I have often thought of using expanded carbon steel to protect the underneath from road hazards and larger critters.
It could probably be attached to the large bulkhead metal angles and secured rearward and frontwards from there.
This Criaigs List ad shows a typical product:
3/4" Expanded Carbon Steel (http://tulsa.craigslist.org/mat/4863869144.html)
Has anyone tried using this or a similar product? This particular listing includes 16, 13, and 9 gauge material; which would be best?
Please let me know what y'all think,
Thanks,
Trent
First thoughts: Increased weight, increased aero drag, decreased ground clearance, something else to rust.
Has anyone ever had a hole punched in the belly pan from running over junk or high spot in road? I don't recall hearing anything like that...
I have on rare occasions scraped the underbelly of my then 280 but no damage was done. I can't really think of a good reason to modify the sheet of Fiberglas under the coach. If you did place something under the coach I would be very careful to see that it did not have any exposed edges that could get caught if you did scrape the underbelly.
Gary B
I can just imagine 8 ft x 20 or 30 ft of expanded metal mesh somehow attached to the underside getting snagged on somehing, ripping off and the damage it would do to all the important parts behind. Not good. Leave well enough alone.
A car in front of me hit an orange traffic cone which bounced in front of me and I ran over it at highway speed. Horrible noise. It exited just behinsd the rear duals and dinged the rear corner of the wheel well. The cone was toast.
Roger
Gary,
I wasn't talking about the fiberglass bottom. I was thinking primarily of the transmission and engine area which is open to all sorts of critters and UFO's.
Trent
Trent, OK I see your point. I would think that the likelyhood of snagging something in the rear of the coach would be unlikely. Going forward if something got under the coach it would most likely be demolished by the time it reached the engine area.
When backing you are most likely going to snag something on the hitch area and hopefully stop before it gets under the engine.
I saw an incident in CO a few summers ago where a guy in a Safari was backing in to a forest service spot that had a concrete bumper to keep you from backing over the hill, When he touched the bumper he gunned it, the coach rolled the bumper over and the drain plug was ripped out of the pan. It was a real circus from that point to see them try to remove the bumper that was wedged under the pan before they could move the coach forward. They finally used shovels to dig the bumper out and then Towed the coach forward enough so that the mechanic could get under it and remove and replace the pan.
Case of pure stupidity.
Gary B
93 U280 Charge Air Cooler (http://www.foreforums.com/index.php?topic=3514.msg12966#msg1296)
Tulsa Trent,
I recall some of the guys that went to Alaska talk about a rock protector. It was made up of wire mesh and attached underneath with zip ties. Chicken wire or something. It's a good idea if you're going to be on that type of road.
Found it HAREWARE CLOTH
Trent,
No opinion on using it or not, but the smaller the number the heavier the material.
Larry
I really can't see the point of such a modification unless one is going to spend extended time on very unimproved roads. Even then, I wonder if the potential for something impacting the protective material and that in turn causing even more damage might be fairly high.
I could see fabricating some kind of a skid plate that would attach to the engine carrier and run from the crank pully up to just in front of the transmission. This could protect the vitals such as the oil pan and transmission lines etc. I have been considering this ever since I contemplated putting on the Fumoto Valve on the oil pan. I don't believe critter protection would be feasible given all the moving assemblies down there. The differential is often the lowest part of the coach.
Don
I ran over a piece of bent up sheet metal (or something like that) on the 94 freeway (westbound) in San Diego at 5pm on a Friday. Couldn't avoid it. Heard a commotion in the back for a few seconds and then saw it in the rear view mirror in the road. Half mile or so later engine starts to loose power, I notice the check engine and engine shutdown indicator is on, and I pull over to the shoulder. Apparently the sheet metal flipped up after going under the rear axle and nearly sliced in half the heater hose. ECU detected the loss of coolant and did a gradual shut down of the engine. So it can happen but as others have said not very often. I think an expanded metal shield would have prevented it.
It all happened at the worst time. Shoulder of freeway was very narrow - passengers side was right against a steep embankment - left side almost on white line of traffic lane - cars whizzing by every few seconds. I had owned it only a month and was bringing it home from storage. No supplies, or tools to speak of and I was by myself. The cut was close enough to the end I was able to reattach it - I must of had a least a screw driver. Clothes, face, hair all soaked with coolant (at least it tastes sweet) and mixed with road grime. Had some water in the fresh tank but no container - had to use the vacuum hose with it looped down to hold water and make a bunch of trips between the kitchen and the radiator. A water hose hooked up to the utility spigot would have worked great but I didn't have one nor could I get to the spigot. Still years later when I pack "emergency roadside stuff" in the basement I think if I can get to it if the drives side of the coach is inaccessible like it was on that day.
P.S. I forgot to mention, we also had guests coming in from out of town that were do to arrive at that time too... (when it rains...)