Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum - EcoModder.com - View Single Post - T-100 says! Adios ! to diffuser

aerohead · 02-10-2010, 06:07 PM

Hello all and thanks for all your words.
I pulled the naughty bits out of the bed of the truck this A.M. and had a good look at it in 'daylight' ( that's a joke around here lately).
It actually looks as if she struck a submerged object hidden below water.One leading edge of one of the underside aluminum strakes has a fairly significant dent,indicating a solid hit,and there are deep gouges on the adjacent skin.
The water never came in the door although it was up to just below,which would have had the belly for the most part submerged.A passing 4WD caused a wake large enough to 'rock' the truck on it's springs.
Over 35 1/8th-inch pop-rivets were torn free from the superstructure.
Best I can surmise,is that the impact simply displaced the diffuser rearward,with the sound of the collision shared by the cacophony of shearing rivets, and the 833-times more dense than air water pushing/pulling against the concealed forward vertical face of the valance ( Cd 1.11 ).
She's been on the truck since 2004 and has never been a problem.And the damage looks like something I can resolve with my tree stump, rawhide mallet,and some tinner-man's pliers.
She'll go back on as things dry out and time permits.
At 312,000 miles,the T-100 is just getting broke in now and she'll want that diffuser.

02-10-2010, 06:07 PM	#15 (permalink)
aerohead Master EcoModder Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Sanger,Texas,U.S.A. Posts: 16,391 Thanks: 24,469 Thanked 7,409 Times in 4,800 Posts	diffuser in the dry Hello all and thanks for all your words. I pulled the naughty bits out of the bed of the truck this A.M. and had a good look at it in 'daylight' ( that's a joke around here lately). It actually looks as if she struck a submerged object hidden below water.One leading edge of one of the underside aluminum strakes has a fairly significant dent,indicating a solid hit,and there are deep gouges on the adjacent skin. The water never came in the door although it was up to just below,which would have had the belly for the most part submerged.A passing 4WD caused a wake large enough to 'rock' the truck on it's springs. Over 35 1/8th-inch pop-rivets were torn free from the superstructure. Best I can surmise,is that the impact simply displaced the diffuser rearward,with the sound of the collision shared by the cacophony of shearing rivets, and the 833-times more dense than air water pushing/pulling against the concealed forward vertical face of the valance ( Cd 1.11 ). She's been on the truck since 2004 and has never been a problem.And the damage looks like something I can resolve with my tree stump, rawhide mallet,and some tinner-man's pliers. She'll go back on as things dry out and time permits. At 312,000 miles,the T-100 is just getting broke in now and she'll want that diffuser.