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?

[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]

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