Isaac forced the hand, and made me buy some armor

[Pixelcodex]

I guess good can come from bad as well. We have tropical storm Isaac going through South Florida now. What looked like a hurricane kind of fizzled out and now it is mostly rain. But Miami is also flooded in some areas, and yesterday I drove through some standing water. Well, I guess the plastic stock transmission "skid plate" must have scooped up the water and it ripped off clean with the exception of one bolt, from which it hung.

I was saving to get all SA skids, but I found a new 4X belly guard from another forum member at a great price shipped, so that will replace the incredibly crappy stock one. Last night as I was taking off the remainder of the "skid plate" I noticed some sopping cardboard like material on top of the cat or thereabouts. It looks as though it is some kind of insulation, but if that is the case it seems pretty poor, as I was able to rip off the rest with just some gloves. Can anybody tell me what this is, and if I should worry about replacing it with anything stock or a better aftermarket material? Thanks.

[06JeepXKHEMI]

I just moved from Fort Lauderdale, hope everything is alright down there!!! If the cardboard you are referring to is the heat insulation you definitely want to get that replaced. It will have a shinny surface to it and cover the floor board above, this protect the floor from getting hot from the cat. Find out if its that or if you picked up some cardboard floating in the water you drove thru

[Matt]

Agreed.... take a good look above the cats to see if you're missing anything obvious. Might also want to look at the parts manual to get an idea of what shields/insulation should be there so you know what to look for.

[Sal-XK]

That stinks hopefully it wasn't the insulation.

[Pixelcodex]

So the insulation is not the typical stuff with the silver layer and not glued underneath the truck? This seemed cardboard like. I have to check again when I get back home (left the stuff in my garage).

[06JeepXKHEMI]

Best thing to do is look above the cat to see if there is anything above attached to the floor board, if nothing is there you need to replace it

[Pixelcodex]

Best thing to do is look above the cat to see if there is anything above attached to the floor board, if nothing is there you need to replace it
What I cannot understand is why it would not be glued to the undercarriage of the truck... Not sure if I am being clear (and I realize this might not be the best picture) but can something like this be used, either wrapped around the car or glued above?

https://theultimatejeep.com/images/imported/2012/08/129_0511_05z2Bnissan_titan2Bexhaust_heat-1.jpg

[06JeepXKHEMI]

When it comes to heat insolation especially for the floorboard Id do exactly what comes from factory.. It is glued to the floor, this is heat wrap a little different from heat shields.. Yours may still be intact like I said you wont know until you get underneath and look.. Ill take a pic of what mines looks like during lunch and post it so you know what to look for..

[Pixelcodex]

When it comes to heat insolation especially for the floorboard Id do exactly what comes from factory.. It is glued to the floor, this is heat wrap a little different from heat shields.. Yours may still be intact like I said you wont know until you get underneath and look.. Ill take a pic of what mines looks like during lunch and post it so you know what to look for..

Thanks. Appreciate the pic. Since mine was still sopping wet and ripped, I could not make heads or tails as to what was missing, etc. Mind you, I have a WK, but it should be the same.

[06JeepXKHEMI]

https://theultimatejeep.com/images/imported/2012/08/5ed5df19-1.jpg?t=1346092030

The shinny stuff is the insolation and is above the exhaust attached to floorboard. Make sure you have something that looks like this there

[Pixelcodex]

Thank you very much! I will get under mine tonight to check it, but I am pretty sure all is gone. 😠

[06JeepXKHEMI]

Thats crazy it came off how many miles do you have on your Jeep?!?!

[Pixelcodex]

130K+, but the water is what did it in and I was not even going that fast when I went through it. I will check to see what remains and post pics tonight.

[06JeepXKHEMI]

Yea Id be interested in if that actually came off, its underneath and designed to take on water without an issue, may have to pay attention to this while off roading. The cats get to temps from 700-1000F, so you can imagine what can happen to the floor if you dont have the heat shield there..

[Matt]

Yeah that's up there protected pretty good, even when fording water.... it would've had to have been deep water. Probably picked up some garbage that got caught there.

[Sal-XK]

Your feet will het really hot missing that stuff LOL

[Pixelcodex]

Here are a few shots. I had to wait for it to cool off, and let's not get into the specifics... lol

When I got under the wk today, I realized it is not around the cat and dpf per se, but a bit further back. I did cut a bit after I took the pictures, as I was afraid it would drape over the exhaust as it was. Some of the stuff fell over my neck and it felt "itchy" like fiber glass. The stuff is various layers, but it was dead easy to cut off. Hopefully you can tell from the pictures, but you can see at the bottom of the first picture, and the side of the third picture where the torn edge is. On the last shot you can see part of the shield that I did loose, but I guess all of you that got the belly guard loose that (correct me if I am wrong).

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