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BT Skid Plate...unintentional test results

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Accessories & Modifications' started by efusco, Sep 16, 2008.

  1. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    A couple of weeks ago I made a turn and unintentionally dropped the front right wheel off a slope into a ditch (black asphalt road and ditch making it hard to see where one ends and the other starts...lots of scrapes and grooves in that spot suggest many preceded me in this manuver!).

    There was a pretty loud scrape, but no hard bump or anything that sounded like serious damage. The car ran fine. I subsequently saw no oil/fluid leakage. I had no handling issues, and a quick look under the car showed no obvious damage.

    But since then the ICE noise has been louder than usual..and it sounded exactly like when I'd first installed my BT skid plate...like the plate was amplifying the ICE noise due to contact with the plate.

    Well, today I got the car up on ramps to see what was what. Sure enough, there are some pretty obvious scrapes in the right rear portion of the skid plate. The right side support also bent up a few degrees...enough to allow contact with the Fujimoto oil valve...it even bent the little arm you move on the valve to open the valve.

    I had previously added some spacers to eliminate the plate contact with the engine...I added a larger one. There really wasn't any good way to bend the support back to the original position without removing it...which I really didn't feel like doing.

    So, the plate worked...I'm confident that the Fujimoto valve would have been more severely damaged without the plate...maybe the oil pan as well though I doubt it unless the damage to the valve damaged the oil pan. But it did require some additional work/modification on my part as the plate and supports really are not made to support a dumb move like this.
     
    #1 efusco, Sep 16, 2008
  2. dogfriend

    dogfriend Human - Animal Hybrid

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    I don't think the Prius makes a good off-road vehicle. :eek:

    I think its supposed to be Fumoto valve, isn't it? It sounds very fortunate that the valve didn't break off - that is why I hesitate to install one on the Prius although I have installed them on other vehicle(s).
     
    #2 dogfriend, Sep 16, 2008
  3. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    Oops, yea Fumoto.
     
    #3 efusco, Sep 16, 2008
  4. galaxee

    galaxee mostly benevolent

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    if i dropped the wheel off a ledge that nasty, i'd be a little more concerned about a control arm than an oil pan. but that's just me.

    glad everything turned out ok.
     
    #4 galaxee, Sep 16, 2008
  5. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    The control arm looked undamaged...

    Let me describe the situation....the wheel didn't drop completely off...iow at no point was the entire weight of the vehicle on the skid plate or anything else...the wheel was always in contact with the sloped edge of the ditch.

    So it was sort of more like going over a high speed bump or something like that...just enough to push up the skid plate about 1-2cm.
     
    #5 efusco, Sep 16, 2008
  6. HomeandRanch

    HomeandRanch New Member

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    You should see the dirt roads I drive mine on. Just make sure you have a skid plate.:juggle:
     
    #6 HomeandRanch, Sep 16, 2008
  7. BT Tech

    BT Tech New Member

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    Funny you should mention this... We had a customer that did almost the same thing but he hit a curb hard enough to warrant an alignment as his steering wheel was way off center. He brought his car to me to check out the skid plate and sure enough there was a huge contact point impact right under the transaxle. Although the plate had a dent in it, it did its job perfectly!! His repair bill was 75.00 for a full alignment...




     
    #7 BT Tech, Sep 16, 2008
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