 10 times it looks perfect. And there isn't a vent hole there!!

 

in my case it would was dripping in from the top and running down both sides.