Quote:
Originally Posted by BamZipPow
With the heavy rains here in Texas yesterday, I had to escort someone to the other side of town. This gave me a chance to go do to some dirt flow modeling. 
Zipping in through the water, I noticed the water sounded a lot louder than it normally would. Ended up at my destination and made sure my friend made it there safely. As I drove away, I could hear some crunching underneath my truck. Maybe I picked up some debris? 
Pulled off into a parking lot do a walk around inspection. Noticed immediately that my rear wheel skirts had popped open since I didn't really secure them to their front fastening point. Oh well... 
Looked underneath the truck and found that my main belly pan Coroplast panel was long gone! At least the frame was still there. Guess playing in the water (liquids have up to 200 times more density than gas) ripped it right off the frame and left the screws still attached. The crunching noise was the aluminum flashing dragging on the road. I installed the flashing as a heat shield. I removed what needed to be removed, tucked the flashing back up on top, and had to add more screws to the rear diffuser as some panels had popped off as well to make it home.
So after 5 years, my belly pan will have to be rebuilt. Guess I need to put some more time and thought on how to make it a little better. 
Now I'm looking at a metal skin...aluminum would be great as steel will probably fairly heavy. The galvanized metal shed roofing panels would be a good direction as they are pretty cheap and would hold up to road abuse and shouldn't git ripped out should I encounter more deep water. |
BZP, that was my experience with corroplast on the belly. At least as an engine tray. Hit one big puddle around 20 mph and tore it all up. Truck now sports a 1/8" ABS plastic sheet (cut to fit...), and aluminum center panels down the belly. Haven't quite figured out how to get past the rear axle yet, but I'll get there eventually.
Used plywood for a splitter, and even when I painted it 2x w/oil based paint, then covered it with RTV it still rotted. Sigh. Also learned pine doesn't do well for this either. I've been using what I'd call garage door strap metal. It looks like an L channel that's 1 1/4" wide by 6 feet long, with holes drilled every inch or so. Just the plain flat pieces are too flimsy, but the L channel is much stiffer and works pretty good. Can't seem to find a picture though.