rocker panels 80' chevy

on 4 wheel&offroad magazines ultimate adventure yellow chevy they used 2x4 tubing for the rocker panels, i was thinking about trying this myself and dont know exactly what it would take so i am looking for advice of any kind, thank you?

Do you want to jusr run rocksliders or boatside the thing and use the rec. tubing as the bottom of the fender? TO make rock sliders you just need to weld some tubing to the side of the rec. and mount it to either the body or the frame.  

the rockerpanel on the driver side is just about entirely rotten but the res of the cab is good, so im not sure what should be done  

Go to LMC truck - http://lmctruck.com and buy weld-in replacement rocker panels. If you don't have a welder take it to a body shot and they should be able to cut off the rotten part and weld in the replacement. You will probably need the rocker back-plate part as well unless it's just rusted on the exterior, but usuall both parts go.

Is it a hardcore trail rig, or are you just lookin to put something ont here to get ride of the rotten stuff?  

pretty much a hardcore trail rig and i want to be rid of the rotten  

if you want them removable you could weld square tubing to the frame pointed out, then weld your rock slider to 2 other square tubes that will fit in like a receiver hitch, and bolt them in.. or you could just weld the whole thing on there and be done with it.. since you are cutting the rockers, you dont have to worry about dropping the rock slider down to clear the rocker, as the body on a 73-87 sits well below the frame.  

Cut everything off below the door frame, weld the rectangular tubing to the body to get a good water seal, then weld tubing between the frame and the new rockers, make sure there is some triangulation so that it dosen't bend up into the doors.