T-100 side skirts and belly pan...

[BamZipPow]

Originally Posted by hat_man

I love this thread and see so many possibilities for my truck. You may have said before, but what did you do around your exhaust to keep it from retaining heat? Also, and again you may have said before or put it in another thread but can you give me any details of the rear "boxing" under the tailgate area? It looks like you added panels to the underside of the bed inward of the tires and then added the rear wheel skirts.

The whole set-up is awesome.

I really haven't addressed any heat management from the exhaust yet. I've been planning on wrapping the entire exhaust pipe from rear of the converter and back. I do know the bed under the aero cap gits rather warm.

I have rear skirts (vertical panels) under the bed and between the inside of the wheels. I have a support system that I attached them to to keep them stable. The rear diffuser and the rear wheel strakes keep the rear skirts from flopping around. The rear part of the rear wheel skirts attach to the rear wheel strakes. The end of the diffuser is supported via dual hinges to the trailer receiver hitch. The hinges allow articulation of the diffuser as the rear axle follows the road. The rear diffuser is attached to the rear axle housing. If you read the link at the first post in this thread, you can see how I started my build.

[ECONORAM]

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.

[BamZipPow]

Finally got some time to address the main belly pan again. Screwed in that screw that I missed when I reskinned the belly pan. I added in some extra support on the sides fer the main belly pan. Seems it started sagging a bit from the extra weight and I could see it peeking from under the side skirts.

[ECONORAM]

BZP, my jury is still out on wrapping exhaust pipes. I've seen some racers do it, others not. I tried it on a set of 4-2-1 headers on my 84 Jetta, and it seemed to weaken the metal. Broke them at the weld joints. Weakening was also a complaint I read somewhere on the Internet (so it's gotta be true!).
[edit] Found it! http://www.centuryperformance.com/ex...o-not-use.html but this was in reference to headers. I do have fiberglass wrap around my exhaust manifolds to try to keep engine bay heat down. I figure the metal is pretty thick there so I shouldn't have to worry much.

[BamZipPow]

Originally Posted by ECONORAM

BZP, my jury is still out on wrapping exhaust pipes. I've seen some racers do it, others not. I tried it on a set of 4-2-1 headers on my 84 Jetta, and it seemed to weaken the metal. Broke them at the weld joints. Weakening was also a complaint I read somewhere on the Internet (so it's gotta be true!).

I did finally git to measuring the temps in the bed during a hot day drive with Dark Aero in tow. Temps only rose up to 135°F on a 2 hour drive in the middle of the afternoon. My passenger floor board (just right above the catalytic converter) usually sees about 90°F to 100°F temps.

I'm looking at DEI's Titanium (colored) lava rock based exhaust wrap instead of the standard fiberglass stuff. I've already used some on my AC line along with some pipe insulation to keep the AC vents temps as low as I can git them. I also installed a misting system with a 15 gallon water reservoir to mist on the condenser. Right now, my AC vent temps are about 50°F below ambient!

https://amzn.to/2RBAqR2

[BamZipPow]

Testing on closing up the gap between the rear belly pan and the rear tires. I'm attaching it off of the side skirts fer now. The tires will rub off what it needs fer clearance.

[freebeard]

That could work.

What's the white button-head fastener you're using?

[BamZipPow]

Originally Posted by freebeard

That could work.

What's the white button-head fastener you're using?

Those are the same type of lathe screws I've been using since the beginning of my projects. It's just painted white so my "supporters" won't be showing and I can see the dirt flow analysis.

[Merlyn2220]

Once the tire has properly clearanced the coroplast, you can add wheel spats in front! An easier way to get the clearance is to just jack up the back of the truck and let the axle droop. That should give you a worst case in a minute or so, without the risk of the tire ripping off the whole chunk on a big bump. I plan on doing this with styrofoam once my E150 belly pan is done. Then I'll glass it into the belly pan once I'm sure it will clear.

[BamZipPow]

Originally Posted by Merlyn2220

Once the tire has properly clearanced the coroplast, you can add wheel spats in front! An easier way to get the clearance is to just jack up the back of the truck and let the axle droop. That should give you a worst case in a minute or so, without the risk of the tire ripping off the whole chunk on a big bump. I plan on doing this with styrofoam once my E150 belly pan is done. Then I'll glass it into the belly pan once I'm sure it will clear.

Welcome to the forums!

I'm not sure putting wheel spats just in front of the tire will make a significant difference in this situation since the gap cover almost encapsulates the wheel. Also, the inside edge rests on the rear belly pan which is connected to the rear axle so the gap cover shouldn't change its orientation significantly (any higher) than where it is now. I may eventually attach the gap cover to the rear belly pan or to the crossbeam instead of the side skirts.

The piece I have installed is just a test piece. I'll be reusing the former diffuser and cutting that up fer the gap cover once my testing is done.