Fiberglass protecting cover under truck (1 Viewer)

[ELLTEE]

Hmm.

Had my "new" '99 UZJ100 on a lift at the dealership yesterday, and had my first unimpeded inspection in strong light.
Everything looked clean and tidy, but I noticed one bolt still holding a small bit of stiff material with an old, broken-off edge. ???

The mech said that was from the fiberglass "cover" that is missing on most of the two or three-year-old cruisers. He said the material gets brittle after a couple of years and starts to shred. They don't generally replace them, he says. :-\
Does anybody know the part and its purpose in life? Is it worth replacing?

thanks
LT

 

[cruiserdan]

Where exactly is said dangily bit located?

 

[ELLTEE]

[quote author=cruiserdan link=board=2;threadid=4818;start=msg36561#msg36561 date=1062271368]
Where exactly is said dangily bit located?
[/quote]
It's not actually dangly. The mech theorized that it was dangling that caused the demise of the rest of the cover!
All that's left is about two square inches of flat material held tight against the frame by a bolt into the frame the passenger side just ahead of the cross-beam that's about even with the front doors.
thanks
LT

 

[cruiserdan]

Got it,

I'll look under the next 100 we get in the air and report back.

 

[landtank]

It's a fiberglass cover that extrends from the tranny crossmember forward to the front axle. It covers the oil pan and tranny pan. Not much rock protection though.

 

[ELLTEE]

Thanks for the description, Rick. I wasn't sure if there was one part or two parts to the thing.
Do you have an opinion on whether it's worth replacing? Certainly would keep road grit, water and tall weeds from the moving and sensitive bits around the pans and tranny. Might even help a bit with aerodynamics.
But there's also got to be a cost/benefit consideration since it's obvious this part doesn't last like the rest of the TLC! Maybe Dan can find a part number/cost and more info next time he sees a 100 (thanks Dan).
Do any of the 100 series owners still have this fiberglass part?
thanks
LT

 

[landtank]

ELLTEE,
I'm not all that familiar with the item just remember it being there when I was checking out a 100 once. Funny thing about those covers is that they usually serve some purpose and you'll find out what that is at the most inopportune time.

 

[ELLTEE]

Ahhh, yes.
McDougal's Corollary to Murphy's Law:
Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong,
at the worse possible time.


LT

 

[cruiserdan]

LT,

I printed off the catalog illustration of the undercovers and was going to bring it home and scan and post it for you. I left the dang thing sitting on my desk. I'll do that later.

Dan.

 

[ELLTEE]

Thanks, C-dan, no big hurry.
That cover's been gone for a while, and I can't tell that it's hurting anything.

LT

 

[cruiserdan]

Here's what the book shows:

 

[ELLTEE]

Thanks Dan.
Looks like the covers include holes for draining the two pans, so they were intended to stay on except during serious maintenance. I think I'll see if the dealership will split the cost of tacking one of those under the truck.

LT

 

[Rogue]

Don't bother. Fiberglass is weak.

 

[Desertmaster]

LT,

If I were you I will seek someone like Slee Off-Road to see if he offers a better product than plastic molding for protection, that's of course if you do wheel the rig more often, if not then you know your options.

My $0.02

Thanks

Al

 

[cruiserdan]

The fiberglass pan is a splash shield. It was never intended as a skid plate. That doesn't mean that a metal replacement couldn't be fabricated, just that the original should not be bashed (literally and rhetoricaly speaking :) as it does not pretend to be a skid plate.