Driving without the Transfer Case Heat Shield?

[Eisbaer]

Question for those with aftermarket transfer case skid plates.

Is there any concern, that over the long term, the transfer case actuator or yoke of the propeller shaft will be damaged by heat without a heat shield?

My aftermarket skids plates, and based on a quick review of other brands, required the OEM transfer case protection cage to be removed. The factory heat shield has no way of bolting back in place once the case protector is removed.

I ask this question since I occasionally get the flashing Central Locking Differential light of total annoyance. I read thought the numerous forms. Like others, the CLD light has randomly started flashing on startup, and in other cases then in 4LO going back into 4HI. Just as random, it has gone away with driving, restarting after turning off in neutral, driving back and forth/figure 8. I have not been brave enough to take apart the actuator. I am exercising the system more often as recommended.

For the long term health of the actuator, do I need get the heat shield back on? What are others doing? Is this a concern?

2014 LC200 58K Miles Pacific Northwest Climate - Occasional Towing 4.5K lbs
About 12K miles with aftermarket skid plates.

 

[Lester did that]

Don't worry about the yokes or prop shaft.

The radiant heat from the exhaust is pretty extreme. You should have something there. Cut and modify the old one if can to make it work. If not make one. It does not have to be pretty or durable. Something to deflect the radiant heat away from transfer case that the exhaust system creates.

It is a long term thing. The transfer case will run hotter so the fluids will get hotter and break down faster. IE more service. It's also very hard on all of the wires. The insulation will break down get brittle and crack. None of this will happen right away but after a year or two of daily driving things could come up.

What skid plates are you running?

 

[Eisbaer]

I am running Bub Built aluminum.

I’ll see if I can fabricate a bracket coming off the skid plate to hold up one side of the OEM heat shield.that covers the plastic actuator. Other side could bolt into the existing holes.

Leaving for a 2500mile road trip to Death Valley soon.

This is what it looks like right now. I’m pretty sure I followed all the install instructions. From pics I’ve seen other after market skids leave the same parts exposed to the exhaust pipe.

 

[grinchy]

Brief discussion here regarding fuel tank heat soak concerns. Should also address the tc actuator.
Post in thread '200 Series Skid Plates - pics and install notes'
200 Series Skid Plates - pics and install notes - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/200-series-skid-plates-pics-and-install-notes.1210462/post-13160814
however I still get the issue you are describing once a month or so.

 

[RobW0]

I am running Bub Built aluminum.

I’ll see if I can fabricate a bracket coming off the skid plate to hold up one side of the OEM heat shield.that covers the plastic actuator. Other side could bolt into the existing holes.

Leaving for a 2500mile road trip to Death Valley soon.

This is what it looks like right now. I’m pretty sure I followed all the install instructions. From pics I’ve seen other after market skids leave the same parts exposed to the exhaust pipe.
View attachment 2632199

Have you asked @Taco2Cruiser this question about the transfer case heat shield?

 

[sdnative]

I never noticed this when I installed my ARB skids. Is this the case for all aftermarket skids? I'll had to crawl under the truck and check.

 

[grinchy]

Pretty much as far as tc shield goes. Some have a fuel shield most don’t.

 

[Wisluggo]

If this is how most skids are set up, wouldn’t more people have raised issues?

 

[Taco2Cruiser]

Have you asked @Taco2Cruiser this question about the transfer case heat shield?

Yeah, that was something we looked at. Here is how my truck sits now, I grabbed this quick picture when walking into the garage a second ago but we got to talk about some background stuff with this picture.

So Bud put a couple temp sensors on the plastic actuator body itself, both with the heat shield and without it. What we found in mine was indistinguishable ranges between when the heat shield was on, and when the BB skid was on. But... we found a very slight increase in temp when the factory cage had its bottom cut out of it to keep the heat shield with a BB transfer case heat shield. Weird right? I wasn’t expecting that. So that’s why I never mentioned to anyone or put in the instructions to modify the factory cage to keep the heat shield.

The reason why the factory heat shield is back in mine, is because my entire exhaust is coated in jet hot. Jet hot 2500 (the reason it is a kinda gunmetal look) on the headers and mid pipes with jet hot 1300 on the muffler. So for my own person testing, and the fact that I have endless factory t case cages around me, I tested both with and without a heat shield again. No real change with it with or without this time around, but I have a bit over 55ish% overall drop in under body temps because of what I did to my exhaust. More or less up and down the trans tunnel.

I hope that helps shed some light on the reason why we did this approach we did on at least this aspect of them.

 

[Eisbaer]

I did not initially mention the brand, since it appears others have the same design... Heat shield gets removed.

Thank you @Taco2Cruiser for the detailed response. I'm very happy with the slids. Bud Built gets free advertising every time I leave the garage.

While Taco2Cruiser responded, I was in the garage creating a bracket and installing the original heat shield. Once I finished I realize my solutions was flawed since I have one part of the shield fastened to the skid plate and other to the transfer case. But the transfer case is on rubber mounts, so there will be movement between the skid plate and the case. Plus Toyota heat shield is only on one side, which is 5 inches away from the exhaust, yet the wiring is 7 inches away on the other side and remains exposed. Heat shield wrap around the exhaust pipes is probably the better solution, if one thinks there is a problem.