Winnebago's Heat shield that's Spot welded under chassis

[FrontRangeRVer]

There are several sections of heat shield that Winnebago spot welded between the 2 main Workhorse frames right below the floor...they have spot welded these on the frame on each side.

These drive me NUTS on a hot day as they flex, pop and make lots of noise. My dealer has already screwed one down the a frame piece and stuffed styrofoam between it and the floor, but the other sections (connected) are popping also.

As ANOTHER item on my list of problems with this coach, I want Winnebago to REMOVE the heat sheilds.....anyone see any downside to this???

[FrontRangeRVer]

There are several sections of heat shield that Winnebago spot welded between the 2 main Workhorse frames right below the floor...they have spot welded these on the frame on each side.

These drive me NUTS on a hot day as they flex, pop and make lots of noise. My dealer has already screwed one down the a frame piece and stuffed styrofoam between it and the floor, but the other sections (connected) are popping also.

As ANOTHER item on my list of problems with this coach, I want Winnebago to REMOVE the heat sheilds.....anyone see any downside to this???

[troth]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">The heat shields are there for a purpose which is to protect what is on the other side of them from heat and prevent a fire </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I have to agree with Neil V. My two previous Winnies had styrofoam sandwiched inside the floor; with no heat shields. We put up with a lot of floor creaks and groans when we were camping because, I believe, the styrofoam had gotten hot and shrunk within the floor, leaving air gaps to creak/groan.
I suspect my 04 Brave has the same floor construction...

[DonavonP]

Whoops!!! original post for wrong heat shield.

Deleted.

[FrontRangeRVer]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by NeilV:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by FrontRangeRVer:
There are several sections of heat shield that Winnebago spot welded between the 2 main Workhorse frames right below the floor.....they have spot welded these on the frame on each side.

These drive me NUTS on a hot day as they flex, pop and make lots of noise. My dealer has already screwed one down the a frame piece and stuffed styrofoam between it and the floor, but the other sections (connected) are popping also.

As ANOTHER item on my list of problems with this coach, I want Winnebago to REMOVE the heat sheilds.....anyone see any downside to this??? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

The heat sheilds are there for a purpose which is to protect what is on the other side of them from heat and prevent a fire. Removing them could be a big problem that could get you a claim denial if you had a fire or depending on the state you are from a rejection sticker during the safety inspection. Also before you do anything else get rid of the styrofoam stuffed behind the sheild, this is just a fire waiting to happen.

If the heat sheilds are making a lot of noise from the heat then I would try to find out why the exhaust system etc is getting so hot. Is there a problem with the engine running too rich and heating up the catalytic converter? Valve timing issues? If they are making an unusual amount of noise then it could be because of an unusual amount of heat which they are protecting you from. This could be a symptom of a more serious problem or just a qwirk but it needs to be tracked down to at least verify that dangerous amounts of excessive heat are not being generated.

Regards, </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thanks for the reply!!!

Just want to clarify...these are heat sheilds that are BETWEEN the main frame members, and about 1' below the floor....They run for about 12 feet from the front of the exhaust pipes to right above the mufflers......there is nothing between them and the floor (except for a 1" clearance...so removing would expose the metal floor....thats all...Our Sightseer did NOT have these sections, but our Voyage does....I have no clue why these panels are there except to keep heat from the bottom of the floor. Im thinking about sliding a treated 1x4 in the middle between the shields and the floor and screwing it in about every 6" or so, so the flex would be minimal....

Our exhaust system is a good 1 foot away from these panels, and there poses no extra heat other than normal exhaust heat.

And the Winnebago approved "fix" was to stuff styrofoam between the panel and the floor to quiet the popping....(in the rear section only, near the mufflers)

[rebelsbeach]

Hey FrontrangeRver,since you're talking about heat again, I don't remember you ever finishing the story about the heat lamps and your roof....Did I miss the results,or had you just forgotten to post them?
That may have been when I was in and out of here....

[FrontRangeRVer]

Any other Adventurers or Voyages have these heat sheilds and/or have a popping noise problem from them?

[FrontRangeRVer]

My fix (hopefully) for the popping/flex problem with these sheilds will be to slide an 8 foot 1 X 4 between the floor and the shield and screw the shield to the 1 X 4 to limit the flex of the shield when driving.....

[troth]

Sounds reasonable to me. I'll take a look underneath my coach tonite and see if I've got the long shields like you do... I haven't had any popping or flex noise issues though.

[FrontRangeRVer]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by troth:
Sounds reasonable to me. I'll take a look underneath my coach tonite and see if I've got the long shields like you do... I haven't had any popping or flex noise issues though. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Great...thanks for the help!!!

They are between the frame rails....almost look like the actual floor...and run from behind the tranny to in front of the rear diff....about 3' wide, and about an inch below the actual floor....

[troth]

FrontRangeRVer, I don't have the heat shields you describe on my '04 Brave. I've got dual exhaust pipes into dual cats and then into dual mufflers, then each pipe bends to go out before the rear wheels. No heat shields up there. The cat converters are about 10", maybe more, below the Winnie floor. My coach was ordered with "rustproofing" and it's sprayed all over the underside of the floor, frame, etc. I cannot see any difference in the undercoating above the cat as compared to anywhere else, so maybe there isn't any need for heat shield on my unit.

[FrontRangeRVer]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by troth:
FrontRangeRVer, I don't have the heat shields you describe on my '04 Brave. I've got dual exhaust pipes into dual cats and then into dual mufflers, then each pipe bends to go out before the rear wheels. No heat shields up there. The cat converters are about 10", maybe more, below the Winnie floor. My coach was ordered with "rustproofing" and it's sprayed all over the underside of the floor, frame, etc. I cannot see any difference in the undercoating above the cat as compared to anywhere else, so maybe there isn't any need for heat shield on my unit. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thanks Troth for checking on that for me! We too have the undercoating on our unit, with the heat sheild. Im not sure how many of these units came with the heat shield (at least on this forum...as nobody has admitted to having these shields yet)

I did end up sliding a 1x4 between the heat shield and the floor and screwing it to the heat shield in hopes of lessening the popping sounds from the heat on hot days...who knows if this is going to work...if it doesnt, I will get someone to completely remove the heat shield as most other units dont even have the shields.

PS...at first I did a double take when they said that I had heat shields, because it looked like flooring until I banged on it with my hand, and sure enough, it flexed and made sheet metal sounds...it was covered with the undercoating, so it looked like the flooring!!

Thanks again for your help!

Mark

[Robert & Kiki]

I had YORK RV in Prescott, AZ, A Winnie dealer fix mine. I went to pick it up and it had already came loose just pulling it up for me to take ! They put small aluminium pop rivets to put it back on & they all came loose in 200 ft! Talk about incompetent service! Everything they did has to be redone. NEVER GO THERE FOR SERVICE. Only took 9 weeks to get back and was broken into and lost about $900 worth of stuff.

[FrontRangeRVer]

Apparently, most are thinking I am talking about the heat shields that are vertical next to the mufflers, in which case I am NOT talking about those...

The ones I am talking about are horizontal and are installed almost the full length of the floor, about 1' off the floor...

The undercoating coats these, as they look like they are the "floor"